Human Services

The Human Services program is designed to educate and train individuals in the human services profession. The human services worker is a generalist who can work in a variety of settings including community health centers; agencies serving the physically and mentally disabled; rehabilitation, drug and alcohol programs and halfway houses. Employment opportunities also exist in services for youth; detention centers; community living arrangements; hospitals; senior citizen; and social agencies and organizations, welfare and human services departments. The generalist approach is achieved through a core of courses which stress the holistic nature of individuals. Emphasis is placed upon becoming competent in the skill areas required for working in the human services field. The Human Services degree program combines classroom learning and a field placement. Human services students learn to help people to understand their problems and motivate them to seek assistance. They assist in obtaining services for people in need through advocacy, outreach and brokering, and the collection of client personal, social, and vocational data for the preparation of intake reports and case records. The human services student understands how to arrange for and follow-up with specific educational, social, and vocational programs for clients, and gather and evaluate data concerning human services programs. The human services student becomes an effective participant in local planning and development of programs, and learns how to educate and facilitate behavior change in individual clients, their families, and groups in effective problem solving, in daily living skills and in more effective interpersonal relationships. Human service workers are "people-helping professionals." They serve individuals and groups of all ages in a variety of settings. Human service workers care about others and dedicate themselves to bettering the lives of the persons they work with directly and the community.