DCS – Social Service
Social service technicians work with people of all ages and backgrounds dealing with various social problems. These particular problems, stemming from living conditions and social inequality, manifest themselves through poverty, loss of employment, family and conjugal violence, adaptive difficulties, loss of autonomy, isolation, suicide, and substance abuse. Social service technicians help these individuals, families, groups, and communities meet their needs, promote and defend their rights, and foster social change.
Social service technicians generally work in facilities overseen by the Ministry of Health and Social Services such as youth centers, local community service centers, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and rehabilitation centers. They may also be employed by the Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale du Québec or by school boards. Lastly, social service technicians may also work in community organizations such as community centers, shelters, support groups, human rights groups, and public education groups.
These technicians often work as part of a multidisciplinary team and demonstrate a great deal of autonomy in carrying out interventions. Although the tasks they are entrusted with vary depending on their work environment, social service technicians are ultimately responsible for choosing how best to intervene in various situations.
Social service technicians, for the most part, work directly with individuals, families, groups, and communities. The intervention goals they set vary depending on the situation and can include: preventing problematic situations from occurring, resolving problems by supporting individuals in making changes, or fostering collective change. Because their work mainly involves supporting individuals in their environments and aiming for a successful social reintegration, social service technicians often find themselves contributing to the development of resources and services of all types to foster overall social and community development (Les Cégeps du Québec).
- Examine the job functions of a social service worker
- Investigate public and community social service resources
- Form a helping relationship
- Analyze links between social problems, social policies and social interventions
- Analyze social legislation
- Assess the needs and resources of an individual
- Evaluate the ethical dimensions of intervention
- Carry out an interview
- Facilitate a group
- Engage in social research
- Carry out group-work interventions
- Assess the needs and resources of a family
- Assess the needs and resources of social groups
- Make referrals
- Defend individual and collective rights
- Carry out psychosocial interventions with individuals or families
- Function within a team
- Carry out community interventions
- Develop a service plan or action plan
- Participate in the development and coordination of services and resources
- Protect their personal well-being
- Carry out interventions in a socio-judicial context
- Carry out interventions with people in crisis
- Carry out interventions using a generalist approach
Cegep Marie-Victorin has fully developed the tools for the Recognition of Acquired Competencies (RAC process) related to this program.
Each college program features a general education component that is common to all programs. The goals of general education are to provide students with a common cultural core, to help them learn and develop generic skills, and foster desirable attitudes. The aim is to educate students, prepare them for their role as responsible members of society, and enable them to share in common cultural heritage.
For a Diploma of College Studies in Social Service (388.A0), students must also complete the English version of the general education program (081.04) developed by Cegep Marie- Victorin and recognized by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Québec.
Courses
English language (4 courses)
- Communication and writing
- Communication
- Reading, comprehension of text and writing
- Analysis and writing
Humanities (3 courses)
Second language (2courses)
Physical Education (3 courses) (all learning activities and RAC process in Physical Education will be based on the culture)
- Physical activity and health
- Physical activity and efficiency
- Physical activity and autonomy
Complementary courses (2) (all learning activities and RAC process in Complementary courses will be based on professional activities and culture)