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Overview
Human services professionals work in a variety of settings such as hospitals, mental health centers, addiction treatment programs, child welfare, courts, probation, schools, and food banks. This course serves as your introduction to the field. In the final assignment, you will apply what you learned about the history of the human services field and about current trends, theory, ethics, the helping process, roles, and the variety of settings in which human services professionals are employed.
The project is supported by four formative milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, Five, and Six. The final submission will be due in Module Seven.
This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:
Analyze the history of the field of human services for its relationship to current trends in the field
Describe theories, values, and ethics for guiding work as a human services professional
Differentiate between the various roles human services professionals employ facilitating the helping process
Research human services employment opportunities for informing career paths
Prompt
For the final assessment, you will select an agency in which you would like to be employed. You will research the types of services this agency offers by looking at its website, visiting the agency (if possible), emailing or interviewing someone who works at the agency. Once you have gathered the information for this project, you will explain why you selected this particular agency instead of others, write about how history and current trends have influenced this agency, what theories, values, and ethical standards you would apply if you worked at the agency, and how your personal values might be challenged, what your role in the helping process might be, and what qualifications you would need to apply for a job at that agency.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed
Human Services Profession
Choose a human services agency in which you would like to be employed.
What is the agency you selected, and what was your rationale for choosing this particular agency? What other agencies did you consider, and why did you not select them? Why would you like to be employed at this agency?
Agency Description
Research the types of services this agency offers by looking at its website, visiting the agency (if possible), emailing or interviewing someone who works at the agency.
What are the main types of services offered?
Describe what main type of professionals work within this agency, and describe their roles.
History and Current Trends
Give a brief history of the development of the agency. Consider describing who established it, why it was originally established, and how it has evolved. Include the mission of the agency and any other pertinent information.
How is the history of the human services field similar to and different from the history of the agency?
Describe current trends that impact the work of the agency. How do these trends relate to the history of the human services field?
Theories, Values, and Ethics
Review the code of ethics for human service professionals and theories learned in this class.
What is the importance of having a code of ethics? How would the code of ethics impact your provision of services in this agency?
Which standards in the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals will be more and which will be less challenging to implement, and why?
What theory might you apply while working with clients in your selected agency? Describe an example of how you might apply this theory in your work at this agency.
Role in the Helping Process
Based on your research, what roles might you utilize at this agency in each stage of the helping process?
Career Opportunities
Research the careers available in the specific agency, and discuss the qualifications.
Choose an entry-level position you are interested in pursuing, and discuss the qualifications you would need to apply for the position.
Detail the qualifications you possess and which skills you are lacking to qualify for the position.
Summary of Learning
To conclude this paper, summarize what you have learned in this course that you can apply to your everyday life.
Milestones
Milestone One: Human Services Organization Identification
In Module Two, you will select one agency in which you would like to be employed and write a one-page overview describing the agency, your interest in it, and the different roles and positions the agency maintains. You will focus on this agency throughout the rest of the agency exploration assignment. 
Milestone Two: Human Services Timeline Discussion
In Module Four, you will reflect on the history of the human services field and the history of your chosen organization through a discussion. You will make a post that identifies the founding of your selected organization and highlights an important event or news story that has impacted the human services field. 
For this assignment, you will post in the Human Services Timeline Discussion. Your post should do two things. First, it should note the founding of the organization you chose for the final project and include a few sentences explaining who established it, why is was established, and the mission of the organization. Second, it should describe one event in human services history (at the state, national, or international level) that relates to your agency (e.g., a new law or policy, a historical event). This milestone is to help you to discuss similarities and differences between the history of the agency you chose and the history of the human services field.