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12 Unit 1 Learning About Human Services
Figure 1.5 Human services careers may be found in many different settings. What other examples would you add to
this chart?
Examples of Where Human Services Careers May Be Found
Adoption agencies
Child abuse centers
Children’s homes
Civic groups
Consumer credit agencies
Cooperative extension agencies
Correctional facilities
Crisis centers
Day care centers
Early childhood programs
Economic opportunity corps
Elder services
Elementary schools
Family advocacy services
Family and children’s services
agencies
Federal/state governments
Food assistance programs
Foster care agencies
Halfway houses
Hospitals
Intervention programs
Neighborhood youth corps
Nursery schools/preschools
Nursing homes
Peace Corp
Places of worship
Planned Parenthood
Public or private schools
Publishers, educational
materials
Residential homes
School boards
Shelters
Social Security offices
Trade organizations
may be very different from one place to the next. These differences make
tracking statistics about specifi c career opportunities in human services
rather diffi cult.
Depending on your education and career goals, there are a range of
human services careers from which you can choose. Most human services
careers fall under one or more of the following broad employment
categories:
• consumer services
• counseling and mental health services
• early childhood development and services
• family and community services
• personal care services
• entrepreneurial careers
• related services in food, clothing, and housing
Consumer Services
In consumer services, workers help people budget, solve fi nancial
problems, and make good consumer decisions. Examples of careers
in consumer services include consumer credit counselors, consumer
advocates, fi nancial advisors, customer service representatives, and sales
consultants. Consumer services workers are often employed in places
such as fi nancial institutions, investment fi rms, credit bureaus, hospitals,
and insurance companies (Figure 1.6).
Consumer services workers educate their clients on how to invest,
save, spend wisely, plan fi nancially, and overall make sound fi nancial