Trends

Team A

BSHS/305

9/21/2014
Joanne Schrock

As we look back over the history of the human service profession, we see growth in strategies, involvement, accessibility, and education. This field has experienced many great changes that have enabled them to be more efficient to the clients and themselves. Human service professionals remain educated and trained to be reliable resources to those who are in need. As trends continue to change, so does the role human service professionals and how they deliver services.

There has been quite a change is the role of the client in the helping process. For several years, the client was an inactive receiver of services. Involvement of the client in human service delivery has risen significantly. The client is now actively participating in the helping process. This transformation has required attempts from human service professionals to involve the client in the helping process. Forming a collaborative relationship requires skills that foster a trusting environment. After a connection is present, the client develops into an active participant in evaluating the issue/issues and circumstances, gathering information, establishing a strategic plan, and assessing the course of action. “Consequently, the client shares responsibility for the success or failure of the endeavor” (Woodside, 2011). As the client adopts a new part in the helping process, today’s human service professionals require diverse helping skills. “Advocacy—recognized, accepted, and taught as a human service skill—will continue to be emphasized in the future and will be critical for successful service delivery” (Woodside, 2011). “Advocacy denotes speaking out on behalf of clients or those who cannot speak for themselves” (Woodside, 2011). It often encompasses clients, the clients’ relatives, the community, and additional experts and specialists. Direct advocacy exertions can hold various forms: encouraging clients to take action; bettering environments; representing a client by writing letters, organizing and string documents; notifying clients regarding programs, public amenities, and guiding principles; and steering a client during the course of options and changes. In this, consideration of the whole person is more important than ever. The greater the sum of expertise, creativity, and problem‐solving skill applied, the more effective the planning and delivery of services will be. Each professional can perform his or her responsibilities better because of having participated in the process of setting goals and priorities as well as planning. “The team, the professionals also have a better sense of the client as a whole person and a clearer conception of how their own particular treatment is integrated into the larger plan” (Woodside & McClam, 2011).

The United States is facing trends in demographics that will influence the human service delivery. The following are areas that are rapidly changing are aging, diversity, terrorism, active participation of clients and the development of new and nontraditional skills.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2009), the population of 65 and older is expected to double in size in the next 25 years. Some of the challenges we will see as human service workers include areas of income assistance, health care, housing alternatives, employment issues and environmental modification. These include housing, depression, and death and dying. Understanding these issues and delivering services to the aging are a big part of the trends here in the United States.

Diversity includes many areas other than ethnic differences. We have differences in age, color, disabilities, gender, national origin, race, religion and sexual orientation. Diversity is not just with clients, but with the helping field professionals. Learning about different cultures, being open to the different religions, understanding the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population and respecting client’s values, customs and beliefs that are different from your own are part of self-awareness. Willingness to advocate for all groups regardless of the differences are part of establishing relationships based on trust, respect and acceptance. Human service professionals who build a strong world-view of others, along with skills and knowledge, will be effective in delivering human services with today’s growing diversity. Government spending is one of the most important economic events that affect the Human Services Field. Economical spending that is selected for human service such as housing, unemployment, food stamps, Medicare, and welfare effects the care provided to people in need of assistance. With the economy currently suffering, this forces people into unemployment, with the fear of losing cars, homes, and their valuables. This causes an increase in people applying for services. The economic need increases the demand of human services for assistance in the economic area. At times people experience extreme problems which may lead to economic hardship thus demanding more human service resources. More people are applying for services because of the poor economy and the government spending is decreasing because of the budget cuts. “Economic downturns create human service challenges for individuals and families” (Woodside & McClam, 2011).

With the abundant need of assistance and the availability of resources being low, many human service agencies are faced with tough decisions. Human service agencies are starting to understand that better fundraising and up-to-date policy choices on human service needs of communities are possible through better information management that help them gather, examine and show proof of the need for resources in the community. Governmental policies determine who are clients, and ways that clients may be served. Funding influences the resources we have to help the increasing number of those in need. Advocacy efforts continue to be critical and reaching beyond politics of Republican and Democrats alike to bring voice to client needs and increase the likelihood that helping others can be a bipartisan effort. Politics in the United States reflect a two-party system. Each party represents a range of ideas about the role of government in general and the role of government regarding specific issues such as rights of individuals, state rights, taxation, and the responsibility of government to help those in need. The two-party system is partisanship and bipartisanship. Partisanship indicates strong support of the party platform and a rejection of the other party’s platform or proposed policies. Bipartisanship is when politicians from all parties come together to support common goals. Human service educators recognize that their field continues to change rapidly and that innovative approaches to traditional helping may be needed to meet the demands of service delivery in the 21st century. However, it is also important to retain those traditional skills that are effective. As human service professionals, our challenge is to stay above both societal trends and new developments in order to provide quality services to those who need assistance.

Terrorism will also influence future needs in the delivery of human services. The Code of Federal Regulations defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against person or property to intimidate or coerce a government the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (Woodside & McClam, 2011, pg. 88). The most unforgettable act of terrorism in the United States happened on September 11, 2001. This day will forever be in the hearts of many American and they will always remember the “bombing of the World Trade Centers, the crash into the Pentagon, and the aborted flight in a field in Pennsylvania” (Woodside & McClam, 2011, pg. 89). This act of terrorism has changed Americans way of daily living. Many lives were lost and the families of these victims have suffered from either guilt, stress and some may still are grieving for the loss of a loved one. Human service professionals are needed in a situation like this to provide the victims and /or their families with assistance to help them cope with their situations. With the help of the human service professionals, the victims can have someone to talk to about their traumatic experiences. We do not know when and if another situation like this will ever happen but the human service professionals will always be ready to deliver their services to help the client in finding resources that they may need to deal with these types of tragic events.

As you can see, with the changing demand in the area of aging, diversity and active participation from the client brings new demands for human service professionals. Keeping up with the changing trends within the human service field is a necessity in order to assist clients properly. The economy and government play an essential role in contributing to these changing trends. To remain successful as a human service professional, you must remain up to date with the rising need within these areas.

References
Woodside, M., & McClam, T. (2011). An introduction to Human Services (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage.