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CHAPTER 8
Working Within A System
CHAPTER GOALS
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Describe the agency environment
3. Build an information network
5. Define encapsulation and burnout in human services
6. Describe methods of promoting change
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
At the end of the chapter, students will be able to
1.1 Identify three ways to answer the question “What does this agency do?”
1.3 Name four kinds of information about an agenda you can learn from a job
description
1.5 List the types of resources available to an agency
2.1 Name the steps in the referral process
2.3 Identify three situations in which a referral is appropriate
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2.5 Explain the steps that help build an information network
3.1 Identify three ways the human service professional allocates resources
3.3 List three reasons that collaboration with other agencies is difficult
35. Suggest ways that the helper can continue to develop professionally
4.2 Illustrate the steps in advocacy
4.3 Identify the strengths of community organization reflected in the principles of
community organizing
READINGS
Introduction to Human Services – Chapter 8
Introduction to Human Services – Cases and Applications – Chapter 8
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter Eight focuses on working within the human service environment. One
way to understand the agency environment is to look at mission and goals that guide the
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professional. Referral or brokering services is one way this occurs. It involves two steps:
assessing client needs and linking the client with services. A successful referral depends
on a number of factors including knowing when, how, and where to refer. Evaluating the
referral helps determine both client satisfaction and the match between problem and
service. Making and receiving referrals is an important part of building one’s own
Clients benefit if human service organizations work together. But there is tension
between competition and coalition among agencies as turf issues rise. The work itself
puts professionals at risk for encapsulation and burnout. Both of these affect the way the
helper works with clients.
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. The agency environment
A. Mission and Goals
2. Goal statements, job descriptions, and rules and regulations indicate
direction and culture of the agency
B. Structure
1. Defines relationships among people who work in an agency
3. Organizational chart illustrates chain of command
C. Resources
2. Planning in an agency relates to funding
3. Other resources include buildings, land, staff, and short-term goals
D. The Community Context
1. Study the larger framework of the agency to understand complexities
3. Agencies try to become part of the community in which they reside
II. Using available services
A. Referral
1. Referral or brokering is a two step process
2. Expectations and cooperation influence the success of referrals
B. Components of the referral process
1. When to refer depends on a number of factors
3. Determining where to refer requires knowledge of community
resources
4. Evaluating the referral means systematic follow-up to determine client
satisfaction and the match between problem and service
C. Building an information network leads to successful referrals
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2. Collect and record info to build a file
D. Know the formal and informal networks
2. The informal network is determined by an established history of
working together
3. The three types of formal and informal networks are personal,
professional, and organizational
III. Challenges to day-to-day human service work
A. Allocation of resources
2. Allocation of time, decisions about implementation of a plan and
special favors represent decisions about resources
B. Paperwork blues
1. Paperwork is time consuming
3. Paperwork documents professional efforts and outcomes
C. Turf issues
2. Turf issues arise when agencies compete for the same resources
3. Collaboration is a complex undertaking that requires constant attention
D. Encapsulation and burnout
1. Encapsulation is retreating from helping by becoming rigid and
insensitive
2. Burnout, resulting from the strain and stress of professional demands,
diminishes the helper’s ability to work with clients
E. Professional development
2. Includes developing new knowledge and skills and continuing
education
IV. Promoting change in a dynamic world
A. Developing services in response to community needs
1. Advocating for services not presently available
B. Organizing to promote community change
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2. Like-minded people band together
3. Results in improving the client’s environment
C. Using a model of client empowerment
1. Primary goal is placement of advocacy in hands of client
2. Educate and train clients to organize their efforts
INTRODUCING THE CHAPTER
1. Ask students to identify a local organization on the World Wide Web. Determine
agency mission goals, type of staff, and job responsibilities. What else on the
web site helps you better understand the agency?
2. Ask students to list all the individuals who are important in their lives including
parents, friends, teachers, supervisors and others. Ask them to put that list aside
and make another list of all the organizations and any agencies with which they
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
The following activity provides students with an opportunity to practice their
information-finding skills. Change words and titles when appropriate to reflect your own
Learning to Find Resources
Using a local Community Services Directory, answer the following questions:
1. What organization publishes the Community Service Directory?
2. The Directory has an alphabetical index and a classified index. In your own
words, what is the difference? How would you use each if you needed to find a
service?
3. What kind of information is available about each agency, organization or
institution?
4. On what page do you find information about the juvenile justice system?
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a. What service does it provide?
b. Is it tax supported or privately funded?
c. What is the hotline number to report child abuse?
8. Find a place to house and counsel a runaway adolescent. Name the place,
location, phone number and describe how you found out about it.
9. If you don’t know where to find help, what telephone number service is available
at the United Way?
11. Where could you find a recreational program especially designed for a diabetic
child? Include name of organization, phone number and address.
If these questions do not reflect the content of the Community Services Directory you are
using, design questions that will help your students use it.
Assessing and Finding Resources for Human Service Cases
(Use complete sentences and paragraphs)
1. Read the following case descriptions.
3. Decide which problems need to be worked on first, second, third, etc.
4. Find resources for these consumers. Consider geographic location, cost, types of
5. Discuss how you chose a particular service. Why was it appropriate? Where did
you find out about it? (You may use services other than the directory for this
6. If you cannot find a service, you have discovered a “gap in services”. What kind
of organization do you recommend to address the “gap in service” issue?
7. Look up any terms you do not understand.
CASE A:
Mr. A and his family are political refugees from Ethiopia who have recently arrived in
your city. Mr. A and wife have 4 children ages 4, 9, 12, and 15. They live in an
apartment near Grand and I-44. The family needs to learn English. Mr. A needs a job,
Mrs. A wants contact with other refugees from Ethiopia, and the children need shoes and
clothes for school. They have no car and must rely on public transportation.
CASE B:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, age 70, have a 24-year-old son with an identified emotional
disability who has not been able to hold a job. They would like to find an organization(s)
that can help them. They are concerned about how he can support himself and how he
can eventually live on his own. They live in the southern part of the city or county.
CASE C:
Margaret is a single parent with two preschool children. She has an adequate job and can
pay for a daycare center. She is very worried about how to choose a good one. She has
CASE D:
Joan has been married 10 years and has three children ages 4, 6, and 8. The 6– and 8-year
old children are having behavior problems at school and bedwetting at home. Joan’s
CASE E:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a mentally and physically handicapped child who needs
constant care. They want a one-week vacation, but have no family or friends who are
willing or able to care for this special child. They can afford to pay someone but they
READING AND STUDY GUIDE: READ, REVIEW, APPLY
These questions may help the student’s identify important concepts as they read the
chapter.
1. What is the purpose of an agency mission?
2. What does a job advertisement tell you?
4. Define chain of command.
5. What does an organizational chart tell you about an agency?
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6. Distinguish between not-for-profit and for profit agencies.
7. How does funding influence agency operations?
8. Why is it important to understand the community context?
9. How do agencies and their staffs connect with the community?
10. Describe the referral process.
11. Why and how should a helper make a referral?
13. Why is an information network important for the human service professional?
14. How does the helper build a file of information?
15. What are the many ways a helper can collect information?
16. Compare the formal and informal networks of an organization.
18. Why is it important for helpers to complete their paperwork in a timely and
effective manner?
19. How can a human service professional collaborate effectively with other
agencies?
21. What are some professional development activities in which the helper can
engage?
22. Why must services be developed in response to human needs? What happens
when needs are ignored?
23. What is the advocacy process?
24. Why is it important to learn how to organize to promote community change?
25. What are relevant concepts used to promote community change?
26. What is a model of client empowerment?
27. What are the goals of this model?
1. Describe the ways the professional can learn more about an agency.
3. What is a “good” referral? To answer this question, establish criteria to judge
4. What are four challenges faced by the human service professional?
5. How can professional development counter these challenges?
6. How can human service professionals promote change?
8. Why is the client empowerment model for change an effective one?
The following exercises allow students to apply what they have learned from the
chapter.
1. Describe the environment of your school using the mission, goals, funding
sources, organization chart and a description of the surrounding community.
2. Describe a time in your own experience when:
a. Your lack of knowledge of either the formal system or the informal system
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3. Explain two of the challenges in the day-to-day work of the human service
professional that might be difficult for you. Outline a plan to counter these
difficulties.
TEST ITEMS
Multiple Choice
1. The agency mission
2. A job description
3. Knowledge about funding helps human service professionals understand ALL but
one of the following:
4. Community mapping
5. To make a good referral, the professional must know all of the following
EXCEPT:
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6. Which of the following is not a part of the four-step process providing guidelines
for linking the client with another service?
7. Self-help groups, schools, and churches make up a(n)
8. Professionals learn about other agencies by engaging in ALL BUT ONE of the
following:
9. The informal network
10. Human service helpers allocate ONE of the following resources:
11. Paperwork serves ALL but one of the following functions:
12. Paperwork is difficult because
13. Turf issues cause difficulties in collaboration by
14. Turf battles occur for ALL BUT the following reasons:
15. The encapsulated worker
16. Burnout means
17. Professional development is effective when
a.* the worker is actively trying to avoid or overcome encapsulation or
18. The process of advocacy includes ALL but ONE of the following:
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b. identify how to meet needs
c. work with a network of individuals
d.* teach clients how to identify needs
19. A difficult area in which to advocate is
20. One key component to organizing to promote community change is
21. The client empowerment model is effective when
Discussion
1. What five pieces of information might help you understand how an agency
operates?
2. What are the three ways agencies are funded?
3. How would community mapping help you understand an agency and how it
functions?
5. Describe the differences between formal and informal networking.
7. Why is it important to deal with turf issues?
8. How can helpers develop professionally?