In 1979, dramatic policy and practice shifts in child welfare services were underway. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 codified then-new approaches: permanency planning and reasonable efforts. Smaller, rural counties were particularly challenged in developing new social worker skills. To help address those needs, a partnership between county welfare departments, the California Department of Social Services and UC Davis was formed—and became The Center for Human Services at UC Davis Extension.

Through training, consultation and research, The Center has for 30 years helped agencies respond to policy and practice changes across the disciplines and practice areas of human services. As I enter my 15th year with The Center, I reflect on strengths that have helped us build programs and challenges ahead in the future.

Strengths

• UC Davis commitment to public service. Building on its land-grant tradition, UC Davis is a national leader in applying university resources to community concerns. This translates into an unwavering commitment by campus to programs of The Center and UC Davis Extension.
• Service excellence of staff, instructors and consultants. I am proud of all of our staff, who "do whatever it takes" to serve our client agencies.
• Interdisciplinary support and service. Drawing on the interdisciplinary expertise of UC Davis, The Center serves all human services fields (social welfare, health, psychology, gerontology, early childhood education, legal, human services development); practice areas (eligibility, corrections, child welfare, tribal social services, developmental disabilities, early literacy, organizational development); and agencies (social services, child care, child support, probation, prisons, mental health).
• Research-to-practice focus. All Center programs aim to translate the most current research into curriculum and publications that have real meaning for practitioners and policy makers. In recent years, this capacity has been broadened by the Center for Public Policy Research, our partnership with the UC Davis Department of Psychology.
• Emerging field of human services development. Over the last several years, a field of human services development with its own research literature and standards has helped refine professional development programs, including our own, and supported a new profession of human services developer.

Challenges

• Continued erosion of the public safety net. The current lack of a national social justice movement could mean a continuing trend toward devolving the public safety net and reduced resources and services for the most vulnerable in our communities.
• Lack of clarity about evidence-based practice. Works cited as "evidence" for practice need as much scrutiny as the programs they evaluate. Caution is warranted about the limitation of data and generalizability of studies.
• Recruitment and retention of high-quality human service professionals. To become professions and agencies of choice for quality and committed individuals, human services agencies must appeal to the desires of young people to do something for the greater good. Despite its grand mission, development and professional opportunities in human services must rival those in other private- and public-sector professions.
• Integration of technologies into practice. While technology has quickly become an integral part of all human services, we have yet to fully realize its potential to serve clients more effectively.
• Collaboration to combat silos. It is reasonable to have clients served by the same people at one setting, and it may be the only way services are funded and provided in the future.

The Center's 30 years have been marked by policy and practice changes. Yet our commitment to serving and educating those who serve vulnerable children, adults and families remains unchanged.

A mission-driven organization always needs a sturdy foundation. For The Center, that foundation lies with UC Davis Extension and its dean, Dennis Pendleton. With Dean Pendleton, we are very fortunate that our biggest supporter is also our key administrator at UC Davis.

I look forward to working with you this next year as we build on strengths and address challenges. If you need any service described in our catalog or Web site or have an idea not represented in those publications, please call me at (530) 757-8643 so we can discuss.