Human Service Worker

Are you interested in helping clients become more self-sufficient? Do you want to provide emotional support for a wide range of individuals? If so, a career as a human service worker may be right for you! By evaluating what a client needs, creating a treatment plan, and putting the plan into action, you will inspire and motivate them to build a better life.

What Is a Human Service Worker?

Human service workers aim to meet the needs of humans through the use of solutions to problems, remedies, disciplines, therapies, and other techniques designed to improve their overall quality of life. Many human service workers find positions in drug abuse rehab centers, including alcoholism, halfway houses, retirement homes, and an array of establishments that cater to recovering patients, those who are mentally ill, and the elderly.

If you pursue a career in this field, you will be trained to work with patients by coordinating group projects or by speaking with people on an individual basis to figure out what is needed for them to live happily and to function the best way possible.

Job Responsibilities of Human Service Workers

If you pursue a career as a human service worker, you will provide client services, which includes support for your patient’s families in an array of fields, including social work, rehabilitation, and psychology. You will also assist other people in this field, such as social workers, and help your clients find community services and benefits.

As a human service worker, you will typically have some or all of the following responsibilities:

• Check in with your clients to make sure the services are provided properly
• Help determine the type of aid your clients need
• Help your clients complete the paperwork needed to apply for various assistance programs
• Work with your clients and other professionals, including social workers, to create a treatment plan
• Coordinate services provided to your clients
• Research various services, such as Medicaid and food stamps that may be available to your clients
• Help your clients find help with day-to-day activities, including bathing and eating

In this field, you may have an array of job titles. Some that are found in this field include human service worker, addictions counselor assistant, social work assistant, family service assistant, clinical social work aide, case work aide, and others.

Common Employment Settings for Human Service Workers

Working in human services opens a wide range of career opportunities across various employment settings. While you could be a social worker, case manager, counselor, psychologist, or development director, there are a common number of settings where you can practice each of these, such as:

• Retirement Homes
• Halfway Houses
• Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Rehab Centers
• Social Services Agencies
• Hospitals
• Shelters

Human Service Worker: Career Outlook

The projected job growth for those who pursue a career as a human service worker is set to grow significantly in the next 10 years. For social and human services assistance, the growth rate is 11 percent; for social workers, the growth rate is 11 percent, and for behavioral disorder or substance abuse counselors, the growth rate is 22 percent.

Students looking to enter this career path can expect to enter a healthy job market with positive projections for the future.

What Can I Do with My Degree?

When you have achieved a degree for this field, you have the opportunity to work with many people. For example, you can work with children and families to ensure that children have a safe home to live in. You could also help parents access the resources needed for their children.

For the elderly, workers will help their clients remain in their homes and live under their own care for as long as possible. They will work to coordinate meal deliveries and to find personal care aides to help a client’s daily needs, such as getting from place to place and bathing. In some situations, human service assistants will help their clients search for a residential care facility.

You may also work with people who have disabilities or those who suffer from an addiction, as well as veterans, immigrants, people with mental illnesses, former prison inmates and more.

Additional Training/Requirements

As a human service worker, you can hold a degree in several fields. Virtually everyone working in this field will have a bachelor’s degree that is related to human services, such as sociology, substance abuse counseling, social work, or psychology. Human service workers may also train for their career in several different environments. There are some who begin working in residential care facilities or hospitals as interns or assistants to gain the experience needed to work with mentally ill or elderly individuals.

You will likely need to figure out what type of work you want to specialize in and then concentrate your educational studies on that field. If you want to work with recovering alcoholics or with drug abuse patients in rehab centers, you need to take courses that deal with substance abuse patients.

Based on the level of services that are provided to a patient, a human service worker may need to further their education. For example, if you wish to distribute medication to your patients or work as a psychiatrist, you must have the proper license to do so. This is a field that is extremely broad, which means that specific careers may require different certifications or licenses to qualify.

If you are interested in pursuing this career, you will find that Bryant & Stratton can help you get the education and training that you need. You can reach out to the counselors at this academic institution to learn more about their BS in Human & Social Services program and how to begin following this career path.

Job market data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook is intended to provide insight on occupational opportunities and is not to be construed as a guarantee of salary or job title. Bryant & Stratton College cannot guarantee employment.