1. Contact a Human Services organization in your surrounding community. Interview an agency employee (likely in a management position) either in person or by phone.
2. In your interview with the agency representative, ask relative questions from the framework in addition to your own questions to gain an understanding of service provision of the agency: what types of problems do agency clients typically need help addressing? what services does the agency provide? How do they assess clients? After assessment, how does the agency determing what interventions to use with clients? What percentage of clients represent populations at risk/minority groups? How does this compare to the community in which the agency is located? (3-5 paragraphs)
3. Also ask questions from the framework in addition to your own questions to gain an understanding of how the agency engages with clients. Is there an employee handbook/Code of Conduct? How does the agency engage with the community? How do they raise awareness of their services and availability to meet needs of community members? (2-3 paragraphs)
4. Next, ask questions from the framework to gain an understanding of the operations and organizational model applied by the agency. What is the organizational structure? Does the agency include all levels of employees in decision making? How is morale at the agency-how does the agency know? Who determines policy and procedure and how is it communicated to all levels of employees? What is the agency turnover rate? What contributes to this? Based on your findings, describe the organizational model applied by the agency and explain your reasoning. Is this the appropriate model for the organization? If not, which model do you think would work best? Explain your reasoning. (3-5 paragraphs)
5. Furthermore, ask questions from the framework to gain an understanding of how the agency evaluates its effectiveness. Does the agency meet its goals? How do they know? Do they conduct any type of evaluation surveys and if so, how often? Is the method of evaluation effective? Why or why not? If not, what revisions do you recommend? (2-3 paragraphs)
6. Finally, using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, explain how the services provided by the Human Services Organization you analyzed address one or more human right(s). Describe one way the agency currently advocates for or could potentially advocate for the identified human right(s). (1-2 paragraphs)
7. Evidence based information should be presented to support your analysis and reasoning. A total of 3 scholarly sources (interview with employee of agency/practice wisdom; one scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article, and organization website or literature if applicable) are required; preferably more. Your textbook does not count as part of the total number of sources. APA style is required. For students who choose the video option, present a slide or paper with your noted references at the conclusion of your video. (Some suggestions of research to explore: effective human service agency models, relationship between employees feeling valued/included in decision making and turnover rates/morale, evidence based practice in agency service area)
