Empowerment Paper
Empowerment Approach to Human Services Management
Havalyn Cantrell
BSHS/425
Heather Zahurak
Empowerment Approach to Human Services Management
In the wake of many recent tragedies including both those created by nature as well as those caused by man, we have seen the number the human service organizations grow beyond leaps and bounds. However how these agencies interact with their clients can play a valuable role when these clients come in to receive services. In trying to meet the needs of all those in the wake of such tragedies, it is often hard to understand how someone can also empower others within the agency that is offering services. In the light of helping everyone, many agencies are now implementing services now geared or centered on or around the needs of their client. However, this is one thing that leaves many human service managers faced with a pressing question: How can a human service program or agency come together and in doing so in a manner that can provide an adequate means for this kind of work? It is often because in today’s standards we see so many agencies working with “multimillion-dollar budgets, professional staffs, and expensive facilities that one may find it hard to believe that the underlying philosophy is one that any agency can live on.”
However, it is the agency that utilizes an empowerment-focused attitude and the theories that support them that has been an area of centralized research for many organizations for several years. It is the utilization of an empowerment approach within the agency that ensures that if the client can receive services or aid, it will given or done so in a manner that is both respectful as well without bias. At any agency, it should be understood that no matter what we want empowerment to be used not only to lift up the client but also to help to encourage the clients to do better each and every day. It is by using approaches aimed to promote positive energy and strength-based approaches along with
Havalyn Cantrell
BSHS/425
Heather Zahurak
Empowerment Approach to Human Services Management
In the wake of many recent tragedies including both those created by nature as well as those caused by man, we have seen the number the human service organizations grow beyond leaps and bounds. However how these agencies interact with their clients can play a valuable role when these clients come in to receive services. In trying to meet the needs of all those in the wake of such tragedies, it is often hard to understand how someone can also empower others within the agency that is offering services. In the light of helping everyone, many agencies are now implementing services now geared or centered on or around the needs of their client. However, this is one thing that leaves many human service managers faced with a pressing question: How can a human service program or agency come together and in doing so in a manner that can provide an adequate means for this kind of work? It is often because in today’s standards we see so many agencies working with “multimillion-dollar budgets, professional staffs, and expensive facilities that one may find it hard to believe that the underlying philosophy is one that any agency can live on.”
However, it is the agency that utilizes an empowerment-focused attitude and the theories that support them that has been an area of centralized research for many organizations for several years. It is the utilization of an empowerment approach within the agency that ensures that if the client can receive services or aid, it will given or done so in a manner that is both respectful as well without bias. At any agency, it should be understood that no matter what we want empowerment to be used not only to lift up the client but also to help to encourage the clients to do better each and every day. It is by using approaches aimed to promote positive energy and strength-based approaches along with
References: Cowger, C. D. (1994). Assessing client strengths: clinical assessment for client empowerment. Social Work. 39(3): 262- 268. Lewis, J. A., Lewis, M. D., & Packard, T. R. (2012). Management of human service programs (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.