	Counseling, Support, and Education Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-CSE 5: Education and Support Group Services

Education and support groups provide educational, supportive, and preventive services to improve emotional well-being, and promote self-sufficiency, personal growth, and development.

Interpretation: Educational services are not limited to lessons and formal instruction. Agencies provide information that is practical and immediately useful.

NA The agency does not provide education or support groups.

PA-CSE 5.01

Services have an educational, supportive, or preventive focus to help individuals and families:

recover from crises;
cope with life transitions;
identify networks of support and supportive resources;
better understand the patterns of community and family living;
anticipate and manage stresses of daily living; or
improve role competency and family and social functioning.

PA-CSE 5.02

Services provided in a group setting:

emphasize group learning and sharing in a safe, supportive environment;
are designed to respond flexibly to the changing needs of group members; and
are scheduled with participants’ time commitments in mind.

Interpretation: Group leaders know how to facilitate discussions in a group setting so it remains comfortable and safe for participants.

PA-CSE 5.03

Program activities promote the personal growth and independence of participants through opportunities to:

share experiences with the group;
strengthen abilities to relate to those who are different from themselves;
develop satisfying relationships with other group participants;
assume responsibilities and develop leadership capacities; and
participate in activities of interest.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals and families who participate in Counseling, Support, and Education Services identify and build on strengths, develop skills to manage situational change, access appropriate community support and resources, and improve functioning in daily activities at home, at work, and in the community.

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.


	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.


	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."


	SOCIAL FUNCTIONING The degree to which individuals, families, and groups are able to cope with social and psychological problems affecting their day-to-day functioning.


	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.


	LEADERSHIP A nonprofit organization's leadership consists of its governing body, chief executive officer, and may also include its senior management. In a public agency the term refers to the agency head and administration team. The term "leadership" is not generally applied to for-profit organizations. With respect to COA standards, in for-profit organizations the term leadership applies to the owner and board of directors if one exists.