This major integrates practical and academic experiences to provide general education background, a knowledge base in life span and family development, and a core of professional skills that may be applied in program planning and service delivery activities.
There are two HDFS program options:
Adult Development and Aging Services Option
This option is designed to prepare students for a wide variety of service roles in mental health facilities, nursing homes and other institutions for the aged, area agencies on aging, public welfare and family service agencies, women's resource centers, human relations programs, employee assistance programs, and customer services and consumer relations programs in business and industry. An approved field experience in any of a wide variety of settings that serve adults, the aged, and their families, is required for this option.
Children, Youth, and Family Services Option
This option is designed to prepare students for service roles in preschools, day care centers, hospitals, institutional and community programs for emotionally disturbed, abused or neglected children and adolescents, as well as a variety of public welfare and family service agencies. An approved field experience in a children, youth, or family services setting is required for this option.
Career Opportunities
A variety of career opportunities are available to students who earn an associate degree in Human Development and Family Studies. Working parents, dual-career families, new family structures, and an growing elderly population have increased the demand for professional practitioners who can respond to the increasing needs of each of these segments.
Graduates may find employment as:
- Adult daycare assistant
- Alcohol or drug abuse counselor
- Case management aide
- Community outreach worker
- Community support worker
- Daycare center supervisor
- Gerontology aide
- Health program assistant
- Life skill assistant
- Mental health aide
- Social work assistant
- Social service assistant
Complement your degree with a minor in Addictions and Recovery
The multi-disciplinary minor in Addictions and Recovery supplements the educational needs of students who wish to gain advanced knowledge and skills to support people struggling with a substance use disorder in all stages of the recovery process. Upon completion of the minor, students will have the knowledge and skills to support development and administration of programs designed to improve outcomes for those struggling with addictions and recovery.
Learn more about the Addictions and Recovery minor >
For more information about the Human Development and Family Studies degree program, contact:
Ms. Anne Mercuri
Program Coordinator
570-385-6083
[email protected]
