HHS Overall Descriptive Assessment

Abstract

Among the aspects that are vital in human life include education and health. This is attributed to the fact that a well educated and healthy population would bring development to a nation. The U.S. is keen on this and that is why they have the “Department of Health and Human Services” (HHS) responsible for the well-being of the population. This department is given the mandate to formulate policies that target the population such as early child education, the development of youths’ policies, as well as family wellness policies. They have a time frame within which the set goals ought to be achieved. As much as they have been in play for a while, their success story is not enticing. This can be reflected by the significant number of unemployed youths in the country. Because of this, there is need for HHs to change its approach towards their mandate. Some of the strategies have been highlighted in this paper and further explored to give an insight on what needs to be done.

Health and Human Services

Organizational Entity Outline and Overview 

A nation that focuses on empowering children and youths through proper education and training is considered to be moving in the right direction. A good example is the United States where the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was formed to protect and enhance health and well-being of Americans. It sets policies such as development of youths, early child education, family wellness, for a period of four years and strives to achieve them within that period. Despite their success in most of their policies, they have not achieved much in empowering youths because over nine million young men and women are unemployed in the country. Rather than securing jobs for youths, HHS should strive to educate children and enlighten the society about the importance of education when it comes to economic growth of a nation. This paper provides evidence-based literature and strategies that can be incorporated into the system of governance and empower children and youths to be better people in the society ( Monette, Sullivan & DeJong, 2013) .

Health and Human Services is a cabinet-level organization in the United States . The organization was created on April 11, 1953, under the name Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW). However, in 1979, Education was given its own ministry known as Department of Education. As a result, DHEW was renamed as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 1979 ( Office of the Surgeon General, 2008 ). It is located in Hubert Humphrey Building, Washington, D.C. The organizational website is www.hhs.gov . Its main role as from 1979 was to deal with family support administration, public health service, and social security administration. However, in 1995, the Social Security Administration became an independent agency as a cabinet under the federal government ( Dear, 2012 ). Consequently, HHS organization from 1995 to present deals with health matters only. HHS as a cabinet is headed by a Secretary appointed by the President who is advised by the Senate on the profile of the prospective candidates. The current secretary is Alex Azar who was appointed by President Trump with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Today, HHS is the largest secretariat in the state government comprising 12 agencies that are administered by 11 operating divisions. The mission statement of HHS is “to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans” ( National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, 7 ). Therefore, the organization aims at providing effective health and human services and ensuring growth and development of public health, medicine, and social services. All their services are achieved through eight agencies that deal with public health services and three agencies that deal with human service agencies. Currently, HHS has approximately 80,000 employees spread out in the various agencies ( Dear, 2012) . Every employee is trained and encouraged to focus on the health, independence, and resilience of the organization as they serve people. The organization is currently concentrating on the welfare of children, elderly, disabled, and mentally ill. They believe in children being the future of the United States and therefore, strive to put youths on the successful path ( Dear, 2012) . They ensure that their target population receives adequate nutritional and financial benefits, access to support services, and create employment opportunities for those capable of working.

Overall Descriptive Assessment of HHS Organization 

Health and Human Services’ Current Agenda. HHS is mandated by the task of addressing specific national problems concerning the health of the people of the United States. Due to the complexity and ever-changing field of health, HHS publishes its strategic plan after four years. Currently, the main agenda of HHS is "to strengthen, reform, and modernize the Nation's healthcare system." The secretary of HHS calls upon all employees of the organization to dedicate their unique skills, passion, and uncommon dedication and ensure the current agenda of HHS is fulfilled. Due to advancement in technology especially information technology, HHS has set out to advance its scientific researchers and equip all its laboratories by 2020 ( Dear, 2012) . The organization believes that through effective stewardship and management, it can strengthen the social and economic well-being of citizens of the U.S. throughout their life by ensuring they are of sound mind and good health to make the economy of the country to grow. Therefore, the organization is focused on “protecting the health of Americans where they live, work, learn, and play” ( National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, 12). 

Interaction with Political Actors. Health and Human Services Organization is a governmental organization and therefore, its main political actors are the federal government and the various states governments in the states of America. The organization also partners and works with the Critical Practitioners of Global Health Diplomacy which is a political activity with an aim of improving health and strengthen peace and cohesion among nations ( Office of the Surgeon General, 2008 ). Therefore, the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) is another political agency that influences affairs of HHS. The association of HHS and OGA helps America to ensure its citizens in foreign countries are accorded similar treatment regarding health as those received by those in America from HHS. Also, other governmental institutions like the Department of Finance also play a political role in the activities of HHS Organization.

Outputs and outcomes as measures of performance. The organization’s objectives are in line with their agenda to achieve the set standards of HealthyPeople2020. The organization believes that their performance depends on their commitment and achievement of the current set strategies. Other considerations incorporated in the organization’s agenda for this period is fighting the opioid overdose, misuse, and addiction epidemic and ensure that health costs are cut down by 50% in all public hospitals in order to benefit all American citizens ( Minkler, 2012) . Today, HHS boasts of having achieved free maternal care, medical schemes for the elderly, insurance plans, and wellness programs not only in the United States but also in other countries. The organization is providing employment schemes to addicts of drugs after taking them through rehabilitation. Their main target has been the state of New Orleans. The organization has set a framework called ReImagine HHS that will assess its performance annually ( Morton & Montgomery, 2013 ). The management believes that the framework will motivate the employees to carry out their everyday duties thus helping the firm to achieve the set objectives.

Policy issue(s). HHS focuses on policies targeted at vulnerable populations, youth development, child welfare and early childhood education, poverty, financial support of families, etc. ( Dear, 2012) . The organization has shown great efforts with amazing outcomes in many of their policies, however, most children and youths in poor families have not met the standards set in HHS current agenda. The policy of youth empowerment has not been handled properly by the Department evidenced by the numerous youths who end up in jail due to criminal activities or drug-related cases. Rather than concentrating on developing each and every individual, the organization should focus on developing the individual capacity of youths by creating a supportive community.

Findings and Discussion 

The Office of Human Services Policy (HSP) headed by the assistant secretary “conducts policy research, evaluation, analysis, and coordination on various issues affecting Health and Human Services Department ( National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, 17). In the organization, policies geared towards youth development target risky behaviors among youths by devising quick turnaround strategies and home visiting to see the welfare of the victims ( Minkler, 2012) . Once youths get addicted to the substance abuse or criminal behavior have been rehabilitated the organization enrolls them in teaching institutions while those with skills are given jobs to sustain their lives and those of their families.

Even though this policy is effective and gives positive results within a short period, the organization cannot sustain the population of unemployed youths in the United States ( Morton & Montgomery, 2013 ). In fact, recent survey studies show that the rate of unemployment in America has increased over the last decade. Despite the efforts of HHS to develop youths, today over nine million young people are neither in school or working ( Monette, Sullivan & DeJong, 2013). According to 2017 Annual Performance Report, HHS estimates that it has achieved only 15% of its target yet it is three years down the line.

The best way of developing youths with a policy that can be sustained by the current American economy is by empowering the youths through community-based programs that open up the society to create employment opportunities ( Minkler, 2012) . At first, the organization should concentrate on long-term goals by ensuring all children are getting the education at the right time and in the best learning conditions. Then the society should be educated on the importance of education to the economic growth of a country. The private sector as well should be incorporated in decisions concerning enrolment into higher learning so that the agency that handles enrolment of college students makes informed decisions on how many slots to give to various courses especially technical courses ( Monette, Sullivan & DeJong, 2013) . There are many youths seeking employment but they cannot get because the market is flooded yet some sectors require workers. Therefore, information should be shared among the stakeholders and come up with a strategic plan that will ensure youths get employed after college.

Conclusion

Health and Human Services Department has endeavored to put the interests and welfare of Americans first since its inception. To ensure every employee is on board with the current agenda of the organization, HHS has a performance track used to publish an Annual Performance Report for each employee and workers get rewarded according to their performance. Despite its numerous achievements, the organization has not shown the great positive impact on youth development and child welfare. Despite having difficulties in acquiring some documents, not on the website of the organization, I believe that future research should base on such studies and incorporate technology in future strategic plans.

References

Dear, E. M. S. C. (2012). Department of Health & Human Services. American Nursing Journal , 12-15. 

Minkler, M. (Ed.). (2012). Community organizing and community building for health and welfare . Rutgers University Press. 

Monette, D. R., Sullivan, T. J., & DeJong, C. R. (2013). Applied social research: A tool for the human services . Cengage Learning. 

Morton, M. H., & Montgomery, P. (2013). Youth empowerment programs for improving adolescents’ self-efficacy and self-esteem: A systematic review. Research on social work practice , 23 (1), 22-33. 

National Center for Health Statistics (the U.S. (2012). Health, United States, 2011: With special feature on socioeconomic status and health. 

Office of the Surgeon General. (2008). The United States Department of Health and Human Services. The surgeon general’s call to action to improve the health and wellness of persons with disabilities. [Online]. Retrieved January , 25 .