Helping those in need: Human service workers any people experience hardship and need help. This help is provided by M a network of agencies and organi- zations, both public and private. Staffed by human service workers, this network, and the kinds of help it offers, is as varied as the clients it serves. “Human services tend to be as broad as the needs and problems of the cli- ent base,” says Robert Olding, president of the National Organization for Human Services in Woodstock, Georgia. Human service workers help clients become more self-sufficient. They may do this by helping them learn new skills or by recom- mending resources that allow them to care for themselves or work to overcome setbacks. These workers also help clients who are unable to care for themselves, such as children and the elderly, by coordinating the provision of their basic needs. The first section of this article explains the duties of human service workers and the types of assistance they provide. The next action. Throughout the process, they provide several sections detail the populations served clients with emotional support. by, and the occupations commonly found in, human services. Another section describes Evaluate and plan some benefits and drawbacks to the work, and Working closely with the client, human the section that follows discusses the educa- service workers identify problems and cre- Colleen tion and skills needed to enter human service ate a plan for services to help the client solve Teixeira these problems. This process—which includes occupations. The final section lists sources of Moffat additional information. evaluating the client’s support system, envi- ronment, and values—is tailored to each individual’s needs. “Steps differ, based on where the client is at that point in time,” says What human service Deborah Jackson, a family self-sufficiency workers do coordinator for a housing commission in the Colleen Annapolis, Maryland, area. Teixeira Moffat Human service workers provide a variety of Human service workers can’t force help services aimed at improving clients’ lives. The is an economist on someone who doesn’t want it, and they in the Office of type of assistance they offer varies by client can’t take over a client’s life. Instead, they try Occupational group, the type of organization that employs to help every client make good decisions, find these workers, and their role in the organiza- resources to overcome problems, and inspire Statistics and tion. (See the box on page 25 for more infor- the client to make improvements. “I know Employment mation about different types of human service they can succeed,” Jackson says of her clients, Projections, BLS. organizations.) “but I can’t succeed for them.” She is available Although duties vary by job, all human at (202) 691-5157 service workers perform many of the same Put the plan into action or teixeiramoffat. basic tasks. They evaluate a client’s needs, After evaluating the client’s situation and cre- [email protected]. create a treatment plan, and put the plan into ating a plan, human service workers put the Fall 2011 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 23 plan into effect. This may include providing workers help coordinate services is to assist direct assistance or helping clients in coordi- clients with completing necessary paperwork. nating services, or both. After clients begin receiving assistance, Practical assistance helps clients accom- human service workers monitor the cli- plish daily living activities: eating, bathing, ents’ status to ensure that services are being dressing, and so forth. Workers most often provided and are appropriate. Jackson, for provide this assistance in institutions, such as example, sees her clients about once a week so hospitals, shelters, and residential care facili- she can track their progress. ties for people who are elderly or disabled. Practical assistance might also include helping Provide emotional support clients with recreational activities, from arts Because their clients often face many diffi- and crafts to games. cult problems simultaneously, human service In addition, human service workers coor- workers routinely provide emotional support dinate services that are provided by their own along with other forms of help. These work- or other organizations, including government, ers must foster a good working relationship to for-profit, and nonprofit agencies. They help ensure that a client feels comfortable discuss- clients by researching types of, and eligibil- ing problems candidly and asking for help. ity requirements for, assistance. For example, The kind of emotional care human ser- human service workers might help a client vice workers provide ranges from empathy who lives in unsafe housing locate and qualify to celebration, depending on what a client is for low-income apartments in the client’s experiencing. “Clients have the enthusiasm to community. Another way that human service improve their lives,” says Jackson. “It’s often a Human service workers act as liaisons between clients and care providers. 24 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Fall 2011 Types of human service organizations Human service agencies are often managed Legal and victims assistance organiza- by state or local governments. There is also a tions assist people who have been victims large number of nonprofit—and some for- of crime. These organizations also provide profit—human service organizations. Some information to educate the public about crime organizations focus on working with a par- prevention, and they help rehabilitate people ticular population or alleviating a specific type who have been convicted of crimes. Examples of problem. Others work with a wide range of include abuse prevention programs, juvenile populations and issues. Most of these organizations are part of the justice organizations, and prisoner rehabilita- social assistance industry. The organization tion programs. types described below differ somewhat from Multipurpose human service organi- the formal classifications that BLS uses. zations provide multiple services that help Employment agencies provide clients clients improve their situation. Among these with the assistance necessary to find and keep organizations are senior citizen centers, foster jobs. Employment agencies include job place- care and adoption agencies, and women’s ment agencies and vocational rehabilitation shelters. services for people with disabilities. Food and nutrition agencies help clients Public safety and disaster relief organi- get healthy meals or learn the skills neces- zations help people prepare for and recover sary to prepare nutritious meals themselves. from disasters. Examples include disaster Food delivery programs and food banks are relief and search-and-rescue organizations. examples. Housing and shelter organizations help Youth development organizations clients find appropriate temporary or perma- provide recreational and social programs for nent housing. Organizations include senior children and teenagers. Among these are Big housing facilities, homeless shelters, and Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, and transitional housing. afterschool programs. lack of confidence that prevents them. They’ve National Organization of Human Services’ never had someone encourage them.” Olding. Neil Headman, assistant professor of However, human service workers are human services at the University of Illinois trained to recognize when emotional support at Springfield, agrees. “It doesn’t matter who and encouragement are not enough. In those your client is,” he says. “Everyone needs help.” cases, human service workers may direct a The following overview of types of clients client toward additional support services to is not exhaustive. Furthermore, clients deal- address more serious issues, such as domestic ing with more than one problem may fall into violence. more than one group; for example, someone with a mental illness may also have a problem with substance abuse. Populations served by Children and families. Human service workers ensure that children live in safe human service workers homes and have their basic needs met. Guid- Human service workers assist a diverse popu- ing parents in caring for their children may lation of clients, who are of every age and include assisting with applications for food have a broad range of issues. “The client base stamps or low-income housing and locating of human services runs the gamut,” says the reliable childcare. Fall 2011 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 25 In some cases, such as those involv- This might mean coordinating the delivery of ing physical abuse or domestic violence, prepared meals or the placement of personal human service workers might recommend care aides to help with daily living activities. that children be removed from their parents’ For older clients who are unable to live custody and be placed in foster care or group alone, human service workers help with their homes. This removal may be temporary placement in nursing homes or other residen- or permanent, but the goal is to work with tial care facilities. For clients nearing the end parents toward improving the situation so that of their lives, human service workers may children can return home. “The best place to coordinate the provision of hospice care. (For serve kids is in their home and with a family,” information on nursing careers in nursing says Joan Wallace-Benjamin, who runs a child homes and other facilities, see “Nursing jobs welfare agency in the Boston, Massachusetts, in nursing homes,”