The Behavioral Health Human Services Program: An Historical Perspective (1968-2004)
The current
Behavioral Health Human Services curriculum (BHHS) was initiated at
In 1970, partly based on the above NIMH experience, Community College of Philadelphia initiated a separate Social Service (SS) Curriculum. Its purpose was to provide a similar type of paraprofessional worker for employment in the social welfare field. The Social Service curriculum was much less career intensive, having more of an undergraduate social work transfer focus. Due to this focus it had fewer students. It should be noted that the same faculty staffed both programs.
During the 1973–74 academic year the MHW and the SS programs were merged into one integrated curriculum. This merging of curricula was reflective of what appeared to be occurring in the field of human services. For example, many of our graduates were assuming positions in a wide range of social service agencies. During the latter part of the 1970’s and the early 80’s the new Mental Health/ Social Service program (MH/SS), continued to maintain the college’s high recognition profile throughout the Philadelphia health care delivery system. More important than the name change was the merging of each program’s strengths. The social service program represented a broadly based more culturally sensitive, consumer orientation, which embraced the individual and group skills focus of the mental health field. The MHW program represented a superior interpersonal helpings skills orientation that continues to be the cornerstone of the BHHS curriculum.
BHHS Certificate Programs:
Between 1975 and 1997, the MH/SS curriculum developed three certificate programs to serve specialized needs in the community. The Social Gerontology certificate was implemented during the 1978-79 academic year, the Alcohol and Drug certificate (now Addiction Studies) became operational during the 1985-86 academic year and in 1996-97 academic year the Family Home Visiting certificate was made an integral part of the BHHS curriculum.
All of the certificates serve the BHHS student and the health care community in several ways: (1) the certificates were designed for individuals planning careers in their respective fields, (2) the certificates were a vehicle to upgrade individuals working in specialized settings that require new and/or updated information knowledge or specific skills and (3) the certificates were seen as a way of providing continuing education for professionals working in a variety of human service settings. Finally, all of the certificate programs are integrated into the BHHS degree program.
Managed Care and State Regulations:
A major shift in the program occurred between 1985 and the mid 1990’s when the MH/SS curriculum was faced with two major health care changes:
(1) The impact of managed care on the delivery services and
(2) The emerging state and national standards for Certified Addiction Counselors.
The managed care system has had a dramatic effect on the delivery of human services. The BHHS faculty, out of its concern for the preparation of its students in this changing job market, established a series of focus groups in the spring of 1996, with individuals representing both the health care delivery system and managed care. Out of these deliberations came a series of recommendations about how best to position our graduates in the evolving managed care job market.
During this same time period, The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Programs mandated a minimum of an associate’s degree in Human Services from an accredited college with a major in Chemical Dependency and two years of experience to be eligible for the position of Addiction Counselor. Beginning in January 1997 and culminating in March of 2000, the basic requirements for the Certified Addiction Counselor, as defined by the Pennsylvania Certification Board (PCB), were upgraded from a GED or high school diploma with two years experience to a bachelor’s degree in Human Services or a related field.
Pursuant to the above two concerns, the BHHS faculty implemented a series of changes, incorporating a new course on Brief Counseling, upgrading existing course content, review of transfer/articulation agreements and changing our name to be more in tune with emerging addiction and mental health managed care initiatives.
The new Behavioral Health Human Services curriculum (BHHS) was implemented in the fall of 1999. During the 1999-2000 academic year the Addiction and Gerontology Coordinator’s were involved in a Vocational-Educational Project to:
(1) Meet with treatment and regulatory agencies regarding vocational readiness of certificate and BHHS degree graduates,
(2) Review and begin updating evolving professional behavioral health educational requirements, and
(3) Finalize articulation agreements for baccalaureate transfer.
Through the BHHS faculty’s continued understanding of the behavioral health managed care system and its sensitivity to statutory regulations, Community College of Philadelphia was able to keep the BHHS educational program in the forefront of the training needs of counselors in the mental health and addiction field.
The articulation agreements, continuing professional education requirements, and the vocational readiness issues, along with our past experience with the focus groups, have led the BHHS faculty to a re-examination of required courses and a more serious deliberation on transfer concerns. `