Current Trends In Human Services
The current economic and political climate has had a profound affect on the human services fields and has impacted those served in a very real and direct way. The Affordable Healthcare Act (AHA) for example has created such a backlash in the political and economic arenas that it has even caused the United States government to shut down due those who resist and fight its implementation and continues to be a heated debate. The relationship between economic and political events to the current trends in the human services field is becoming more and more intertwined as it geared toward providing services and meeting the growing needs of people everywhere, but with the human services funding deficits and cutbacks and with the political constraints causing complications, these needs are being threatened. Economic problems such as the recession and cuts in government spending and political problems such as the fight against the AHA have caused a lot of direct cuts to the human services programs and are not allowing the clients to be treated properly and for some clients there is no treatment at all. The economic and political events of today rule the trends of today’s society, by not possessing readily available services for those in need.
The current trends in the human services field such as broader use of diverse settings, outreach and human services in rural areas are a few of the products of the political and economic events that are shaping the way human service delivery systems are being provided. There is an ever-greater demand to do more with less and to be accountable for the funding that is needed to continue to provide those services. Human service organizations ultimately aim at evaluating, producing or delivering some type of goods or services to people in the community. Allocating human service resources to needy communities and populations in fast changing multi-cultural urban regions is becoming a major challenge for both the public and private sectors of human service organizations. In order to achieve this objective of effective production and distribution of goods and services, it is necessary to have a detailed picture of the target population and access to appropriate and timely demographic and socio-economic data pertaining to that population. With this information, public and private sector human service organizations can make decision in the best interest of the clients and communities they serve. Health and human service agencies today are faced with tough challenges in raising funds for program planning and service delivery.
This Is reflected in terms of governments increasing its focus on performance and outcome management; requiring agencies to produce measurable program improvements, and in many cases even making a tangible change in the lives of their clients. Funding organizations and service beneficiaries increasingly are requiring that policy decisions be backed by information indicating that such decisions are resulting in efficient and effective distribution of human service resources. Human service agencies are beginning to realize that better fundraising and well informed policy decisions on health and human service needs of communities they are serving are only possible through better information management that help them collect, analyze and display evidence of the need for resources in those communities. Human service professionals work to deliver the best assistance they can to their clients a lot the times the client needs are changing due to various needs, one of the reasons is because there are many demographic trends that are changing in today’s society.
There are many trends that influence the future needs in the human service delivery system such as the growth and change of the elder population in America, and the increasing diversity in this country. The senior population in America is rapidly growing and most of the senior citizens that are living longer are fairly healthy and active. There are the few that do have severe illnesses like dementia, Alzheimer’s, and arthritis. The issues that these senior citizens pose to human service professionals will be most likely when they reach the age of 85 and older. By this point it will be rare that the client would be able to maintain their healthy active lifestyle without depending on someone else to assist them. They might also have troubles accomplishing simple task like bathing or walking and these obstacles, including age, might lead to poor health.
The human service professional would need to find a way to deliver all the correct assistance to the client needs like in home care, medical needs, and housing if necessary. The increasing diversity in this country does reflect issues on the human service delivery process because there are so many needs in many different social setting to be met. For example, if you have a client that speaks a foreign language the professional has to make sure that the client will be able to understand all the material and information given to them. Human service professionals would have to make sure that they have adequate brochures and translators to ensure that the client does in fact agree and understand all the information given to them. Also the increase of diversity can influence the way that a client lives, for example it is common for most Americans to have single family homes, but in many countries it is customary to have your elders live with you. In conclusion there are many trends out there available and ready to be used to help the human services professionals to properly treat the person as a whole. These new trends are designed to be more efficient for the human services field and if worked correctly with the client’s welfare at the head of the process this will be a well driven force.
This force is intended to work for the betterment of the client and all that encompasses them as a whole person. If clients are being treated as a whole person and receiving treatment on a new level that is being administered correctly where services are not being repetitive or not being addressed at all should be a great outcome of success for the client. This force will also help the professional to not be overwhelmed with the job. Looking forward to the new trends working smoothly in the field providing client with what they truly need to succeed.
