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Human Services & Behavioral Health

Family Support Studies Course Descriptions

FSS 124: Working With Parents

Credits: 5.0

Explores theories of parent development and different approaches to parenting education that are evidence-based and culturally respectful of families. Includes parent leadership, group process, listening skills, and curriculum development.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Articulate the role of parenting education and the effective use of active listening skills for use in family support programming.
  2. Identify theories and multiple viewpoints of parenting education that promote mutually respectful relationships for families and programs.
  3. Review and critique several evidence-based parenting education curricula for use with today's families.
  4. Recognize diverse child-rearing styles, perspectives, and family lifestyles and identify culturally appropriate skills and knowledge of parenting practices.
  5. Demonstrate skills in evidence-based practices such as listening, strengths-based teaching, and positive parenting practices.

FSS 128: Supporting Families in Schools and Other Systems

Credits: 3.0

Course introduces services and organizations in which families may be involved such as early intervention services, public school systems, positive youth development services, and other child and youth-serving agencies. Addresses breadth of services provided. Includes goal setting, documentation, and systems navigation.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Identify child, family, and youth serving agencies and programs and their functions in the lives of families.
  2. Identify the history of the public school system, how public schools are financed, and their leadership structures.
  3. Identify common ethical and cultural issues affecting families in a variety of systems.

FSS 195: Advocacy and Community Partnerships

Credits: 5.0

Course examines methods of supporting families through advocacy, leadership, and development of economic programs. Covers grant funding and collaboration with entities providing support to families, and emphasizes family self-advocacy.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Define and identify key elements of leadership, effective collaborations, and partnerships.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of capacity building and community asset building processes.
  3. Identify and describe advocacy efforts at the local, state, and national levels.
  4. Demonstrate communication skills and strategies necessary in advocating with a variety of groups and issues.
  5. Explain the process and procedures involved with seeking grants to support a variety of nonprofit programs.
  6. Identify, assess and mitigate the inherent advantages and power structure in organized systems for evidence of bias.

FSS 215: Family Systems: CD

Credits: 3.0

Apply ecological perspective of human development to family support practices. Examine families in the context of environmental and cultural influences such as social determinants of health and community. 

Course Level Objectives

  1. Identify components of the ecological model of human development.
  2. Demonstrate how an individual's social and economic environment shapes an understanding of their community.
  3. Describe how family support programs incorporate an ecological perspective of the family.
  4. Identify social inequalities, biases, and socioeconomic and political drivers that can affect families and family support practices.

FSS 255: Special Topics in Family Support Studies

Credits: Maximum of 5.0 possible

Workshops with special focus on topics of current interest in the family support field. S/U grade option.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Communicate the goals of the workshop.
  2. Identify culturally appropriate, mutually respectful, interventions and that support and strengthen families in any setting.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge and skills addressed in the workshop.

SHS 106: Introduction to Family Support and Prevention

Credits: 5.0

Introduction to best practices in family support, concepts and professional skills in the field of prevention. Includes theory, evidence based methods and practices, common prevention approaches, and strategies for working with community organizations, families, and systems.  Prerequisite(s): ENGL 99 with a 2.0 or higher or placement in ENGL& 101.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Identify risk, resiliency, and protective factors and processes in individuals, families, and communities.
  2. Describe various models of prevention and the steps in the prevention planning process.
  3. Identify criteria for evaluating success of prevention strategies and programs.
  4. Describe the processes used to sensitively establish relationships with families and other community members.
  5. Describe and demonstrate, from a strengths-based perspective, a sensitivity to the cultural issues critical in prevention design and implementation specifically for efforts with identified populations.

SHS 112: Child and Family Welfare

Credits: 3.0

Course addresses issues facing children, parents, and families such as family disruption, foster care involvement, special needs, adoption, abuse, and extenuating parental challenges. Covers how human services workers provide protection and intervention, and conduct home visits.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Identity the factors that contribute to a child being at risk.
  2. Describe methods used to support children when their families cannot do so, such as family preservation, foster care placement, residential treatment, and adoption.
  3. Identify common ethical, cultural, and safety issues, as well as best practice in home visiting.

SHS 115: Interpersonal and Groupwork

Credits: 4.0

Focuses on interpersonal and leadership skills necessary for working with individuals and groups in human service settings. Identifies the role and stages of groups, leadership qualities and conflict resolution. Includes role play and practice of skills for effective group facilitation.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Identify and demonstrate interpersonal skills that facilitate communication and create a basis for empathy and mindfulness.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of various leadership styles and how that impacts communication with others.
  3. Describe and identify the basic types of groups and the stages of group development.
  4. Explain and develop guidelines for group practice and ethical behaviors when facilitating or participating in a group activity or process.
  5. Describe methods to deal with group dynamics and development.
  6. Demonstrate the skills needed to plan for and lead a group process, including the designing of activities, group exercises, introduction, and closure.
  7. Assess personal competencies and leadership styles to respectfully and effectively communicate with diverse clients and other professionals.

SHS 185: Human Growth and Development: CD

Credits: 5.0

Addresses the multidimensional process of human development from conception to death. Topics include growth and change across the lifespan from biological, psychological, social, and cultural perspectives.This course addresses the educational content specified in WAC 246-811-030 (2 o). Prerequisite(s): ENGL 99 with a minimum grade of 2.0 or placement in ENGL& 101.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Describe development, including biological, cognitive, and psychosocial, as an ongoing set of processes across the lifespan.
  2. Analyze different developmental events from the perspectives of several theories and recognize those theories when used by others to explain events.
  3. Identify the research methods used in the study of human growth and development and be able to evaluate their usefulness.
  4. Describe development from the perspective of diverse consumer populations and explain developmental controversies related to these differences.
  5. Recognize important developmental concepts and be able to apply them to a variety of career settings.

SHS 219: Working With Diverse Populations: CD

Credits: 3.0

Identifies effective interactions, potential barriers to service, and treatment implications for diverse populations, including culture, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, cognitive, and health differences. Provides a frame of reference and skills for effective work with clients different from oneself. This course addresses the educational content specified in WAC 246-811-030 (3 e). Prerequisite(s): SHS 126, SHS 114, or SHS 115.

Course Level Objectives

  1. Describe enhanced cultural awareness of living values, life experiences, beliefs, and cultural norms in several ethnically varied populations.
  2. Define and describe the complex dynamics of culture, ethnicity, cultural heritage, prejudice, and concepts regarding racial diversity and societal struggles.
  3. Identify related aspects of personal cultural and ethnic profile and describe how current beliefs, knowledge and values might impact clients.
  4. Identify important resources likely to be useful in counseling culturally diverse or marginalized members of society.
  5. Articulate an understanding of respectful service delivery in human services and the importance of competence in various cultures in order to provide meaningful and relevant counseling.
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