Horizons: Current Issues for Employment and Eligibility Services

As we proudly present this second edition of our Horizons publication, we can’t help but reflect on how much has changed since the inaugural issue was released. In the summer of 2020, then-Human Services director Susan Brooks introduced the publication at a time when the human services community grappled with the combined crises of soaring unemployment, a global pandemic and the violent personification of systemic racism.

Returning to celebrate in-person after four years, UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education happily hosted the biennial Outstanding Service Award reception for CPE instructors on Thursday, Sept. 8. CPE Dean Susan Catron presided over a reception that was well attended by instructors, staff, friends and family who were happy to celebrate the achievements of the past four years.

The field of Human Services is as wide and complex as its moniker might suggest. For larger agencies, an overlap in services is almost inevitable, but this doesn’t mean it should be shrugged off. For services that deal with vulnerable and/or traumatized children and families—such as CalWORKS and Child Welfare Services—each contact with children and families has the potential to cause additional trauma. The need to prevent inefficient, repetitive, and/or otherwise overlapping communications becomes paramount.

On March 23-24, 2022, UC Davis Human Services hosted the 5th annual CQI Statewide Conference for Child Welfare and Probation: A Pathway to Partnerships. On the opening day, keynote speakers Gregory Rose and Marcela Ruiz from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) highlighted how the pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is crucial to building lasting partnerships with children, families and stakeholders in their safety and stability.

By Susan Brooks, Department Chair, Human Services at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education

By Jason Borucki, Human Services at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education

The Governor’s Budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 highlights plans to continue to combat homelessness, which remains a statewide concern. The budget lays out funding and delegates significant responsibility to state and local governments.

The Linkages Project was implemented by pioneer counties with the direction and support of CDSS and the California Center for Research on Women and Children in 2000. This project represented a collaborative approach between child welfare and CalWORKs staff in serving families, with a focus on prevention prior to intervention. Fast forwarding twenty years later, the philosophy of Linkages remains, and has impacted culture and service delivery across the field of human services.