Direct Services &
​Indirect Services
Direct Services
To expand on knowledge, theories, and skills as a Human Services professional, direct service is essential to gain a practical background and a better understanding of this field. Lots of my own direct service experience has occurred through coursework and internships to expand my competence and abilities to work directly with clients. The framework of the Human Services standards help set the objective and development goals through the process of attaining needed knowledge and expertise.
According to the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE) national standards, the interventions and direct services require that “human services professionals function as change agents and must therefore attain and develop a core of knowledge, theory, and skills to provide direct services and interventions to clients and client groups” (CSHSE, 2013). It is important to attain prevention, intervention, and case management strategies by using our classroom analysis and critical thinking to apply the curriculum into the field of direct services.
By using these theories learned in class and recognizing my own personal standpoint, I was able to connect better with clients to understand their own life view through developing interpersonal communication and conflict resolution skills to best anticipate and accommodate their needs. During my time in the program, I learned how to work directly with people and recognize the importance in communication, teamwork, the practice of ethics and identifying values with different individuals.
I was able to develop interviewing strategies in HSP 325 Interviewing for Human Services, to complete standard 16 in intake interviewing and individual counseling. In this course, we regularly conducted interviews and learned intervention strategies to use for specific situations. This class acted as guidance into the case management class where we learned more in depth intervention strategies for specific populations.
In HSP 345 Case management and interventions, I experienced my first opportunity to practice working directly with clients one on one. Not only did we discuss ethics, values, and confidentiality but also practiced how to handle interventions, risk prevention, and how to guide our client to have autonomy in their life. According to the CSHSE standard 16, I developed skills in the area of intake interviewing, group facilitation, and case management. I used the appropriate resources and information for clients during intakes, and also included referrals if needed for the clientele process. After this four-week exercise I wrote a reflection about the experience working directly with clients (classmates) to develop these skills. The theories used in previous classes on the history of human services and human service systems helped apply the skills needed to work directly with people, and how to understand their own interpersonal, community, and societal systems.
I gained knowledge in HSP 315 Human Development to better understand the history of humans, psychology, and sociology to reflect on our current strategies and services provided for different populations regarding race, gender, age, sexual orientation etc. and the history of developmental stages of humans through an international approach. These theories helped me connect to strategies used for direct services when working with specific populations. As I learned the stages of infancy, childhood, emerging adulthood, adulthood, middle ages, and aging I also had a better idea of the psychology of our development versus the social constructions and stereotypes that have emerged in these different phases of life. Through the reading Another Look at Resilience, by Donna Hilleboe Demuth, I learned about the negative stereotypes associated with aging and how our society views the elderly. As I reflected on this new concept, I learned how I could change my own attitudes and perceptions that I carry about this population as I worked with a senior home in fall of 2015. I was able to apply CSHSE standard 21, as I integrated this curriculum with my field experience at Brookdale senior living.
In HSP 440, my second internship experience at Brookdale Senior Living, I learned many new techniques and direct service skills that specifically applied to this population. I am also majoring in music at Western and wanted to find a way to incorporate music with Human Services, and possibly learn a little about music therapy. While I did not use any intervention strategies, I was able to focus more on counseling and therapy methods through music. As I led music activities and worked with a dementia and Alzheimer’s population, I learned support strategies to help them stay engaged and have more autonomy within the group activities. As the choir director in the main activities room, I had to facilitate and conduct rehearsals, give instructions, accompany the singers on the piano, and cater to the general needs of the group. In December 2015 we put on a final holiday program for the home, and had a large group of people gather together to sing. At the end of the quarter I wrote a self-assessment to reflect on the different direct service experience I gained during this new opportunity to work with an elderly population.
In various research classes such as HSP 385 Applied Research Methods I spent lots of time researching the criminal justice system and the various aspects of it. In my Research Methods class, as I looked up statistics, scholar journals, and books, I was able to better understand different components of the history of the legal system, along with various demographics that are directly affected by the law. As my literature review was specifically about mental illness in the criminal justice system, it also focused on awareness of these issues by the general public of the United States.
This research prepared me to look at the criminal justice system with a different population. In HSP 402 Human Services Professionals and Organizational Systems I was able to study the criminal justice system from the perspective of prostitution and their daily interactions with law enforcement in this organizational context paper. I met CSHSE standard 11, “The curriculum shall include the historical development of human services,” by learning about specifically the United States history of criminal justice, racism, and the colonization of this country and how it has led to our modern day justice system. In this course we watched the documentary The House I Live In that discusses the War on Drugs, and also wrote a reflection on the reading from The New Jim Crowe where Michelle Alexander discusses colorblindness and mass incarceration in the United States. As I was able to create a theoretical foundation of knowledge about this system, I was more prepared to use it in direct services with the population I was learning about. Through research and discussions about the criminal justice system, I was more prepared for my internship at the Public Defender office with background knowledge and different perspectives.
For HSP 440, my third internship at the Public Defender office included lots of direct service with people, including working with clients in the jail, witnesses, and working with other law and prosecution offices. I completed the direct services CSHSE standard 16, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in direct service delivery and appropriate interventions.” I have met these standards through completing intake interviews regularly, interviewing and consulting with clients, and witnesses. There were many challenges to bring a social justice perspective into a legal workplace. Through this whole process, I had to recognize the procedures and efficiently collaborate with supervisors, co-workers, and clients to meet the best needs for the client.
Although I did not have power within my work and the system, I learned to find the best ways to work with clients and make them feel that their cases were important and they were being cared for. For my biosocial cases, I tried to establish rapport with my clients and family members by talking to them in the jail, at their homes, or at the office to learn more about their lives. After my interviews, I would type up my notes through an interview synopsis and send the needed information to the attorneys and supervisors. Due to the large caseload that Public Defenders have, clients can hold negative views and it can be difficult to step in as an intern with many preconceived negative biases towards the Public Defender work. I eventually learned how to deal with this conflict and respond appropriately in these situations to still make sure my client received respect and that our office was also represented faithfully.
Through coursework and fieldwork I have applied the CSHSE standard 14, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in information management,” standard 15, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skill development in systematic analysis of services needs; planning appropriate strategies, services, and implementation; and evaluation of outcomes,” standard 16, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in direct service delivery and appropriate interventions,” standard 17, “Learning experiences shall be provided for the student to develop his or her interpersonal skills,” and standard 21 “the program shall provide field experience that is integrated with the curriculum.”
References
CSHSE - Council for Standards in Human Service Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://www.cshse.org/standards.html
According to the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE) national standards, the interventions and direct services require that “human services professionals function as change agents and must therefore attain and develop a core of knowledge, theory, and skills to provide direct services and interventions to clients and client groups” (CSHSE, 2013). It is important to attain prevention, intervention, and case management strategies by using our classroom analysis and critical thinking to apply the curriculum into the field of direct services.
By using these theories learned in class and recognizing my own personal standpoint, I was able to connect better with clients to understand their own life view through developing interpersonal communication and conflict resolution skills to best anticipate and accommodate their needs. During my time in the program, I learned how to work directly with people and recognize the importance in communication, teamwork, the practice of ethics and identifying values with different individuals.
I was able to develop interviewing strategies in HSP 325 Interviewing for Human Services, to complete standard 16 in intake interviewing and individual counseling. In this course, we regularly conducted interviews and learned intervention strategies to use for specific situations. This class acted as guidance into the case management class where we learned more in depth intervention strategies for specific populations.
In HSP 345 Case management and interventions, I experienced my first opportunity to practice working directly with clients one on one. Not only did we discuss ethics, values, and confidentiality but also practiced how to handle interventions, risk prevention, and how to guide our client to have autonomy in their life. According to the CSHSE standard 16, I developed skills in the area of intake interviewing, group facilitation, and case management. I used the appropriate resources and information for clients during intakes, and also included referrals if needed for the clientele process. After this four-week exercise I wrote a reflection about the experience working directly with clients (classmates) to develop these skills. The theories used in previous classes on the history of human services and human service systems helped apply the skills needed to work directly with people, and how to understand their own interpersonal, community, and societal systems.
I gained knowledge in HSP 315 Human Development to better understand the history of humans, psychology, and sociology to reflect on our current strategies and services provided for different populations regarding race, gender, age, sexual orientation etc. and the history of developmental stages of humans through an international approach. These theories helped me connect to strategies used for direct services when working with specific populations. As I learned the stages of infancy, childhood, emerging adulthood, adulthood, middle ages, and aging I also had a better idea of the psychology of our development versus the social constructions and stereotypes that have emerged in these different phases of life. Through the reading Another Look at Resilience, by Donna Hilleboe Demuth, I learned about the negative stereotypes associated with aging and how our society views the elderly. As I reflected on this new concept, I learned how I could change my own attitudes and perceptions that I carry about this population as I worked with a senior home in fall of 2015. I was able to apply CSHSE standard 21, as I integrated this curriculum with my field experience at Brookdale senior living.
In HSP 440, my second internship experience at Brookdale Senior Living, I learned many new techniques and direct service skills that specifically applied to this population. I am also majoring in music at Western and wanted to find a way to incorporate music with Human Services, and possibly learn a little about music therapy. While I did not use any intervention strategies, I was able to focus more on counseling and therapy methods through music. As I led music activities and worked with a dementia and Alzheimer’s population, I learned support strategies to help them stay engaged and have more autonomy within the group activities. As the choir director in the main activities room, I had to facilitate and conduct rehearsals, give instructions, accompany the singers on the piano, and cater to the general needs of the group. In December 2015 we put on a final holiday program for the home, and had a large group of people gather together to sing. At the end of the quarter I wrote a self-assessment to reflect on the different direct service experience I gained during this new opportunity to work with an elderly population.
In various research classes such as HSP 385 Applied Research Methods I spent lots of time researching the criminal justice system and the various aspects of it. In my Research Methods class, as I looked up statistics, scholar journals, and books, I was able to better understand different components of the history of the legal system, along with various demographics that are directly affected by the law. As my literature review was specifically about mental illness in the criminal justice system, it also focused on awareness of these issues by the general public of the United States.
This research prepared me to look at the criminal justice system with a different population. In HSP 402 Human Services Professionals and Organizational Systems I was able to study the criminal justice system from the perspective of prostitution and their daily interactions with law enforcement in this organizational context paper. I met CSHSE standard 11, “The curriculum shall include the historical development of human services,” by learning about specifically the United States history of criminal justice, racism, and the colonization of this country and how it has led to our modern day justice system. In this course we watched the documentary The House I Live In that discusses the War on Drugs, and also wrote a reflection on the reading from The New Jim Crowe where Michelle Alexander discusses colorblindness and mass incarceration in the United States. As I was able to create a theoretical foundation of knowledge about this system, I was more prepared to use it in direct services with the population I was learning about. Through research and discussions about the criminal justice system, I was more prepared for my internship at the Public Defender office with background knowledge and different perspectives.
For HSP 440, my third internship at the Public Defender office included lots of direct service with people, including working with clients in the jail, witnesses, and working with other law and prosecution offices. I completed the direct services CSHSE standard 16, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in direct service delivery and appropriate interventions.” I have met these standards through completing intake interviews regularly, interviewing and consulting with clients, and witnesses. There were many challenges to bring a social justice perspective into a legal workplace. Through this whole process, I had to recognize the procedures and efficiently collaborate with supervisors, co-workers, and clients to meet the best needs for the client.
Although I did not have power within my work and the system, I learned to find the best ways to work with clients and make them feel that their cases were important and they were being cared for. For my biosocial cases, I tried to establish rapport with my clients and family members by talking to them in the jail, at their homes, or at the office to learn more about their lives. After my interviews, I would type up my notes through an interview synopsis and send the needed information to the attorneys and supervisors. Due to the large caseload that Public Defenders have, clients can hold negative views and it can be difficult to step in as an intern with many preconceived negative biases towards the Public Defender work. I eventually learned how to deal with this conflict and respond appropriately in these situations to still make sure my client received respect and that our office was also represented faithfully.
Through coursework and fieldwork I have applied the CSHSE standard 14, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in information management,” standard 15, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skill development in systematic analysis of services needs; planning appropriate strategies, services, and implementation; and evaluation of outcomes,” standard 16, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in direct service delivery and appropriate interventions,” standard 17, “Learning experiences shall be provided for the student to develop his or her interpersonal skills,” and standard 21 “the program shall provide field experience that is integrated with the curriculum.”
References
CSHSE - Council for Standards in Human Service Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://www.cshse.org/standards.html
Indirect Services
As a person who has always enjoyed working directly with people, I did not see how my own work would transition into indirect work, or how to approach certain populations and issues on a higher level. Although I do enjoy working with people one on one, I like to do larger projects that are not specifically monitored by any particular person or client. During my time in Human Services, I have learned many useful indirect service skills by working on projects, conducting research, and/or assisting supervisors. According to CSHSE, I have met the indirect services standard 15, “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skill development in systematic analysis of service needs; planning appropriate strategies, services, and implementation; and evaluation of outcomes.”
My first HSP 385 Applied Research Methods class introduced me to Human Services work that is useful for proposing research and data. Although I had not considered how this is useful outside of academia, I learned crucial writing and research skills to learn more in depth about populations I am interested in. Through extensive research, that helped direct me towards specific interest areas, I was able to narrow down the spectrum of services that I might be interested in. This helped transition from academic theories and concepts by applying them to a professional spectrum of work.
After learning useful research strategies, I was able to apply these skills in HSP 341 Practicum at the Bellingham Fire Department. In 2014-2015, the Broadway fire station implemented a pilot Community Paramedic Program, to decrease 911 calls and Emergency Medical Service use through intervening with frequent 911 callers. The community paramedic would visit with clients and act as a case manager; to connect them with needed social or health services for people with chronic and frequent medical concerns. The results of this program, through decreasing 911 EMS response and costs, would likely receive government funding to establish the program in Bellingham. As an intern, I helped gather the data and research to present to the mayor and city council members to see if they would fund the program. Through this research, data entry, and collaboration with my supervisor and another volunteer, we presented feedback and thoughtful criticism to try to prepare the best possible presentation. During this time, I got to research other Community Paramedic programs to include in the presentation, and learn about specific community needs, ways to address them, and how to plan or maintain a program.
In HSP 485 Program Planning and Evaluation, I was able to follow up on this project through a needs assessment. As a pilot program, there was still a lot of experimentation and little set structure to establishing the Community Paramedic in the community. Along with that, there was little knowledge of the community paramedic in Whatcom County. In this needs assessment, I addressed the use of Emergency Medical Services, as an available resource, to teach people how to correctly use the Community Paramedic to prevent frequent 911 calls, where 70-80% of the calls in Bellingham are non-life threatening (Moore & Stevenson, 2015). I proposed a methodology including focus groups that included health organizations, the fire department, and the police department to better offer services to the same clients they were serving, and also a focus group for the Bellingham community and Community Paramedic clients. Along with this particular assignment, I created a logic model that visually showed the process of inputs and outcomes of the assessment to increase the public knowledge and use of the Community Paramedic as a resource to increase the health of the Whatcom community.
My next HSP 440 Internship, at Brookdale Senior Living, although it was slower paced, was also a more autonomous job that involved lots of indirect planning. As I was conducting my own research and reading about music therapy methods, I was able to come up with lesson plans for activities, piano playlists, and choir directing techniques as I established different music activities for the residents. My supervisor, as the activities coordinator, helped me set up and helped guide me in my planning for this specific population. During this time I learned how to conduct my own self-directed plans and implement the work that I wanted to do in a creative way.
During my internship at the Public Defender office I learned crucial skills of working within an office. When I was not meeting with people, I had to keep up with biosocial projects, redactions, and small research tasks that involved lots of reading and writing. Lots of times the work would be helping the attorneys and investigators, even though we did not meet with the clients directly. This mostly included background work that had to be done to assist in their case that included basic office functions of writing professional memos, reading through medical records, and communicating with other organizations. This experience helped prepare me for a professional field of balancing direct and indirect service work.
My last quarter in Human Services involved more indirect service classes such as HSP 484 Program Funding and Grant Writing. In this course, I learned the process of grant writing through prospecting funders and writing proposals to increase funding for an organization. Human Services workers that work directly with clients might not always focus on the management and finances of an organization. However, this is useful when needing to know the basic systematic functions of a workplace. When specifically working for nonprofit organizations, it will be highly useful to know how to write a grant. In this course I went through the process of creating a new program with a logic model to identify an overarching goal that can be reached with resources, activities, and outputs as a results of a properly implemented plan. My plan, to form a new Art and Music Therapy program for Pioneer Human Services as adults are transitioning out of jail, would serve as a mental health-counseling tool and as a new means of alternative expression and therapy. The next step in the process included a funding matrix, to find possible funders, independent or corporation foundations, to submit a letter of inquiry (LOI) and also a master proposal. This process taught me how to be incredibly thorough and precise, to pay attention to detail within my writing, timeliness, and persistence. As foundations receive hundreds of grant proposals, it is an incredibly competitive way to display a new program or request for funds.
In these processes of indirect service delivery, I have applied standards 14, 15, and 18. Standard 14 “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in information management”. Standard 15 “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skill development in systematic analysis of service needs; planning appropriate strategies, services, and implementation; and evaluation of outcomes” and Standard 18 “the curriculum shall provide knowledge, theory, and skills in the administrative aspects of the services delivery system.”
References
CSHSE - Council for Standards in Human Service Education. (2010). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.cshse.org/standards.html
Moore, R., Stevenson, R. (2015). Community paramedic. The Bellingham Fire
Department. Unpublished raw data
My first HSP 385 Applied Research Methods class introduced me to Human Services work that is useful for proposing research and data. Although I had not considered how this is useful outside of academia, I learned crucial writing and research skills to learn more in depth about populations I am interested in. Through extensive research, that helped direct me towards specific interest areas, I was able to narrow down the spectrum of services that I might be interested in. This helped transition from academic theories and concepts by applying them to a professional spectrum of work.
After learning useful research strategies, I was able to apply these skills in HSP 341 Practicum at the Bellingham Fire Department. In 2014-2015, the Broadway fire station implemented a pilot Community Paramedic Program, to decrease 911 calls and Emergency Medical Service use through intervening with frequent 911 callers. The community paramedic would visit with clients and act as a case manager; to connect them with needed social or health services for people with chronic and frequent medical concerns. The results of this program, through decreasing 911 EMS response and costs, would likely receive government funding to establish the program in Bellingham. As an intern, I helped gather the data and research to present to the mayor and city council members to see if they would fund the program. Through this research, data entry, and collaboration with my supervisor and another volunteer, we presented feedback and thoughtful criticism to try to prepare the best possible presentation. During this time, I got to research other Community Paramedic programs to include in the presentation, and learn about specific community needs, ways to address them, and how to plan or maintain a program.
In HSP 485 Program Planning and Evaluation, I was able to follow up on this project through a needs assessment. As a pilot program, there was still a lot of experimentation and little set structure to establishing the Community Paramedic in the community. Along with that, there was little knowledge of the community paramedic in Whatcom County. In this needs assessment, I addressed the use of Emergency Medical Services, as an available resource, to teach people how to correctly use the Community Paramedic to prevent frequent 911 calls, where 70-80% of the calls in Bellingham are non-life threatening (Moore & Stevenson, 2015). I proposed a methodology including focus groups that included health organizations, the fire department, and the police department to better offer services to the same clients they were serving, and also a focus group for the Bellingham community and Community Paramedic clients. Along with this particular assignment, I created a logic model that visually showed the process of inputs and outcomes of the assessment to increase the public knowledge and use of the Community Paramedic as a resource to increase the health of the Whatcom community.
My next HSP 440 Internship, at Brookdale Senior Living, although it was slower paced, was also a more autonomous job that involved lots of indirect planning. As I was conducting my own research and reading about music therapy methods, I was able to come up with lesson plans for activities, piano playlists, and choir directing techniques as I established different music activities for the residents. My supervisor, as the activities coordinator, helped me set up and helped guide me in my planning for this specific population. During this time I learned how to conduct my own self-directed plans and implement the work that I wanted to do in a creative way.
During my internship at the Public Defender office I learned crucial skills of working within an office. When I was not meeting with people, I had to keep up with biosocial projects, redactions, and small research tasks that involved lots of reading and writing. Lots of times the work would be helping the attorneys and investigators, even though we did not meet with the clients directly. This mostly included background work that had to be done to assist in their case that included basic office functions of writing professional memos, reading through medical records, and communicating with other organizations. This experience helped prepare me for a professional field of balancing direct and indirect service work.
My last quarter in Human Services involved more indirect service classes such as HSP 484 Program Funding and Grant Writing. In this course, I learned the process of grant writing through prospecting funders and writing proposals to increase funding for an organization. Human Services workers that work directly with clients might not always focus on the management and finances of an organization. However, this is useful when needing to know the basic systematic functions of a workplace. When specifically working for nonprofit organizations, it will be highly useful to know how to write a grant. In this course I went through the process of creating a new program with a logic model to identify an overarching goal that can be reached with resources, activities, and outputs as a results of a properly implemented plan. My plan, to form a new Art and Music Therapy program for Pioneer Human Services as adults are transitioning out of jail, would serve as a mental health-counseling tool and as a new means of alternative expression and therapy. The next step in the process included a funding matrix, to find possible funders, independent or corporation foundations, to submit a letter of inquiry (LOI) and also a master proposal. This process taught me how to be incredibly thorough and precise, to pay attention to detail within my writing, timeliness, and persistence. As foundations receive hundreds of grant proposals, it is an incredibly competitive way to display a new program or request for funds.
In these processes of indirect service delivery, I have applied standards 14, 15, and 18. Standard 14 “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skills in information management”. Standard 15 “the curriculum shall provide knowledge and skill development in systematic analysis of service needs; planning appropriate strategies, services, and implementation; and evaluation of outcomes” and Standard 18 “the curriculum shall provide knowledge, theory, and skills in the administrative aspects of the services delivery system.”
References
CSHSE - Council for Standards in Human Service Education. (2010). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.cshse.org/standards.html
Moore, R., Stevenson, R. (2015). Community paramedic. The Bellingham Fire
Department. Unpublished raw data