Department of human services is a great resource for pregnant teens. The Department of Human Services is a State run agency that has a number of services, but one of them is helping pregnant teens. Here are some basics about Department of Human Services. Contact the department of human services in your state to get specifics on how they can help pregnant teens.
Clarification About Departments of Human Services
A Department of Human Services is a state-level organization in the United States. It is not to be confused with the U. S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which is a department of the Federal government. There are also “Departments of Human Services” in other countries, for example, Victoria, Australia.
Many of the fifty states have a department called “Department of Human Services.” This is true, for example, in Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Mississippi, Utah, Hawaii, Arkansas, Alabama, Iowa, Oregon, New Jersey, and Minnesota. Other states have a similar department with a different name. For example, West Virginia has a “Department of Health & Human Resources,” South Carolina, Nebraska, Vermont, and Maine each has a “Department of Health and Human Services,” Montana has a “Department of Public Health and Human Services,” and Maryland has a “Department of Human Resources.” If you want to find your state’s department, go to the website of your state government (you can use this site to quickly access it http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml) and look for a listing with some of the words shown in this paragraph or type “human services” in the search box.
Examples of Department of Human Services Activities
Since there are so many different agencies just in the United States, we’ll use examples to help describe the activities of the various Departments of Human Services.
• Illinois—The homepage for the Illinois Department of Human Services shows four main areas of activity:
• basic needs for individuals and families, including food, housing, cash, and child care;
• health services, such as medical attention, help for pregnant teens and women and parenting support;
• disability issues including developmental disabilities, and rehabilitation;
• mental health issues, including addiction.
There is also a link for more information.
• Vermont—The Vermont Department of Health & Human Services divides its duties in a different way, showing six areas of activity:
• Health Care—with attention to disease prevention and reporting, health care reform, health insurance, health care providers including hospitals, and mental health;
• Disability Resources—including meeting specific needs and transportation needs, advocacy and assistance, and technology and communication;
• Children’s Resources—including the areas of abuse and neglect, adoption, child care, child support, drug use prevention, foster care, nutrition, and parent resources;
• Resources for Older Vermonters—including caregiver resources, general care, nutrition, and transportation;
• Veteran’s Resources
• General Services and Support—including the areas of domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, men’s and women’s issues, nutrition, and substance abuse.
• Utah—The Utah Department of Human Services has six categories of service, and a search by the type of client involved (child/family, youth, adults, elderly, providers):
• General—including DCFS (Department of Child and Family Service)locations, adoption, domestic violence;
• Child Abuse—including Child Protective Services (CPS), child abuse prevention, and child protection ombudsman;
• Child Support—including child support services, child support case information, child support calculator, child support payment information, and paternity establishment—paternity matters;
• Disabilities Services—including licensed disabilities providers and Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities
• Foster Care—including Utah Foster Care Foundation
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse—including Children’s Mental Health Services, mental health treatment information, substance abuse treatment information, public treatment providers, licensed mental health facilities, licensed substance abuse treatment facilities, drug information, and mental health diagnosis information.