Developing a Pipeline of Agile Human Services Professionals Training Series

Developing a Pipeline of Agile Human Services Professionals Training Series

Claudette Carter Henderson | 2023

Abstract

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division expects Americans older than 65 to increase from just over 49 million in 2016 to 77 million by 2034. In 2017, about 1.7 million Americans were addicted to opioids, adding to those requiring health and human services (United Nations, 2017). The need for human service provisions has exponentially increased. However, the decline in fertility and improvement in survival rates is creating a recruitment and retention crisis of agile professionals in the human services sector.

This project offers training modules to address human skills training for entry-level workers, leadership development for supervisors, and senior leadership through three training modules over eight weeks for two hours. The training modules designed for in-person facilitation will provide each level of responsibility with knowledge in self-assessment, ethics in the workplace, cultural competency, continuous learning, and communication. The remaining modules are information specific to developing worker and leadership skills.

Senior leaders are challenged with recruitment and retention and leading in a chaotic work environment, which can negatively impact the organization’s success and compromise the safety of clients. Therefore, the Developing a Pipeline of Agile Human Services Professionals Training Series will prepare human services workers and professionals in this sector at all levels of responsibility. Human Resource Development (HRD), trainers, and workers must form a triad partnership to build a pipeline of culturally agile human services workers and leaders.

Keywords: communication, continuous learning, cultural competency, ethics, trauma-informed leadership, self-assessment