The field of human services attracts well-organized people with excellent communication skills and a desire to improve the lives of others. Graduates of BMCC’s Human Services program start their careers as social work assistants, youth workers, gerontology aides, or community outreach workers, or in other roles where the focus is helping people. They assist clients in building skills for everyday life and guide them to vital services such as childcare, housing and job training. They lead group activities, administer food banks, and update case records in clinics, women’s shelters, group homes, hospitals—connecting a community’s most vulnerable members to resources that build their independence and quality of life. Some students who major in Human Services pursue further study in social work or related fields.
Human Services
- This course introduces students to the field of Human Services and the profession of Social Work. Those human services which deal with social and personal problems are explored as well as the knowledge base, the skills base and the values base of the social work profession. Students are exposed to the methods of working with people as individuals, in groups and on a community level. This course meets the requirements as a liberal arts elective in social science.
- The course is designed to train students in the use of helping skills and techniques utilized in the field of human services. Some of the areas covered in the course include interviewing and counseling, making referrals, assessment, group process and behavioral techniques. Course content will include completion of web-based professional certification(s) such as; child abuse identification and prevention, psychological first aid, and elder abuse identification and prevention, thus preparing students for field experience/internships and human services employment.
Prerequisite: HUM 101 - This course provides students with a basic understanding of the interrelationships between the physical, intellectual, social and psychological aspects of the aging process in contemporary society. Problems particular to aging are explored as well as policies and programs which have been developed to deal with them.
- This course focuses on the psychological and sociological aspects of disabling conditions, and the approaches to effecting the person's habilitation/rehabilitation through behavior change.
- This course is a survey of child welfare as a field of Social Work practice. Course content includes the relationships of parents, children and society; the development of old and new governmental programs for children; the impact on the family of child welfare policies, and the future of child welfare programs in the United States.
- Students are placed for one day per week in human service settings where they learn first-hand about agency structure and function, the activities of human service professionals, and the application of human service skills. Settings include community centers, hospitals, family service agencies, community residences for the developmentally disabled, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, child psychiatry clinics, etc. A one hour weekly class session reinforces the agency experience through case presentations and group discussion. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Human Services curriculum. Please note: This course has 1 hour lecture and 7 internship hours per week. Prerequisite: HUM 101 and [HUM 201 or Gerontology Major]
- This course follows the same format as HUM 301, Field Experience in Human Services I. Remaining in the same field placement, the student deepens his/her knowledge and strengthens his/her skills through continued practice and supervision. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Human Services curriculum. Please note: This course has 1 lecture hour and 7 internship hours per week. Prerequisite: HUM 301
- This course will acquaint students with the social welfare system of the United States. An historical perspective helps to illuminate the evolution of current policies, programs and practices. Poverty in the U.S. is analyzed as well as the specific programs which have been developed to alleviate it. Cross-cultural approaches to social welfare are also examined. Prerequisite: POL 100
