Associate Degree in Human Services

An associate degree in human services is a two to three-year program that’ll help you serve and care for others through a variety of educational and employment opportunities, including social work, criminal justice, and community health.

While working toward a human services associate degree at Chatfield, you’ll take classes focused on helping people prevent or lessen problems and improve their quality of life. You’ll also complete hands-on work in a counseling center or similar institution.

The human services associate degree will teach you how to connect people with the services, agencies, and other resources they need — when they need them. This degree fits people who want to organize and conduct programs relating to substance abuse, relationships, and rehabilitation, among other societal issues. 

Your courses and professors will arm you with what you need to apply for a social work assistant certificate of registration (optional), fight for social justice, and help those who need it most. Upon graduation, you can continue your education at a four-year college or university to complete your bachelor's degree. 

Through the human services associate degree program at Chatfield, you’ll gain the skills, knowledge, and specialized training you need to become an advocate for your community. An AAS in human services can be beneficial for those in law enforcement, community health, a social work assistant in Ohio — or lay the groundwork to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Click here to download class requirements

Over the next five years, the need for social work assistants in Southwest Ohio alone is expected to increase by 11.5%, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Prepare now by gaining in-demand skills with Chatfield’s human services associate degree.

This AAS degree program will equip you with the knowledge and training you need to:

• Understand how the mind should work and recognize when it doesn’t
• Track your clients’ progress and streamline their experience
• Familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the state and local social welfare systems
• Gain your clients’ trust so you can learn more about their struggles and help connect them with the services they need to overcome them

You can finish your associate education in as little as two years at Chatfield’s St. Martin or Cincinnati campuses. You may also take some courses online. If you need a little longer to complete your degree, that’s OK, too — many part-time students take up to three years to complete their associate degree.

The AAS in Human Services is not a degree in social work. This degree can be a good fit for those looking to work in a variety of areas, such as addiction support, halfway houses, and children's services. Those who serve in civil service fields, like law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency management and are looking to complete a degree may find this degree helpful in their line of work. 

Unique to this program, graduates who wish to work in the social work field can apply for the state of Ohio's Social Work Assistant certification.

Social work assistants in Ohio may help social workers with everything from organizing and conducting programs to preventing and resolving problems related to substance abuse, relationships, rehabilitation, and more.

What is a social work assistant?

Social work assistants in Ohio interview clients, manage the details of their cases and help other workers and agencies provide and coordinate several services under the supervision of a psychologist, psychiatrist, or social worker.