1.3 The Council for Standards in Human Services Education for Fieldwork
1.3 The Council for Standards in Human Services Education for Fieldwork
Internship experiences in human services programs are guided by the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE). The CSHSE was formed to provide guidance and consistency in human services programs across the United States. CSHSE is the accrediting body for human services degree programs, and even programs that are not accredited try to follow their guidelines for education. You have probably heard the CSHSE referred to in previous courses or texts.
Fieldwork is considered so important for human services education that it comprises its own standard for each of the accredited program levels (associate, bachelor’s, and master’s). The CSHSE standards set the expectations for academic programs and their students as to what qualifies as an acceptable field placement. While these standards are aimed at the program directors and faculty, they can help you craft goals for your experience that help you gain the knowledge and experience expected in the field. All of the CSHSE Standards can be found on the CSHSE website. The standard for associate programs is listed in the following section.
In Focus: Field Experience
Context: Field experience such as a practicum or internship occurs in a human services setting. Fieldwork provides an environment and context to integrate the knowledge, theory, skills, and professional behaviors that are concurrently being taught in the classroom. It must be an integral part of the education process.
Standard 20: The program shall provide field experience that is integrated with the curriculum.
- Provide a brief description of the overall process and structure of the fieldwork learning experience.
- Provide evidence that one academic credit is awarded for no less than three hours of field experience per week.
- Demonstrate that students are exposed to human services agencies and clients (assigned visitation, observation, assisting staff, etc.) early in the program.
- Provide a copy of the current manual and guidelines that are given to students advising them of field placement requirements and policies.
- Provide documentation of written learning agreements with field agencies that specify the student’s role, activities, anticipated learning outcomes, supervision, and field instruction. The agreement must be signed by the appropriate agency director, fieldwork supervisor, program instructor, and student.
- Provide syllabi for required seminars. Seminars must meet no less than every two weeks. Seminar hours must not be included in field experience hours.
- Provide evidence that required field experience is no less than 250 clock hours.
- Demonstrate how the field experience provides the student an opportunity to progress from:
- Observation to
- Directly supervised client contact to
- Indirectly supervised client contact.
- Demonstrate that field supervisors have no less than the same degree the program awards. It is strongly recommended that