Human services ( masters)

[Heartstrings]

There is really no point whatsoever that I can see in getting a masters in human services. When I worked at a residential facility, we had a staff member who had her masters in human service.  Because the degree wasn't licensable (no human services degrees are), she wasn't able to do much of anything billable and ended up relegated to doing intake assessments. She was doing the same type of case management work that our drug/alcohol counselor trainees (with little to no schooling) were doing.

I don't understand your resistance to the MSW. As masters degrees go, it is not that difficult compared with, say, a biostatistics masters or something of that nature. Most of the human services masters programs I'm seeing are somewhere around a similar number of credits. You don't *have* to pursue license with an MSW, but at least with that degree you'd have the option of doing so.  And there are excellent online MSW programs for people without a bachelor's in social work that will take you 18-24 months to complete... which is about the same amount of time it would take for a human services masters.

If you are really interested in working only in case management, you might want to look at what the certified alcohol/drug counselor requirements are in your state. In many it does not even require an associates degree, just around 10 classes. And most case managers, especially in drug/alcohol and residential mental health, are CADCs. But the pay is about half of the MSW.

This is so true. I was a licensed alcohol and drug counselor in my state and I was getting paid so little I could make more money working fast food. I stayed in that field for 15 years. I retired my license with the state because the headache of working in that profession is not worth the pay. I have a bachelor's and a Master's degree in psychology. Not really much I could do with those degrees either. The social worker's get paid more money. I once interviewed with this healthcare company and the guy told me if you had your BSW we would have paid you more.

[bjcheung77]

People are letting their degree dictate what they should be or go into, they're going in line with what the norm is or believes it to be is... You should not be chained to that thought, as I mentioned earlier, you can always go into that 'Human Services' sector and similar positions and you do not need to be certified or licensed if that related career doesn't require it. Many people start with a Bachelors in Liberal Arts/Studies and ladder up to a Masters of their liking, and continue moving up that corporate ladder.