Human Services Associate’s Degree Programs

Human Services Career and Training Information

An associate’s degree in Human Services concentrates on the examination of social services to people and districts. It also gives students the opportunity to work in companies and agencies, both public and private. The curriculum usually includes, but is not limited to:

• Policies in human services
• Evaluation and planning
• Law within social services administration
• Psychology
• Coursework devoted to communities

The associate’s degree in Human Services gives students a chance for jobs in the social service industry at the entry level. Students can choose to become outreach workers, child care specialists, mental health workers, case managers and program aides. The crux of the program is expertise at the entry level and the ability to effectively cope within a social service environment.

The twelve core courses that students seeking this degree will take are:

1. Professional ethics
2. Record and report keeping
3. Consultation
4. Counseling
5. Client screening
6. Intake
7. Client assessment
8. Client Orientation
9. Client’s Rights
10. Crisis Intervention
11. Client confidentiality (HIPAA rights)
12. Education of clients

Students who graduate from this program will take on the responsibility of working with psychologists, counselors and social workers. They especially work on the needs of the community as a whole: the disabled, families, children and adolescents and geriatric counseling. There are many job titles associated with human service such as life skill counselors, substance abuse counselor, case management worker, child care worker, and community outreach counselors.

As an entry-level worker, graduates will work under other people in the industry until ready to take on their own clients. The people who supervise graduates give them different levels of responsibility. There are those who work on their own but others need to be supervised much more closely. This depends upon the job and the rules of the organization that hires students from human services programs.

Workers in the human services industry supply all types of services. They make sure that clients needs are being met, such as helping them fill out important documents and organize benefits for them.

To become a human services worker, you need to have a great deal of patience, be responsible and know when to help clients in times of need. These jobs are always in demand and therefore, are necessary in every community.