What_Is_Human_Services

What is Human Services Nikki Yates BSH/302 September 12, 2011 What is Human Services' At some point and time everyone needs help in his or her life. Help can range from help with paying for their food to help with paying for their bills. The reason someone needs help is not important but that people will need it. As the world’s population continues to grow so will poverty and people needing assistance will also grow. However, human service is here to assist people when they hit a hardship. According to "National Organization For Human Services" (2009), " The goal of human service is to assist individuals and communities to function as effectively as possible in the major domains of living” (para. 6). As a human service worker there is a broad range of goals that need to be met. Major ones include finding help for someone who may need it. This can include shelter and job assistance or funding for higher education needs. Depending on what type of human service worker there can be different goals. The people in this particular field are in it to improve the quality of life of those who they serve daily. If someone were to ask a human service worker why they choose this field, he or she would tell them that he or she wants to enhance the life of someone who needs help. The practice of helping others in need has existed since the beginning of biblical times, but the human service profession has historic roots dating back to the late 1800s. Understanding how the social welfare system in the United States was developed someone must first understand England and how the poor were treated. During the middle ages the feudal system allowed the wealthy to provide serfs, the lower class with a small piece of land and a job to farm the land. This system was established in England allowed the lords to have complete control over the serfs. Because there was no separation between the church and the state, the poor were well known among the community and handled locally. As the population grows and the crimes increase, this led England to develop “poor laws.” According to Martin (2011) “England passed several relief laws during the mid 1500s thorough the early 1600s, which set for the guidelines for dealing with the poor.” Once these laws were in place, it allowed the law enforcement to go around and determine the worth poor and the unworthy poor. Once they defined the vagrants, punishments were enforced and death for repeat offenders. By the mid-1900s the stock market crashed and led to middle- class unemployment. This wakeup call led to the development of programs put in place to provide jobs and food to the unemployed. “Programs such as the federal deposit insurance corporation and securities and exchange committee helped ensure that a crash similar to the one in 1929 would be unlikely to occur again (Martin, 2011).” Because the racist society human services in the African American community started to form. Black activists had an influence on the development of human service because of the reformer Modjeska Simkins, “who developed health-care programs for the black community focusing on everything from infant mortality to tuberculosis (Martin, 2011).” Also Alpha Kappa Alpha provided health care to sharecroppers in Mississippi, during the most recent recession starting in 2006, the effectiveness of the social welfare system has become will known among Americans. The recent discussion of the need for universal health care and federal living wage is going down in the history human services. A human service worker is the primary tool for intervention. Intervention research is always being conducted to come up with ways to work with the new demanding needs of clients. “To be useful, intervention research must reflect the nature of human service practices” (Nash, Kupper, & Fraser, 2004, p. 1). Depending on the situation and the specific client needs, intervention strategies can vary. For instance, a strategy for a single mother who lost her children would be different from the needs of a homeless person. The intervention strategy for the single mother would to take some parenting classes and work towards getting her kids back. The strategy for the homeless person would be to get into a shelter, help him or her get a job and give him or her any state assistance he or she qualifies for. Depending on if you are working with a group of people in need such as a family or an individual, intervention strategies can also vary. A strategy for working with a family is different because the worker will be working with more than one person so individual attention would not be obtained within the family. Interventions for a family may include housing, food assistance, or assistance with getting a car. Even though those same interventions may apply to a individual, it is still different because the family has more people who need assistance and individual attention cannot be provided to each family member. Confidentiality, compassion, and patience are also some of the common interventions. When a service worker gives these services to his or her clients they must make sure he or she keep any information obtained between the worker and a client. Both the worker and the clients should know the nature of the services provided. Human service workers have a code of ethics to follow by. Each worker should conduct him or herself in a professional manner at all times on the job and in his or her personal lives. Because social workers have the duty to help people in need, they must show respect toward their clients and themselves. Any decisions a human service worker makes in their personal lives may affect his or her professional lives. Many people believe that if a bad decision is made in their personal lives this will lead to bad decisions in the professional part of your life. An example of this would be Bill Clinton. In conclusion as long as there is life on this planet, people will always need some type of help. Since the 1900s the need for human service professional has grown and will continue to grow with the population. As a human service professional, he or she will need to show people that we are strong and can handle most situations that may occur with a client. We must let clients know that we are here to make their lives a little easier.