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DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Finally, there is a substantial for-profit sector in the human services. It is difficult to estimate how much is spent by these agencies, but the U.S. Census Bureaut Survey of Businesses for 2002 provides data on revenues and operating expenses of businesses in the "Health Care and Social Assistance Sector" (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Revenues/receipts for businesses that cor- respond most closely to our definition of human services (e.g., mental health, substance abuse, child care, individual and family services, reha- bilitation, social assistance), which does not include medical and health care fields, were nearly $250 billion. These data include both for- profit and nonprofit businesses, so it is not pos- sible to estimate expenditures of the for-profit sector only, but we know based on observation that for-profit firms are substantially involved in the mental health, substance abuse, and child care and other human services fields and that their presence in this sector is substantial and growing (Schmid, 2004).

Even though the amount expended for human services in the U.S. is quite large, it repre- sents only a small percentage of total outlays in the nonprofit, government, and for-profit sectors as a whole. Still, expenditures for human services represent a significant transfer of resources to the poor and disabled populations in this county. How well these services are managed to benefit these groups is a matter of critical importance.

Another perspective on the scope and size of the human services sector is provided by employ- ment figures. In fields roughly corresponding to our definition of human services, which the U.S. Department of Labor refers to as "Social Assistance," in 2006 there were 1.52 million employees in the private sector, including man- agerial, professional (social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, etc), service, and administrative support workers. Thirty-five percent of these workers, or approximately 530,000, were professional and paraprofessional service providers (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007a). In the state and local governments in 2006 there were

approximately 428,000 professionals and para- professionals offering human services (e.g., pub-

lic assistance, child abuse and foster care services, probation, home health services). These figures do not reflect the human services program employees in schools and medical institutions (e.9., hospitals, health maintenance organiza- tions). Based on these data, it is fair to estimate that there are well over 1 million human services workers in the public and private sectors. Included in this workforce there were approxi- mately 562,000 social workers (including masters- and bachelor-level personnel), 352,000 social and human services assistants (usually per- sons with no formal professional training), and 93,000 probation officers and correctional treat- ment specialists (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007 a).

No discussion of the human services labor force should exclude volunteers, who numbered nearly 8 million in 2006 (in organizations defined as "social and community service"). Median yearly hours worked for volunteers of all types oforganizations was 50 hours ayear (yearly

hours for human services are not reported sepa- rately), and there is no reason to believe this would be less in social and community services (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008b).

Given the thousands of human services orga- nizations, the billions of dollars spent each year to serve the poor and disadvantaged, and the number of employees and volunteers who work in this field, it is understandable that the perfor- mance of this industry draws increasing scrutiny by government officials, academics, and private associations. Central to this concern is the qual- ity of managerial leadership.

The Human Services Managers in the Labor Force: Demographics

Managers in the human seryices come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds and career paths (Hoefer, 2003). There appear to be