Human Services (HUS)

This course provides an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of community human services agencies and systems. It introduces the student to the skills necessary for entry level and professional work in education, social work, mental health, human services administration, and supported employment. This course also reviews the historical development of social services and explores the societal values that served as the catalyst for the implementation of social services policies.

This course is designed to facilitate development of basic communication skills necessary to develop an effective helping relationship with clients. Students will be introduced to basic procedures and skills in information management, assessment, evaluation, problem-solving, and referral procedures. It includes the utilization of special skills to assist individual, families, or groups in achieving objectives through exploration of a designated problem and its ramifications; examination of alternative solutions; and decision making.

This course provides a theoretical background for understanding the concept of crisis and the role of effective crisis intervention as an integral aspect of human service delivery systems. Students will learn strategies and techniques for understanding and helping people in crisis, as well as an understanding of their own emotional reactions and methods of coping in order to stay healthy and safe while working in the human services arena.

This course serves as a scheduled work experience, without remuneration, which helps the student bridge the gap between classroom and workplace. This opportunity is designed to prepare students to become entry-level human service practitioners. The practicum is an intensive field experience in human services and community agencies. Students continue to learn from observation and hands-on experience. This course is the first of two required practicum courses for the Human Services AS Degree.

This course meets the Practicum 1 requirement for the Social and Human Services AS degree, the CCC in Domestic Violence Services, the CCC in Aging Services, the CCC in Community Health Worker, or can be taken as an AA elective. This combined theory and field-based course interrelates the study of cultural diversity in an overseas environment and the practice of social and human services. The course incorporates client, community, and environmental assessments, as well as ethics, planning, and intervention from the field of social and human services. It includes an overseas component where students travel to another country and participate in a foreign university environment to experience the indigenous culture and major attractions of that nation. The course serves as a scheduled work experience, without remuneration, which helps the student bridge the gap between classroom and workplace. Three weeks of classroom lectures and student participation at Eastern Florida State College will also be required.

This course focuses on the communication behavior of individuals within group structures. Didactic and experiential techniques are used to explore the stages of group development, decision-making techniques, group problems, problem solving, resolution skills, norms, structures, leadership, authority, membership, ethics, cultural sensitivity, and intra- and inter-personal dynamics within small groups. This course incorporates experiential learning where students learn about group process via group exercises in class.

This course is an introduction to the study of domestic abuse and family violence. It teaches human services workers both the evaluation as well as the outreach skills necessary for working in the field of domestic violence. The dynamics of partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and sibling violence are explored.

This course will explore various approaches used by the human services worker to help facilitate linking a client with needed community services. It is designed to introduce students to a variety of ways in which case management is used to assist vulnerable populations of clients.

This course focuses on the dynamics of family dysfunction including negative patterns of parental behavior, substance abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, and mental illness. The course addresses a broad spectrum of issues including the characteristics of dysfunctional families as well as the traits and characteristics of functional families. Emphasis is placed on causes, effects, and roles of individuals within the family system.

This course will help students explore the relationship between the law, the framework of ethics, and human service organizations. Legal duties and the rights of clients and providers will be discussed. The course will also provide a forum for the exploration and analysis of ethical questions and value dilemmas encountered by managers and clinicians in human services.

This course explores theories explaining familial abuse and teaches evaluation and outreach skills. Legal issues relating to partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and sibling violence are addressed.

This course examines how factors such as health, finances, and social roles, affect the elderly and influence family role changes and independence. It takes a holistic approach to the overall well-being of the elderly in particular and the family unit in general.

This course is designed to give students an overview of abuse and neglect of the elderly in society. The course will focus on definitions of abuse, prevalence rates, background, and services available.

This course is a continuation of the practicum experience for the Human Services student. This is the second of two required practicum courses within the Human Services AS degree. The course serves as a scheduled work experience, without remuneration, which helps the student bridge the gap between classroom and workplace. This opportunity is designed to prepare students to become entry-level human service practitioners. The practicum is an intensive field experience in human services and community agencies. Students continue to learn from observation and hands-on experience. Students must choose a different practicum site than was chosen for Practicum 1.

This course gives students opportunity to understand the relationship of theory to practice through participation in a service-learning experience. Students are required to complete 20 hours of volunteer work, a service-learning contract, and an oral and written reflection of the experience.