Human Services Overview

Overview of Human Services Program

The Human Services program at Cañada College was developed in cooperation with State and County Departments of Mental Health, Rehabilitation, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Human Services. The program is designed to train personnel to provide value-based services for families in need of temporary social, health, and economic assistance. State and county agencies, nonprofit and private providers of services, social workers, psychologists, and medical personnel work in this field.

Mission

The Human Services program at Cañada College educates students in the strength-based philosophy of helping individuals and families in need of economic, health-care assistance, and social support. Students learn effective communication, counseling, case management, and cultural sensitivity skills; enhancing their ability to work well with our diverse local communities.

Vision

The Human Services program is dedicated to producing future practitioners in the helping professions who are committed advocates for their clients, teaching and empowering the populations they work with, such as families in crisis, elders, veterans, immigrants, women and children, people with disabilities, and those dealing with domestic violence, homelessness and other difficult social issues.

Program Learning Outcomes:

Students completing this program will be able to:

• View the client as a whole person in the context of family and community in assessing the client's strengths and needs.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of emergency and non-emergency services available in San Mateo County.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the qualities and characteristics of effective human service professionals.