Indirect Services
Indirect service is crucial for understanding needs of populations and communities, program development, administration and management and analyzing the effectiveness of agencies and organizations. The human service profession relies on indirect services to provide information of demographics such as where direct services are needed and how to conduct them in an appropriate and efficient way. Through coursework and field experience I got a feel for of a variety of indirect services used in the human service profession, providing me with a great set of skills that will be useful in my career.
In Applied Research (HSP 385), I learned that in order to fix a problem, we must have evidence there is a problem and understand how current systems create or effect the issue. In this course I wrote a literature focusing on food availability for low socio-economic families and the barriers to consuming healthy diets. My research concluded there are obstacles for low-income families in obtaining healthy diets due to cost, transportation and store location (literature review). This assignment highlighted how the delivery of human services depends on use of statistical information, analyzing, evaluating and disseminating information (CSHE, Standard 14: Planning and Evaluation).
By gathering research findings to support your hypothesis, you can spread knowledge to the public about certain issues. Once the public is aware of the issue, it becomes possible for organizations to create programs for people affected by this issue. Program planning is another important indirect service done by human service professionals; once research is conclusive, organizations can create programs to help address these issues in communities. There is a lot of work that goes into creating, planning and evaluating programs (CSHSE Standard 15: Information Management). The Program Planning and Evaluation (HSP 485) class taught us how to write needs assessments to receive grants to fund programs. The needs assessment must outline why the program is important, whom the program will affect and how it will benefit the community and society in the future (CSHSE Standard 15). Before writing a grant proposal, one must gather the exact amount of capital the program will need to fulfill the needs, including facilities, supplies, salaries of employees and the cost of conducting program evaluations. A needs assessment must convince your reader that there is a necessity in a community and this program will help alleviate the problem (needs assessment). Thus, it is important to use strong statistics and pull from data of previous research that concludes there is a need. It can also be helpful to briefly summarize and analyze previous programs similar to the one you are trying to implement; showing the program has worked for other communities. Or the use of programs that haven’t worked in order to discredit commonly held ideas, proving a new program is needed (CSHSE Standard 14).
The only way to tell if a program is achieving its goal is to conduct a program evaluation that collects data, which can be done by surveys of clients, employees and organizations. It can also be analyzed through quantifiable outcomes, such as reporting how many clients they served, how much money it cost for each client and if they met program goals. Once the data is collected it can be complied into ways that program planners can evaluate, including statistics of the program; how many people it benefited, total budget, what areas could be improved, and how to make changes to make the program more effective (CSHE, Standard 18: Administrative). Evaluating a program in Whatcom County was an assignment given in the Program Planning and Evaluation class (HSP 485), which taught me these skills. As a class, we input 500 client surveys using excel and complied the information. My partner and I used different excel formulas to create statistics for our area of focus and used these in our evaluation we wrote for the program (CSHSE Standard 15: Information Management). This assignment was a great experience that taught me many skills that are used in indirect services (program evaluation).
Going into the internship with a set of indirect service skills gave me the chance to apply this knowledge while working in the field. My first internship at Head Start I spent one day a week in the office doing administrative tasks. Although various coursework emphasized all the effort that goes into indirect services, it wasn’t till I was apart of the behind the scene work at Head Start I was truly able to grasp all the effort that goes into organizations in order to provide clients and communities with direct services. There was always endless amount of tasks to get done in order to keep the program running efficiently and effectively (intern reflection Head Start 2011).
One of the duties in the office was to create and update files by transferring families’ documents using a database called Child Plus. This program uses a point system in order to evaluate eligibility for enrollment for Head Start. After I entered files into the system and then filed them in the cabinet, I helped my supervisor conduct outreach in order to make sure spots were filled in all seven sites. Outreach is an important task because Head Start has quite a high turnover rate through out the year. If spots are not filled in the classroom all year, the program would lose a lot of government funding. I was able to grasp the importance of keeping the classrooms at maximum capacity because of what I learned about funding in coursework. I was also curious to why there was such a high turnover rate. This lead me to see how Head Start could use a program evaluation in order to understand why this is occurring and possible solutions to the problem. Shortly after acknowledging this, my supervisor warned me that important people at the top of the agency were coming in from Washington D.C to evaluate Washington States’ Head Start program. The evaluators came for a whole week to assess every classroom and office functioning and talk with employees. Everyone part of the Head Start program was very nervous because the outcomes of the evaluation determined their funding, which is mainly from the federal government. Evaluations came back weeks later and concluded the program was overall successful but noted areas that could use improvements. This was a great example of how I was able to apply what I learned in course work to experiences in the field.
Another thing I learned while working at Head Start was that each classroom differed in the number of kids enrolled due to the proportion of children who need services in a specific area. For example, the West County site had twice the number of children than the downtown Bellingham site which lead to a creation of another classroom, an AM and PM class. Through coursework I was able to apply knowledge of how this additional classroom came about. Someone predicted this need then conducted research which concluded there was a higher need in this area. In order to get the funding for the new classroom, the agencies had to apply for more grants, cut excess costs in certain areas and reconfigure their budget plan. Being able to apply what I had learned from Nonprofit Management (HSP 435) and Program Planning and Evaluation (HSP 485) to the agency I interned for supported and enhanced my learning of indirect services.
Course work and field experience has helped me to achieve competence and confidence in the administrative, program planning and research fields of human services. Being able to apply what I had learned in class to my internships was a great way to enhance my knowledge and strengthen my skills in indirect service. Through learning of indirect services I was able to grasp how much work goes on behind the scenes, and have the knowledge and tools on how to perform indirect services in order to provide services that support and empower populations.
Council for Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE) (2010). National Standards for Baccalaureate Degree in Human Services. Available at:http://www.cshse.org/documents/Standards-Bachelor_2010Revised.pdf
In Applied Research (HSP 385), I learned that in order to fix a problem, we must have evidence there is a problem and understand how current systems create or effect the issue. In this course I wrote a literature focusing on food availability for low socio-economic families and the barriers to consuming healthy diets. My research concluded there are obstacles for low-income families in obtaining healthy diets due to cost, transportation and store location (literature review). This assignment highlighted how the delivery of human services depends on use of statistical information, analyzing, evaluating and disseminating information (CSHE, Standard 14: Planning and Evaluation).
By gathering research findings to support your hypothesis, you can spread knowledge to the public about certain issues. Once the public is aware of the issue, it becomes possible for organizations to create programs for people affected by this issue. Program planning is another important indirect service done by human service professionals; once research is conclusive, organizations can create programs to help address these issues in communities. There is a lot of work that goes into creating, planning and evaluating programs (CSHSE Standard 15: Information Management). The Program Planning and Evaluation (HSP 485) class taught us how to write needs assessments to receive grants to fund programs. The needs assessment must outline why the program is important, whom the program will affect and how it will benefit the community and society in the future (CSHSE Standard 15). Before writing a grant proposal, one must gather the exact amount of capital the program will need to fulfill the needs, including facilities, supplies, salaries of employees and the cost of conducting program evaluations. A needs assessment must convince your reader that there is a necessity in a community and this program will help alleviate the problem (needs assessment). Thus, it is important to use strong statistics and pull from data of previous research that concludes there is a need. It can also be helpful to briefly summarize and analyze previous programs similar to the one you are trying to implement; showing the program has worked for other communities. Or the use of programs that haven’t worked in order to discredit commonly held ideas, proving a new program is needed (CSHSE Standard 14).
The only way to tell if a program is achieving its goal is to conduct a program evaluation that collects data, which can be done by surveys of clients, employees and organizations. It can also be analyzed through quantifiable outcomes, such as reporting how many clients they served, how much money it cost for each client and if they met program goals. Once the data is collected it can be complied into ways that program planners can evaluate, including statistics of the program; how many people it benefited, total budget, what areas could be improved, and how to make changes to make the program more effective (CSHE, Standard 18: Administrative). Evaluating a program in Whatcom County was an assignment given in the Program Planning and Evaluation class (HSP 485), which taught me these skills. As a class, we input 500 client surveys using excel and complied the information. My partner and I used different excel formulas to create statistics for our area of focus and used these in our evaluation we wrote for the program (CSHSE Standard 15: Information Management). This assignment was a great experience that taught me many skills that are used in indirect services (program evaluation).
Going into the internship with a set of indirect service skills gave me the chance to apply this knowledge while working in the field. My first internship at Head Start I spent one day a week in the office doing administrative tasks. Although various coursework emphasized all the effort that goes into indirect services, it wasn’t till I was apart of the behind the scene work at Head Start I was truly able to grasp all the effort that goes into organizations in order to provide clients and communities with direct services. There was always endless amount of tasks to get done in order to keep the program running efficiently and effectively (intern reflection Head Start 2011).
One of the duties in the office was to create and update files by transferring families’ documents using a database called Child Plus. This program uses a point system in order to evaluate eligibility for enrollment for Head Start. After I entered files into the system and then filed them in the cabinet, I helped my supervisor conduct outreach in order to make sure spots were filled in all seven sites. Outreach is an important task because Head Start has quite a high turnover rate through out the year. If spots are not filled in the classroom all year, the program would lose a lot of government funding. I was able to grasp the importance of keeping the classrooms at maximum capacity because of what I learned about funding in coursework. I was also curious to why there was such a high turnover rate. This lead me to see how Head Start could use a program evaluation in order to understand why this is occurring and possible solutions to the problem. Shortly after acknowledging this, my supervisor warned me that important people at the top of the agency were coming in from Washington D.C to evaluate Washington States’ Head Start program. The evaluators came for a whole week to assess every classroom and office functioning and talk with employees. Everyone part of the Head Start program was very nervous because the outcomes of the evaluation determined their funding, which is mainly from the federal government. Evaluations came back weeks later and concluded the program was overall successful but noted areas that could use improvements. This was a great example of how I was able to apply what I learned in course work to experiences in the field.
Another thing I learned while working at Head Start was that each classroom differed in the number of kids enrolled due to the proportion of children who need services in a specific area. For example, the West County site had twice the number of children than the downtown Bellingham site which lead to a creation of another classroom, an AM and PM class. Through coursework I was able to apply knowledge of how this additional classroom came about. Someone predicted this need then conducted research which concluded there was a higher need in this area. In order to get the funding for the new classroom, the agencies had to apply for more grants, cut excess costs in certain areas and reconfigure their budget plan. Being able to apply what I had learned from Nonprofit Management (HSP 435) and Program Planning and Evaluation (HSP 485) to the agency I interned for supported and enhanced my learning of indirect services.
Course work and field experience has helped me to achieve competence and confidence in the administrative, program planning and research fields of human services. Being able to apply what I had learned in class to my internships was a great way to enhance my knowledge and strengthen my skills in indirect service. Through learning of indirect services I was able to grasp how much work goes on behind the scenes, and have the knowledge and tools on how to perform indirect services in order to provide services that support and empower populations.
Council for Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE) (2010). National Standards for Baccalaureate Degree in Human Services. Available at:http://www.cshse.org/documents/Standards-Bachelor_2010Revised.pdf