Human Services

Brenda Safford, M.A.

Coordinator for Human Services
508.854.2841
bsafford@qcc.mass.edu

Brenda Safford is currently a Tenured Professor at Quinsigamond Community College. Before accepting this appointment, she served as a Coordinator of Admissions and was an Adjunct Faculty at the college for more than nine years. Previously, Brenda worked at YWCA of Central Massachusetts as the agency’s first Director of Women’s Economic Empowerment where she oversaw programing that empowered women to achieve economic independence. Previously she served as the Director of Multicultural Affairs at Assumption College. Brenda is active volunteer having served on the board of directors YWCA, Worcester Youth Center, Board of Trustees at QCC, President, League of Women Voters Worcester and serves on the League of Women Voters Sate Board of Directors. She also recipient of numerous awards for her community service and leadership including the National Institute for Staff& Organizational Development (NISOD) for Teaching Excellence, Commonwealth Citation for Outstanding Performance, YWCA’s Katharine F. Erskine Award, Community Build Youth Institute Volunteer Award, Girl Scouts of Central/Western Mass Women of Distinction Award, YMCA Minority Achiever, City of Worcester Advisory Board for Affirmative Action, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation Scholarship Committee and the Regional ACE Inaugural Award. Brenda received her Associate Degree from Quinsigamond Community College and her Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Rehabilitation Counseling from Assumption University.

TonyYeulenski, M.A, CRC 

Assistant Professor
Practicum Fieldwork Coordinator
508.854.2879
ayeulenski@qcc.mass.edu

In 2004, Tony Yeulenski received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Becker College and continued his education at Assumption College where he received his Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2010.  During his professional career, Tony has been employed at UMASS Medical School, Y.O.U. Inc., and the Bridge of Central MA as a Supervisor providing supports for adolescents. In 2006, Tony started a new work experience serving adults with disabilities at Life-Skills Inc. His supervisory responsibilities included Program Director, Human Rights Coordinator, DOL, grants and fundraising 15 of his total 30 years in the Human Services field. Tony has taught since 2009 as adjunct faculty for QCC prior to being named full time faculty within our department.  Tony has received numerous awards in the Human Service field; including citations from the House Senate and House of Representatives, Employee of the Year Award Life-Skills and Division Diamond award for UMass Medical School and received his NISOD Award for Excellence in Teaching at QCC.  Tony currently serves as the Salvation Army Unit Coordinator for Webster-Dudley and most recently trained for Disaster Relief deployment. He is also a member of the Webster-Dudley Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he works relentlessly on his nephew’s foundation, Tyler’s Teammates, co-founded by the WooSox.

Jean Kennedy, M.A, LMHC, HS-BCP

Human Services—Board Certified Practitioner
Professor 
508.854.2744
jkennedy@qcc.mass.edu

Professor Kennedy has been teaching at Quinsigamond Community College as a full-time faculty since 2002 and as an adjunct faculty since 1999.  She was Coordinator of the Human Services Department (2008-2015) during which time initiated and helped achieve National Accreditation for the human services program.  She has taught in the disciplines of Human Services, Psychology, and Sociology.  Jean holds an undergraduate degree in Music Therapy, a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Human Services-Board Certified Practitioner (HS-BCP).  She has taught in the QCC Honor’s Program for over ten years. She is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the field of human services for over 35 years.  During these years she has held positions as a Director of a Residential Scattered Apartment Site Program (Adult Psychiatric Rehabilitation Model),Group Therapist at a Fountain House Model program, School—Based Therapist (K-6th grade) a Coordinator for an Intensive Family Stabilization (home-based) program for families involved in DCF, and a Director of Healthy Families Program.  She holds a certification Reality Therapy (William Glasser) and certification of completion of Intensive (one-year) training in Family Systems therapy at the Family Institute of Cambridge. She is a level II EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) clinician and a Master Reiki practitioner.  She has studied and worked with Native Americans in South Western United States, participated in a three-year program on shamanism and is a certified Energy Medicine Practitioner.  She is a life-long meditator and brings mindfulness mediation into her classes, the college campus and to life! Jean has been a member of the New England Organization for Human Services since 2007.  She served as a Board Member on the Council for Standards in Human Service Education (2010-2017).  Jean has a Humanistic, strength-based philosophy in her clinical practice as well as in her approach to teaching.

Doe West, M.S., M.Div., PhD., HS-BCP

Human Services—Board Certified Practitioner
Professor and Chair, Human Services Department 
508.854.2840
dwest@qcc.mass.edu

Dr. West enjoys telling her students that she “wears two hats and a collar” as she is a Professor, a Psychotherapist, and a Chaplain! Now a tenured professor at QCC, she prior to that at Boston University, Northeastern, Assumption, Anna Maria, Bay Path and also was an adjunct faculty member here at QCC since 2008. She was the very first full time Professor at QCC’s Southbridge campus and also our primary online instructor for many years. Dr West has taught in Human Services, Psychology, Gerontology, Deaf Studies at QCC as well as Sociology, Social Work studies and Bioethics at other universities and colleges throughout the Commonwealth since 1982. She holds parallel degrees in the social sciences and theology from the Associates through the Doctoral level (a total of 8 college degrees). Her secular undergraduate degrees were in LA/Pre-Med Biology and Speech & Language Sciences with a parallel teaching certification in Special Ed; her master’s degree is in Rehabilitation Counseling and her Doctorate in Law, Policy & Society. Her theological degrees are in Sacred Literature, Religious Arts, Master of Divinity, and Doctorate in Pastoral Care to support her work with hospices and Emergency Rooms care. During her decades in the Human Services she has held positions as diverse as serving as the first Commissioner of Disability Services / 504 (ADA) Compliance Officer for the City of Boston; as Executive Director for non-profit organizations including  Social Action Ministries of Boston and Springboard Inc. for young adults with Developmental Disabilities; as Chief of Staff for a Massachusetts State Senator; as Director of Pastoral Care & Education for Quincy City Hospital and later as Chaplain at Overlook Lifespan Community in Charlton; as well as sustaining a small private practice as a Psychotherapist since 1980. She is of the Lenape tribe (Algonquin Nation) and was raised in the Native American tradition as a healer by her full blood Grandmother. As an adult she added training in nutrition, herbs and homeopathy and is a Reiki Master, Dr. West is a past Vice President of the New England Org for Human Services and passed the national exam as a Board-Certified Human Service Practitioner. She was awarded a NISOD medal for Excellence in Teaching, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award by Who’s Who in America. Her latest project for QQ was the creation of the national prototype Human Service Apprenticeship model and while on Sabbatical she added a next publication to her list of books and articles specific to our students at QCC. It is entitled: “Searching for Solutions: Case Studies & Discussion Questions for Helping professionals.”

Susan Moriarty

Adjunct Faculty
Program Coordinator, Direct Support Certificate
508.854.7585
smoriarty@qcc.mass.edu

"During the late 1950s and 1960s, there were dramatic changes in the area of helping those in need. Populations like the poor, the unemployed, children in need, the elderly, the disabled, the substance abuser and others began to be recognized as needing social and rehabilitation services. About this time, new legislation mandated that those formerly served in state mental hospitals would now be deinstitutionalized and would henceforth be seen in the communities in which they lived. It was not long before it became obvious that the traditional human resources would not meet the needs of the helping services being offered.

The community based mental health system necessitated that professionals be trained in a different manner. While the provision of mental health services was undergoing these changes, the civil rights movement brought attention to social justice and equity issues. Consumers of social services became more involved in advocating for themselves and in creating services that would meet their own needs. Thus "grass roots" (started by the clients) level activism created opportunities for new approaches to human services. Amidst all these changes, a new class of workers was born.

Originally called paraprofessionals, these workers were often those who had been served by the helping system and had a better sense of the qualities and skills that were important for helpers to possess. Thus, what had begun as an informal orientation to helping would soon become formalized as competency based mental health/human services training.

To meet the demand for and the availability of educational programs based on the development of competencies, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1956, provided the resources to establish the first associate degree program in mental health at Purdue University. This would be the forerunner of human services programs across the country.

It was not long before two-year colleges were offering human services (sometimes called mental health) degrees. Four year colleges were not far behind in developing and offering bachelors degrees in human services.

Today the number of certificate, associate, baccalaureate and more recently graduate degrees in human services has grown to more than five hundred academic programs. Associate level human service degrees continue to be the majority of degrees awarded for human services." (NOHS)

The pioneers of human services training and education programs felt that the answer to the workforce shortage was not to train another group of specialized professionals but to develop an entirely new kind of worker, the "generalist".

Generalists are trained in a wide variety of helping interventions so that they may provide direct services to individuals or groups with a diversity of needs. These generalists also work in many different service settings integrating and coordinating the efforts of specialized professionals. Although graduates may vary from program to program in response to local needs, human service generalists are trained in basic helping skills essential to the helping relationship.

These skills include:

• interviewing                                                                
• observing and recording pertinent information
• conducting groups                                                
• implementing treatment plans
• consulting with other workers & agencies                       
• mobilizing and utilizing community resources
• problem solving                                                          
• advocating for clients
• direct support
• social skill training

A major component of all human service education is experiential learning or learning-by-doing. Programs provide extensive field-based experiences or practica (internships) in a variety of community agencies. Such practica allow the student to integrate knowledge and skill and thereby demonstrate competency.

The delivery of human services historically has moved from institutional and medical based systems to community based, not for profit, holistic services. Human service professionals perform a variety of roles. Some of these roles are:

• counselor to those who need support
• broker to help people use community resources
• teacher of daily living skills
• advocate for those who are unable to advocate for themselves
• mediator between clients and between clients and agencies
• caregiver to children, elders, disabled adults

National Organization for Human Services (NOHS)

Human service practitioners provide direct and indirect client services. They assess clients’ needs, establish their eligibility for benefits and services, and help clients obtain them. They examine financial documents such as rent receipts and tax returns to determine whether the client is eligible for food stamps, Medicaid, welfare, and other human service programs. They also arrange for transportation and escorts, if necessary, and provide emotional support.

A sample of the tasks and responsibilities include and are not limited to:

• Monitor and keep case records on clients and report progress to supervisors and case managers.
• Transport or accompany clients to group meal sites, adult daycare centers, or doctors’ offices.
• Telephone or visit clients’ homes to make sure services are being received, or to help resolve disagreements, such as those between tenants and landlords.
• Help clients complete insurance or medical forms, as well as applications for financial assistance.
• Assist others with daily living needs.

Human service practitioners play a variety of roles in a community. They may organize and lead group activities, assist clients in need of counseling or crisis intervention, or administer a food bank or emergency fuel program. In halfway houses, group homes, and government-supported housing programs, they assist adults who need supervision with personal hygiene and daily living skills. They review clients’ records, ensure that they take correct doses of medication, talk with family members, and confer with medical personnel and other care givers to gain better insight into clients’ backgrounds and needs. Often time there is a need to provide emotional support and help clients become involved in their own well being, in community recreation programs, and in other activities.

In psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation programs, and outpatient clinics, human service practitioners work with professional care providers, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to help clients master everyday living skills, to teach them how to communicate more effectively, and to get along better with others. They support the client’s participation in a treatment plan, such as individual or group counseling or occupational therapy.”  (Occupational Outlook Handbook)

Opportunities for human service workers and assistants are expected to be excellent, particularly for applicants with appropriate postsecondary education. The number of human service workers and assistants is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations between 1998 and 2008—ranking among the most rapidly growing occupations. The need to replace workers who move into new positions due to advancement, retirement, or for other reasons will create many additional job opportunities. This occupation, however, is not attractive to everyone. It can be draining emotionally and the pay is relatively low. Qualified applicants should have little difficulty finding employment.

• Social services, except child-care, ranks among the fastest growing industries.
• About 2 out of 3 jobs are in professional, technical, and service occupations.
• Human service workers and assistants— the ninth fastest growing occupation— are concentrated in social services.
• Average earnings are low because of the large number of part-time and low-paying service jobs.

Public assistance programs have been employing more human service workers and assistants in an attempt to employ fewer social workers, who are more educated, thus more highly paid.

Source: Massachusetts Division of Employment and Training, Research Department

For additional information on trends and wages for human service careers

• America’s Career Infonet (web site)
• Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training
• Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance