The impact of paraprofessionals in new careers programs on the consumer of human services agencies is critically appraised in this report. Data is presented on the abilities of paraprofessionals in the health fields (in programs such as Outreach and those in which paraprofessionals work as trained dental aides, nutrition counselors, and counselors…

If human services in America are to become more responsive to the needs of the consumer, the training of the service worker will have to be radically transformed. Currently, the training of human service workers resembles that of prolonged apprenticeships. Teacher training, for example, requires general education and broad knowledge rather than…

To meet the already pressing demands for their services, human service agencies are trying to develop new resources and redeploy existing ones. The author proposes two strategies to deal with the problem and provides numerous examples of how these strategies have been applied successfully. (Author)

The growing demand for more services that are effective, accountable, and responsive to the consumer calls for a new training design for workers in the human services. A comparison of training for pilots and plumbers suggests a basic technique for this design. (Author)

There are probably over 300,000 persons working as paraprofessionals now, most of them in public schools, health institutions, and the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). In the past year major strides have been made in organizing these human service workers to satisfy their concerns for better services, closer community ties, and new avenues of…

Consumer education has traditionally addressed activities related to the purchase of goods while the human services (e.g., health, education, and social welfare) have received far less attention. This condition stems from several factors, including the "doing good" attitude of human service providers and the role of government as the provider of…

New forms of preparing workers in the human services have the potential of changing and improving those services. A central feature of the new forms of preparation is that they must both be preparatory for the services and be characteristic of them (for example, if the services are participatory in nature, the training should also be so). There is…

The concept of consumer participation is discussed as a new basis for the organization of a school and as a general basis of organization for all types of services. A service consumer might be involved as a general consumer around the service, as an active participant in service delivery to other service consumers, and as one directly engaged in…

This study focuses upon programs designed for full-time paraprofessional employees in human service agencies given time off with pay to attend school. The programs discussed are those whose curricula are designed to connect with and supplement the participants' work and which also grant degrees. Questionnaire returns from 162 such programs…

For the great number of Americans over 65 years of age, meaningful work is a central activity, whether or not an income support system is needed. Human services work, helping others, is particularly suited to many older persons. This type of work calls for education and training for those who had worked in different areas. College programs should…