Preface

Looking for an openly licensed text for the Introduction to Human Services class at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon has been a challenge.  Human Services is a relatively young field and while there are multiple commercial texts available, there are few openly licensed resources. I found an original text was written by candidates for the Master of Social Work degree at Ferris State University in 2017 that contains content that is applicable to human services careers as well.  That text, combined with two other texts and original chapters form the text you have in front of you, Introduction to Human Services. During the 2020-2021 year I edited the text to update, fix broken links, and make additions.  During 2021-2022 I am working with a team of contributing authors and an editor to produce a new second edition. 

–Elizabeth B. Pearce