	Pregnancy Support Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PS 11: Personnel

Personnel are qualified to support, educate, and counsel individuals who are pregnant.

PS 11.01

Direct service personnel have the competencies needed to:

engage and empower individuals who are pregnant and their family members and significant others, including birth fathers;
counsel and/or support individuals who are pregnant and their family members and significant others, including birth fathers;
provide education on topics related to individual functioning, maternal health, and child rearing;
communicate effectively with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives;
link individuals with needed community services, including healthcare and medical services; and
collaborate with community providers, including healthcare and medical professionals.

Interpretation: Competency can be demonstrated through a combination of education, training, and experience.

PS 11.02

Personnel providing education services in a group setting have the competencies needed to:

engage and motivate group members;
educate group members;
understand group dynamics;
lead discussions; and
facilitate group activities.

Interpretation: Comptency can be demonstrated through a combination of education, training, and experience.

NA The organization does not provide education services in a group setting.

PS 11.03

Personnel who provide pregnancy counseling are qualified by:

an advanced degree in social work or a comparable human service field and related experience; or
a bachelor’s degree in social work or a comparable human service field and related experience, with supervision by a person with an advanced degree in social work or a comparable human service field.

Interpretation: Related experience can include: (1) experience in pregnancy counseling, (2) experience in family and children’s services and training in pregnancy counseling, or (3) experience in counseling and training in pregnancy counseling.

NA The organization does not provide counseling services designed to help individuals make decisions about their pregnancies.

PS 11.04

Personnel who provide education services are supervised by a person who is qualified by:

an advanced degree in education or a comparable human service field; or
a bachelor’s degree in education or a comparable human service field and two years’ related experience.

NA The organization does not provide education services.

PS 11.05

Employee workloads support the achievement of positive outcomes for individuals served, are regularly reviewed, and are based on an assessment of the following:

the qualifications, competencies, and experience of the provider, 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 individuals and referrals.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals who participate in Pregnancy Support Services learn about parenthood, make informed decisions about their pregnancies, stay healthy, and pursue their educational and vocational goals.

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


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	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.


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


	ADVANCED DEGREE A degree at the Master's level or beyond from an institution of higher education. An advanced degree does not include a Bachelor's degree, an associate's degree, or an educational certificate.


	SOCIAL WORK Professionally responsible interventions carried out by persons with formal, professional education at the BSW or MSW level from an accredited school of social work and appropriate licensing, certification, and registration credentials. Interventions are directed toward improving the transactions between people and environments to enhance the adaptive capacities of the participants and improve environments for all that function within them. Social work is a professional practice with a consumer group consisting of individuals, families, small groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and communities and involving the disciplined application of knowledge and skill.


	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.


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	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.


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


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