Management and Community Development

Effective human services management in public and private organizations presents challenges as well as opportunities for today’s social workers. Several key functions of the human services manager include program evaluation, personnel management, long-range planning and marketing. Recruitment, training and support for volunteers and professional staff are important functions of the social worker. Community development, which involves strategic planning, evaluating, fundraising, and grant writing, is another role social workers fulfill.

The growth of the nonprofit sector, the diverse U.S. workforce, and the increasing competition for fiscal resources has forced social workers to develop a sophisticated approach to the management of human services organizations. Social workers often assume roles in the field of fundraising and grant writing in order to ensure the fiscal viability of organizations that offer social services. Social workers also explore community development as an effective strategy for addressing economic and social problems. Additionally, social workers bring a comprehensive perspective to the field of general management because they view every situation in relation to its total environment.