Child Life Specialist Job Description Templates for Pediatric Employers
6 templates for the organizations hiring child life without a large HR department: inpatient, outpatient clinic, hospice and bereavement, assistant, per diem, and program lead. Download as DOCX.
Most child life specialist job descriptions online were written by large children's hospitals for large children's hospitals. They assume a child life department, a manager, a playroom, an internship pipeline, and an HR office that already knows how the credential works. If you are a pediatric clinic, a surgery center, a hospice, or a nonprofit hiring your first child life professional, none of that describes you.
The gap shows up in two places. The posting reads like a department job when the reality is a team of one, and the compliance section is missing entirely, because the hospital template assumed somebody else handled classification and clearance. Both problems cost you the same thing: the small pool of certified candidates reads your posting and cannot tell what the job actually is.
At FirstHR we build hiring templates for employers without a dedicated HR department. The six below cover an inpatient unit, an outpatient clinic, a hospice and bereavement program, a child life assistant, a per diem pool, and a program lead, each with the certification, classification, and screening notes the hospital versions leave out. More are in the hiring templates library.
TL;DR
A child life specialist job description has to state four things the generic versions skip: the setting and caseload, whether certification is required at hire or within a window, the FLSA classification, and the clearance sequence. There is no BLS occupation for the title, so benchmark pay against recreational therapists at a $61,960 median and healthcare social workers at $67,880. Six templates below.
What the Role Actually Covers
A child life specialist reduces the psychological impact of illness, injury, and treatment on children and families. The clinical core is four repeating steps: assess the child's developmental level and coping style, prepare the child for what is coming, support the child through the procedure without medication, and support the parents and siblings around it.
Everything else varies by setting. On an inpatient unit the job includes therapeutic play, normalization activities, bereavement work, and a voice in rounds. In an infusion center it narrows to getting the line started on the first attempt. In a hospice it becomes illness and death education, legacy building, and grief support for children who are not the patient.
Children’s hospital or pediatric unit
An established service
The classic setting, with a child life department, a manager, playrooms, and an internship pipeline. If you are hiring into an existing team, your posting competes on unit, caseload, and support rather than on the idea of child life itself.
Outpatient clinic or surgery center
Often a team of one
A specialty practice, infusion center, imaging suite, or pediatric dental office hiring its first child life professional. The candidate will be the only one in the building, so autonomy and scope have to be spelled out in the posting.
Hospice, palliative care, or grief program
Community and home based
Work happens in homes, facilities, schools, and group settings, with the children of adult patients as a large part of the caseload. Travel time, on-call expectations, and emotional support for the employee belong in the posting.
Camp, nonprofit, or private practice
The growing edge
Medical specialty camps, family support nonprofits, and private child life practices hire seasonally or part time. These employers usually have no HR function at all, which makes classification and clearance the parts most often missed.
Write the Posting Around the Outcome, Not the Duty List
Small employers hiring their first child life professional often copy a hospital duty list they cannot evaluate. A better posting names the outcome you are buying: procedures completed without sedation, first-attempt success on blood draws and IV starts, appointments that stop getting cancelled, families who stay with the practice after a hard visit. Candidates recognize an employer who understands what the role is for, and you get a way to measure the hire that does not depend on becoming an expert yourself.
What Belongs in the Posting
A child life job description does four jobs at once: it explains the setting, it filters an already small candidate pool, it protects you legally, and it closes the hire. Most postings do only the first. Here is the full inventory.
The parts candidates read first
Setting and patient population, stated exactly
Whether they join a team or build the service
Caseload size and units or clinics covered
Shift pattern, weekends, and holiday rotation
The parts that filter applicants
Degree field and the 600-hour internship requirement
Whether certification is required at hire or within a set window
Background check, registry check, and health screening notice
Driving and travel expectations for community roles
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Essential functions written plainly, including lifting and standing
Scope boundary between specialist and assistant
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that win the hire
Pay or a good-faith range
Who pays for certification renewal and conferences
Supervision, debrief, and emotional support practices
A named person and a real deadline to apply
The omission that costs small employers most is the team-of-one disclosure. Candidates need to know whether they will have a child life manager, a peer to consult, and clinical supervision, or whether they are the entire service. Both answers attract people. Silence attracts a candidate who leaves in six months. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure in more depth.
6 Child Life Specialist Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: organization overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Child Life Specialist Job Description Templates
Inpatient, outpatient clinic, hospice and bereavement, assistant, per diem, and program lead. All in one download.
Certified Child Life Specialist, Inpatient
The core clinical role
Assessment, preparation, procedural support, therapeutic play, and family education on a unit, with documentation and rounds built in.
Outpatient Clinic or Surgery Center
A team of one
For a specialty practice, infusion or imaging center, or pediatric dental office, with coping plans, staff coaching, and outcome tracking.
Hospice, Palliative Care, Bereavement
Home and community based
Illness and death education, legacy building, sibling support, and grief groups, with travel time and on-call handled honestly.
Child Life Assistant
Hourly support role
Activities, playroom, materials, and volunteers under a certified specialist, with a written scope boundary so the roles do not blur.
Per Diem / PRN Specialist
Coverage pool
For weekends, holidays, and leave coverage, with the independence requirement and the contractor warning stated plainly.
Lead Specialist / Coordinator
Program leadership
For building or running the service: supervision, standards, students, budget, grants, and the reporting that keeps the program funded.
Template 1: Certified Child Life Specialist, Inpatient
The core clinical role on a unit, with assessment, preparation, procedural support, therapeutic play, documentation, and rounds built in.
Certified Child Life Specialist, Inpatient Job Description
CERTIFIED CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST (INPATIENT) JOB DESCRIPTION
•Facilitate therapeutic and medical play, self-expression, and normalization
activities at the bedside and in the playroom
•Educate and support parents, guardians, and siblings, including sibling visits
•Contribute the psychosocial perspective in rounds and care conferences
•Support bereavement, legacy building, and end-of-life care where indicated
•Recruit, train, and supervise [volunteers / practicum students / interns]
•Maintain playroom safety, infection control, and toy cleaning standards
•Complete documentation, statistics, and program reporting on schedule
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in child life, child development, psychology, or a closely
related field [master's preferred]
•Completion of a supervised clinical child life internship of at least 600
hours under a Certified Child Life Specialist
•Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) credential [required at hire /
required within [12] months of hire: choose one]
•[Number] years in a pediatric health care setting preferred
•Current [BLS / CPR] certification
•Must clear a criminal background check, child abuse registry check, and the
health and immunization screening required for patient contact
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
Classify on duties and pay, not on the credential. The learned professional
exemption requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning
customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual
instruction, plus payment on a salary or fee basis at or above the federal
salary level. A bachelor's-level child life role that is largely activity
programming may not clear that bar, and a role paid below the salary level does
not clear it at all. Hospitals and institutions primarily engaged in the care of
the sick are covered enterprises under the FLSA regardless of revenue. This is
general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per [year / hour], [benefits summary], [shift
differential], [certification renewal and conference budget]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a cover letter.
Template 2: Child Life Specialist, Outpatient Clinic or Surgery Center
For a specialty practice, infusion or imaging center, ambulatory surgery center, or pediatric dental office, written for a team of one. If the role is mostly navigation and family advocacy rather than procedural support, compare it against the patient advocate templates.
Child Life Specialist, Outpatient Clinic Job Description
CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST (OUTPATIENT CLINIC OR SURGERY CENTER) JOB DESCRIPTION
Practice: __ ([City, State])
Setting: [Pediatric specialty clinic / ambulatory surgery center / infusion
center / imaging / pediatric dental practice]
Reports to: [Practice Manager / Clinical Director / Owner]
Employment type: [Full-time / Part-time], [days and hours]
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt] (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per [hour / year]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Practice Name] sees roughly [number] pediatric patients per week for
[procedures, infusions, imaging, dental treatment, specialty visits]. We are
adding a Child Life Specialist so that fewer visits end in restraint, sedation,
or a cancelled appointment, and so families come back.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Child Life Specialist prepares and supports pediatric patients through
outpatient procedures and visits, builds individual coping plans, coaches
clinical staff on developmentally appropriate approaches, and keeps families
informed and calm from check-in through discharge.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Screen the daily schedule and identify patients who need preparation or
procedural support in advance
•Prepare patients and families by phone or message before the visit where the
procedure warrants it
•Build and document an individual coping plan for anxious, needle-phobic,
neurodivergent, or previously traumatized patients
•Provide distraction, comfort positioning, and non-pharmacologic support during
[blood draws, IV starts, infusions, imaging, dental treatment, minor
procedures]
•Coach [medical assistants, nurses, technicians, providers] on age-appropriate
language and approach
•Maintain the waiting area and treatment room materials, toys, and sensory
Template 3: Child Life Specialist, Hospice and Bereavement
For home and community based work: illness and death education, legacy building, sibling support, and grief groups, with travel time and on-call handled honestly. Pair it with the social worker templates if you staff a full psychosocial team.
Child Life Specialist, Hospice and Bereavement Job Description
CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST (HOSPICE, PALLIATIVE CARE, BEREAVEMENT) JOB DESCRIPTION
Agency: __ ([City, State])
Program: [Pediatric hospice / palliative care / grief and bereavement services]
Reports to: [Director of Psychosocial Services / Clinical Director]
Employment type: [Full-time / Part-time]
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt] (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per [year / hour]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Agency Name] supports families across [service area] through serious illness,
end of life, and grief. We are hiring a Child Life Specialist to work with
pediatric patients and with the children of adult patients, in homes, in
facilities, and in our community grief program.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Child Life Specialist provides developmentally appropriate illness and death
education, anticipatory guidance, legacy building, and grief support to children
and families served by the agency, and equips the interdisciplinary team to
communicate with children honestly and clearly.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Assess the developmental level and understanding of each child on the caseload
•Explain illness, dying, and death in honest, age-appropriate language, and
and family support, with a clean written handover at the end of every shift.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Cover assigned shifts on [units / clinics] with minimal ramp-up
•Assess, prepare, and support patients and families to the same standard as the
core team
•Prioritize a caseload independently when the unit is busy and no one is
available to direct you
•Document in the medical record during the shift, not after it
•Leave a written handover on open cases, family concerns, and follow-ups
•Follow all infection control, privacy, and mandated-reporter procedures
•Keep certification, health screening, and competencies current
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in child life, child development, or a related field
•Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) credential required
•[Number] years of child life experience; per diem is not an entry-level role
•Reliable availability for [weekends / holidays / short-notice coverage]
•Must clear a criminal background check, child abuse registry check, and health
and immunization screening before the first shift
•Independence and comfort walking into a unit cold
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Per diem does not mean exempt and it does not mean contractor. A per diem child
life specialist you schedule, orient, supervise, and equip is an employee, and
an hourly one at that: overtime is owed past 40 hours in a week even when the
hours are spread across several per diem assignments in your organization. A
shift differential and a nondiscretionary bonus both raise the regular rate used
to calculate overtime. Complete clearance and orientation before the first
shift, not during it. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [differentials], [minimum shift commitment]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Template 6: Lead Child Life Specialist / Program Coordinator
For building or running the service: supervision, standards, student programs, budget, grants, and the reporting that keeps the program funded. For clinical behavioral roles alongside it, see the behavioral therapist templates.
Lead Child Life Specialist / Program Coordinator Job Description
LEAD CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST / PROGRAM COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Director of Patient Experience / Chief Nursing Officer / Executive
Director]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Exempt when the primary duty is management or advanced
professional work and the salary basis is met (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Organization Name] is [building its first child life program / expanding a
program of X specialists]. We are hiring a Lead Child Life Specialist to run the
service: standards, staffing, students, funding, and the case for what child
life contributes to the organization.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Lead Child Life Specialist carries a reduced clinical caseload while
directing the child life program: scheduling and supervising staff, setting
practice standards, running the volunteer and student programs, managing the
budget and donated funds, and reporting outcomes to leadership.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Supervise [number] child life specialists, assistants, and volunteers,
including scheduling, coaching, and annual review
•Carry a clinical caseload of approximately [percentage] of full time
•Set and document child life practice standards, competencies, and orientation
•Own the internship or practicum program, including supervision hours and the
agreement with [university partners]
•Manage the program budget, donated funds, and in-kind donations
•Build the reporting that shows what the program does: encounters, procedures
supported, sedation avoided, family feedback
•Represent child life in [quality, patient experience, ethics] committees
•Write grant applications and donor reports with [development / leadership]
•Cover shifts when coverage fails, because in a small program it will
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree required, master's preferred, in child life, child
development, or a related field
•Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) credential required and current
•[Number] years of child life practice, including supervision of students,
volunteers, or staff
•Demonstrated program building: standards, budgets, or grant funding
•Must clear a criminal background check, child abuse registry check, and health
and immunization screening
•Willingness to argue for the program with numbers, not only with stories
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
A lead role can qualify for the executive exemption when the primary duty is
managing a recognized department, the employee customarily directs the work of
at least two full-time employees or the equivalent, and the employee has genuine
authority over hiring and firing decisions or their recommendations carry
particular weight. The salary basis and salary level tests apply. A title of
lead over a caseload that is still mostly clinical, with no direct reports, is
not an exemption. Decide honestly, and document the basis. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [conference and
certification budget], [supervision support]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a short statement
on how you would build or grow this program.
Certification Is the Real Screening Bar
No state licenses child life specialists, so the Certified Child Life Specialist credential is an employer requirement rather than a legal one. It comes from the Association of Child Life Professionals and requires a bachelor's degree with specified coursework, a supervised clinical internship of at least 600 hours under a certified specialist, and a passing score on the certification exam.
That internship is the bottleneck. Slots are limited and concentrated in large pediatric centers, which keeps the certified pool small and keeps most of it inside children's hospitals. A small employer competing for that pool has to relax one constraint: the timing of the credential, the schedule, the site, or the pay.
Certification stance
Who you reach
When it makes sense
Certified at hire, no exceptions
The smallest pool, mostly experienced hospital staff
You have a real child life program and pay at or above local hospital rates
Certified within 12 months of hire
Adds internship-complete candidates awaiting the exam
Most small employers; write the deadline and the consequence into the offer
Eligible candidates considered
Adds candidates finishing coursework or seeking an internship
You can provide supervision, or the role is an assistant-level bridge
Preferred, not required
Widest pool, weakest signal
Only with a clear scope boundary and a certified specialist supervising
Assistant instead of specialist
Local candidates with child-facing experience
The need is activities and playroom coverage, not clinical intervention
Whichever stance you take, say who pays for the certification renewal and conference attendance. It is a small line item that reads as respect for the profession, and in a field where most employers stay silent about it, saying so in the posting is a cheap advantage.
Overtime, Salary, and the 8 and 80 Rule
A credential does not make an employee exempt. The learned professional exemption requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction, plus payment on a salary or fee basis at or above the federal salary level of $684 per week.
A certified specialist doing assessment, preparation, and psychosocial intervention has a genuine argument on the duties side. The argument weakens as the day fills with activity programming, and it fails outright below the salary level. The Department of Labor's fact sheet on the professional exemption is blunt that job titles never determine exempt status. Hospitals and institutions primarily engaged in the care of the sick are covered enterprises under the Fair Labor Standards Act regardless of revenue, so a small pediatric practice does not escape the rules on size.
The credential does not decide the exemption
Hospitals often assume a certified professional is automatically salaried and exempt. Federal rules do not work that way. The learned professional exemption asks whether the primary duty requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, whether that knowledge is customarily acquired through a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction, and whether the employee is paid on a salary or fee basis at or above the federal salary level, currently $684 per week. A child life role built on a bachelor’s degree, a 600-hour internship, and a certification exam has a real argument on the duties side, but the argument gets weaker as the day fills with activity programming and playroom coverage, and it fails outright if the pay sits below the salary level. Classify each role on its own facts and write the result on the posting. This is general information, not legal advice.
The 8 and 80 exception is real, and it is conditional
Hospitals and residential care establishments may compute overtime on a fixed 14-day work period instead of a workweek, paying time and a half for hours past 8 in a day and past 80 in the period. It is a useful fit for 12-hour pediatric shift patterns, and it is also one of the easiest rules to break by accident. The exception requires a prior agreement or understanding with the affected employee, reached before the work is performed, and the 14-day period has to be fixed and regularly recurring rather than adjusted to suit a schedule. You may run 8 and 80 for some employees and the standard 40-hour rule for others, but never both for the same person. Get the agreement in writing at onboarding and store it where you can find it two years later. This is general information, not legal advice.
Clearance, registry checks, and mandated reporting
Anyone with unsupervised access to pediatric patients gets the full clearance sequence: criminal background check, state child abuse or neglect registry check where your state maintains one, sanctions and exclusion screening if you bill federal health care programs, plus the health and immunization screening your facility requires for patient contact. Health care staff are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse and neglect in every state, and a child life specialist is often the person a child tells. None of this is paperwork you complete after the first shift. State the requirement in the posting, run the checks before the start date, collect a signed mandated-reporter acknowledgment during onboarding, and keep credentials on file with renewal dates attached. Confirm the exact list with your state agency and your accreditor. This is general information, not legal advice.
Certification is voluntary in law and mandatory in practice
No state licenses child life specialists. The credential that matters is the Certified Child Life Specialist designation from the Association of Child Life Professionals, which requires a bachelor’s degree with specified coursework, a supervised clinical internship of at least 600 hours under a certified specialist, and a passing score on the certification exam. Because it is a private credential rather than a state license, you decide whether to require it at hire, require it within a set window, or accept an eligible candidate who has finished the internship and not yet sat the exam. Each choice changes your applicant pool sharply, and the internship bottleneck means the pool is smaller than the job title suggests. Write your choice into the posting explicitly, and say who pays for renewal. This is general information, not legal advice.
There is no dedicated Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation for child life specialist, and it is worth saying that plainly rather than quoting a number with no survey behind it. The title does not appear as a standard occupational classification, so benchmark against the nearest classifications and adjust for your local pediatric market.
Nearest BLS Classifications, National Medians
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), median annual wages were $61,960 for recreational therapists, $67,880 for healthcare social workers, $64,070 for health education specialists, $59,550 for child, family, and school social workers, and $45,930 for social and human service assistants. Recreational therapists ranged from $40,990 at the tenth percentile to $100,420 at the ninetieth (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Closest setting overlap: hospital psychosocial team, often the internal pay comparator
Health education specialists
$64,070 per year
Fits patient and family education duties in outpatient roles
Child, family, and school social workers
$59,550 per year
Fits community, hospice, and school-facing child life work
Therapists, all other
$77,930 per year
Where some hospital systems slot specialized therapy roles; treat as an upper reference
Social and human service assistants
$45,930 per year
The right comparator for a child life assistant or activity coordinator
Recreational therapists, 10th to 90th percentile
$40,990 to $100,420
The realistic spread from a new graduate to a tenured program lead
Two things move the market beyond the median. First, demand: Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections put healthcare social workers at 193,200 employed in 2024 with growth much faster than average through 2034, while recreational therapists sit at 16,100 employed with average growth, so you are hiring from a small profession inside a fast-growing sector. Second, the credential bottleneck. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply, and compete on schedule flexibility, paid renewal, and supervision rather than on base pay alone.
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Three sentences belong in every child life posting regardless of setting: one stating that employment is contingent on a criminal background check and a child abuse registry check where your state maintains one, one stating that health and immunization screening is required for patient contact, and one stating that all staff are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse and neglect.
Putting them in the posting is a filter, not boilerplate. Candidates who will not clear a check stop reading, and candidates who will clear one read it as a sign you take child safety seriously, which in this profession is the whole point. Our guide to running a background check covers the process and the notice requirements.
Clearance Comes Before the First Shift, Not After
The most expensive mistake small clinics make is letting a new hire start while a check is pending because the schedule is short that week. Pediatric settings are exactly where that lapse gets found, whether by an accreditor, an inspection, or an incident review, and the person with unsupervised access to a child is the worst place to take the shortcut. Build the clearance timeline backward from the start date and hold it. Anyone touching patient records also joins your HIPAA workforce and needs privacy training documented before day one.
Hiring Child Life Without an HR Department
Child life hiring at a small employer fails in three predictable places: you cannot evaluate a role nobody on staff has done, the certified pool is smaller than the job title suggests, and the onboarding paperwork is clinical rather than administrative. Each has a fix.
You are hiring a role you have never staffed and cannot evaluate
A pediatric dental practice, an infusion center, or a family support nonprofit hiring its first child life specialist has nobody on staff who has done the job. That shows up in the posting as a vague duty list copied from a large hospital, and it shows up in the interview as questions the candidate answers more confidently than you can assess. Fix it structurally rather than by trying to become an expert. Write the posting around the outcome you want (fewer cancelled procedures, less sedation, families who come back) instead of a duty list you cannot verify, ask candidates to walk you through a real preparation they did for a child of a given age, and bring a certified specialist from outside your organization into one interview. That single outside opinion is worth more than another round of resume screening.
The candidate pool is smaller than the job title suggests
Certification runs through a supervised clinical internship of at least 600 hours, and internship slots are limited and concentrated in large pediatric centers. The practical effect is a narrow national pool of certified specialists, most of whom are already inside children’s hospitals. A small employer that insists on certification at hire, full time, on site, and at the bottom of the pay range will not fill the role. Pick which constraint you can relax. Certification within twelve months of hire widens the pool to internship-complete candidates who have not yet sat the exam. Part-time or split-site work fits a specialist who wants to keep a hospital per diem. Paying for renewal and conference attendance costs less than another six months with the position open.
Onboarding a clinical hire means credentials, clearances, and renewal dates
A child life hire arrives with more paperwork than most small employers expect: certification documentation, internship verification, background and registry checks, immunization and health screening records, privacy and infection control training, mandated-reporter acknowledgment, an 8 and 80 agreement if you use one, and a handbook sign-off, every piece of it with a date that eventually expires. FirstHR was built for that kind of hire. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every clinical employee, built-in e-signature handles the offer and the acknowledgments, document management stores certificates and clearances on the employee profile with renewal dates attached, and training modules cover privacy and safety orientation before the first shift. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is signed, the work shifts to a repeatable onboarding checklist with every credential, clearance, and renewal date attached to the employee profile rather than living in a folder on someone's desk.
Key Takeaways
A child life job description has to name the setting and the caseload first, because inpatient oncology, an infusion center, and a hospice grief program are three different jobs behind one title.
Certification is an employer requirement rather than a state license, and the 600-hour supervised internship behind it keeps the certified pool small and concentrated in large pediatric centers.
Decide explicitly whether the credential is required at hire, required within a window such as twelve months, or preferred, and say in the posting who pays for renewal.
Exempt status turns on duties and pay, not on the credential: assistants are non-exempt, per diem is a schedule rather than a classification, and pay below the federal salary level defeats the exemption outright.
Hospitals and residential care establishments may use the 8 and 80 rule, but only with a written agreement reached before the work and a fixed, regularly recurring 14-day period.
No BLS occupation matches the title, so benchmark against recreational therapists at $61,960 and healthcare social workers at $67,880 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), then adjust to your local pediatric market.
A clinical hire arrives with credentials, clearances, and expiry dates attached. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every new employee, with e-signature for offers and acknowledgments, document storage for certification and screening records, and renewal dates tracked so nothing expires quietly. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a child life specialist do?
A child life specialist reduces the psychological impact of illness, injury, and medical treatment on children and families. The work has four repeating parts: assessing a child’s developmental level and coping style, preparing the child and family for what is about to happen in language that fits that level, providing non-pharmacologic support during the procedure itself through distraction and comfort positioning and a written coping plan, and supporting parents and siblings around the event. In hospitals the role also covers therapeutic play, normalization activities, bereavement and legacy work, and contributing the psychosocial view in rounds. In outpatient settings the same skills get pointed at a narrower problem: getting a blood draw, an infusion, an imaging scan, or a dental treatment finished without sedation, restraint, or a cancelled appointment.
What should a child life specialist job description include?
Eight things. The setting and patient population stated exactly, because inpatient oncology and a pediatric dental practice are different jobs. Whether the hire joins a team or builds the service alone. The caseload or units covered. The duties, including documentation and rounds. The education and certification requirement, marked as required at hire, required within a set window, or preferred. The background check, child abuse registry check, and health screening notice. The FLSA classification. And the pay, with a good-faith range where your state requires one. For an assistant role, add a written scope boundary saying the position does not perform child life assessment, preparation, or procedural support. Everything else is decoration. The six templates on this page follow that structure so you only rewrite the organization-specific parts.
Do child life specialists need to be certified?
No state licenses child life specialists, so certification is an employer requirement rather than a legal one. In practice it functions as the standard. The Certified Child Life Specialist credential comes from the Association of Child Life Professionals and requires a bachelor’s degree with specified coursework, a supervised clinical internship of at least 600 hours under a certified specialist, and a passing score on the certification exam. Because it is a private credential, you choose whether to require it at hire, require it within a window such as twelve months, or accept an internship-complete candidate who has not yet sat the exam. That choice changes your applicant pool sharply. Internship slots are limited and concentrated in large pediatric centers, so a small employer demanding certification at hire, full time, on site, and at the bottom of the range will usually not fill the role.
Are child life specialists exempt or non-exempt?
It depends on the duties and the pay, not on the credential or the title. The learned professional exemption requires that the primary duty involve advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction, and that the employee be paid on a salary or fee basis at or above the federal salary level of $684 per week. A certified specialist doing assessment, preparation, and psychosocial intervention has a genuine argument on the duties side. That argument weakens as the day fills with activity programming and playroom coverage, and it fails entirely if pay sits below the salary level. Child life assistants and activity coordinators are non-exempt. Per diem is a scheduling arrangement, not a classification, and per diem staff are hourly employees rather than contractors when you set the schedule and direct the work. Classify each role on its facts and document the basis.
How much does a child life specialist make?
There is no dedicated Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation for child life specialist, so benchmark against the nearest classifications rather than a single national figure. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), median annual wages were $61,960 for recreational therapists, $67,880 for healthcare social workers, $64,070 for health education specialists, $59,550 for child, family, and school social workers, and $45,930 for social and human service assistants, which is the closest fit for a child life assistant. Recreational therapists, the group whose duties overlap most, ranged from $40,990 at the tenth percentile to $100,420 at the ninetieth. Set your range against local pediatric employers rather than the national median, publish a good-faith range where pay transparency rules apply, and remember that paid certification renewal and conference attendance are competitive currency in this field.
What is the difference between a child life specialist and a child life assistant?
Scope of practice, and it needs to be written down. A Certified Child Life Specialist performs assessment, procedural preparation, procedural support, and psychosocial intervention, and documents that work in the medical record. A child life assistant or activity coordinator runs recreational and normalization activities under the direction of a certified specialist, maintains the playroom and materials, supports volunteers, and escalates concerns rather than intervening. The distinction drives credentials, pay, and overtime classification: assistants are non-exempt hourly employees, and the education bar is set by you rather than by a certifying body. Hiring an assistant is a legitimate way to extend the reach of a child life program so specialists spend their time on clinical work. It is not a way to staff a program cheaply, and blurring the line puts patients and your organization at risk.
Can a small clinic or practice employ a child life specialist?
Yes, and the outpatient side is where most new child life positions at small employers appear. Pediatric specialty clinics, infusion and imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, pediatric dental practices, hospices, and family support nonprofits all hire child life professionals, usually one person rather than a department. The economics work when the role prevents specific, countable problems: sedation avoided, procedures completed on the first attempt, appointments not cancelled, families who return instead of switching practices. Build the posting around those outcomes. Be explicit that the hire will be the only child life professional in the building, because some candidates want exactly that autonomy and others do not. Part-time and split arrangements are common and let you reach specialists who keep a hospital per diem alongside your role.
How do I hire a child life specialist without an HR department?
Run a fixed sequence and start it earlier than feels necessary, because the certified pool is small. Post a specific job description with the setting, caseload, certification expectation, classification, and pay stated up front. Screen for developmental knowledge by asking candidates to walk you through a real preparation they did for a child of a given age, and bring an outside certified specialist into one interview if nobody on your staff can evaluate the answer. Check references with a child life manager or an internship supervisor who watched the candidate work. Then run onboarding as a checklist rather than a pile: certification and internship verification, background and child abuse registry checks, health and immunization screening, privacy and infection control training, mandated-reporter acknowledgment, and an 8 and 80 agreement if you use one. FirstHR handles that onboarding sequence with e-signature, document management, and renewal tracking. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
