	Financial Education and Counseling Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

FEC 15: Personnel

Services are provided by trained and qualified personnel.

FEC 15.01

Supervisory personnel and counselors have the experience, training, and practical skills to effectively help individuals with financial management or credit problems.

FEC 15.02

All counseling personnel obtain and maintain a nationally recognized counselor certification status within twelve months of the date of assuming the role of counselor.

Update: Revised Standard - 06/01/10

FEC 15.02 Original Standard:

All counseling personnel obtain and maintain a nationally recognized counselor certification status within twelve months of date of hire.

Interpretation: The organization may wish to check with its member association for national institutions that offer either online or face-to-face certification programs for counselors.

Interpretation: Counselors providing housing counseling maintain appropriate certification.

FEC 15.03

Counseling personnel receive training in financial education and counseling methods and practices before providing services.

FEC 15.04

Personnel receive training on:

organizational structure and policies;
legal issues that affect the delivery of service;
code of conduct, respect for confidentiality, and other ethical standards;
knowledge of community resources and referral networks;
service planning and monitoring tools; and
cultural factors of the service population.

FEC 15.05

Personnel workloads support the achievement of client outcomes, are regularly reviewed, and are based on an assessment of the following:

the qualifications, competencies, and experience of the worker, including the level of supervision needed;
the work and time required to accomplish assigned tasks and job responsibilities; and
service volume, accounting for assessed level of needs of new and current clients and referrals.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Clients who receive Financial Education and Counseling services learn to solve financial problems and gain personal financial management skills.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	CERTIFICATION Assurance from a state or professional association that a person or organization possesses certain attributes, knowledge, or skills.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	CONFIDENTIALITY An ethical and practice principle that requires the protection of information shared within a professional-client relationship. An organization that upholds confidentiality prohibits personnel from disclosing information about persons served without their written consent.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	MONITORING An evaluation involving a periodic review of consumer services, organizational activities, or conduct. Specifically, monitoring is an activity of case coordination, whereas more broadly, monitoring is an evaluation technique used in overall quality assurance.


	CLIENT See service recipient.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	WORKLOAD The amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a specified period of time. See also CASELOAD.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	SERVICE POPULATION A group or target population that the organization's services are designed to serve in accord with its mission, and which includes the organization's service recipients. An organization's service population may be defined by geographic location, specific problems or needs, religion, ethnicity, culture, or other factors.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	REFERRALS Resource suggestions provided to consumers to address problems or needs that are beyond the scope of the organization's mission.