BPS in Child Family Services

Program Overview

The Child & Family Services program provides a broad foundation in human development, counseling, and social systems to prepare you for service-oriented roles. With a focus on practical skills and Christ-centered values, the program equips you to support children and families in a variety of community and professional settings. To enter this program, you should have a minimum of three years of post-high school life experience.

Family is a gift from God and is a foundational component in our society. Child and Family Services professionals help bring about the restoration of the family unit.

Earn your degree at your pace . . .

The Bachelor's in Child & Family Services degree requires 120 credits. Geneva College is committed to ensuring that you receive the best education possible. An academic advisor will work with you to develop a custom degree plan that considers your transfer credits, life commitments, and financial aid eligibility. Here's a breakdown of the 120-credit program structure:

36 major credits + 1 credit orientation + 18 core credits* + 65 elective credits* 120 credits

Complete all your coursework in the comfort of your own home. When you pursue your online child and family services degree, you have the option to enroll in as little or as many courses as you choose per eight-week term.
The online child and family services degree program strives to keep your costs low. We offer competitive tuition pricing, affordable textbooks, and free access to the latest Microsoft Office applications.
Up to 84 eligible transfer credits may be accepted to meet core and elective requirements. You may fulfill elective credits by pairing your major with an 18-credit minor to further enhance your marketability to a prospective employer.

*Ordinarily only credits earned at institutions accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). In the case of international transfers, nationally approved institutions will be accepted as transfer credit.

Major Course Descriptions

The Child & Family Services degree is comprised of 36 major specific credit hours:

This course encourages students to develop information literacy in their chosen field of study. Students will identify, access, retrieve, and summarize respected information in the field that is relevant to a research topic. In addition to identifying themes in the literature, students will compare, contrast and evaluate the major perspectives that emerge from their investigation.

In this course, students will reflect on their learning and professional development throughout their academic and professional endeavors. They will develop a portfolio of learning and accomplishments, as well as key professional documents that are typical of a person looking to advance in their chosen profession.

This course explores the phenomenon of “worldview” as the assumptions that everyone has about reality—a vision for life that drives how people view the nature of the world, the problems of the world, the remedy for the world, and the future of the world. And this course challenges students to critique their own worldview in light of the worldview presented in the Bible. Students will be equipped to examine their own life and work in light of the biblical worldview.

This class will consider the dynamic family in social context. Different theories and topics such as marriage, parenting, communication, conflict and economics will be discussed. The biblical model of creation, fall and redemption will be the context for the class.

Development and behavior from conception through puberty and the subsequent attainment of maturity, including genetic influences, developmental processes, and psychological processes related to physical, linguistic, social, intellectual, emotional, and personal development.

This course provides an historical overview of family and child policy in the United States, including policies toward children and families in poverty. The role of the economy, politics, race, class, gender, legal and advocacy issues are discussed.

This course teaches professional skills necessary to be a successful service provider. The course covers confidentiality, professionalism, boundaries and roles, cultural diversity and personal values.

This course focuses on program development, administrative procedures, and program evaluation. Specifically, there is an emphasis on the basic skills required for development, delivery and evaluation of a wide range of human service programs including preventive interventions for families and individuals.

This course focuses on ethical and legal issues relevant to the delivery of human services. Topics include ethical principles based on the guidelines of the American Counseling Association, National Association of Social Workers, and American Psychological Association. Ethical and legal issues related to vulnerable populations, behavioral interventions, self-determination, and professional boundaries will be included.

Students will explore the humanities as a manifestation of human responses to the Cultural Mandate – to “rule over the earth and subdue it”. The humanities reflect the cultural values of the culture from which they spring, therefore students will be equipped with the theological and philosophical categories needed to properly discern the truth (and untruth) of the cultural messages embedded in the humanities. On the one hand, students will be equipped to appreciate the common grace truth embedded in the humanities, but on the other hand, students will be equipped with the biblical categories of antithesis needed to discern where those truths fall short. At the end of the course, students will be equipped to engage both aesthetic considerations and “truth considerations” in the humanities.

This course provides an overview of the human services profession, its history, values, goals and practices. Ethical and philosophical issues involved in providing human services to those in need will be explored.

This course surveys human diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and social class in contemporary American culture. The effects of oppression and prejudice will be explored on individuals and groups, as well as evaluating the consequences of social policy aimed at alleviating discrimination. Implications for the practice of human services will be discussed.

Core & Elective Courses

18 core credits and 66 elective credits are required to complete the Bachelor of Professional Studies degree at Geneva College. Up to 84 eligible transfer credits may be accepted to meet core and elective requirements.

The Core requirements are comprised of courses from the following categories:

English Composition (3)
Humanities (6)
Natural Science or Math (6)
Social/Behavioral Science (3)

Core and Elective Course Descriptions

This course introduces the use of word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet application software, including the Microsoft Office applications Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

This course empowers students to examine and apply the foundational leadership concepts outlined in Dr. John C. Maxwell’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Students will learn how to grow as leaders, improve organizational performance, and develop the next generation of leaders around them. Through self-reflection and directed discussions, students will assess their current level of skill in each leadership law. The course culminates with the creation of a personal leadership development plan to launch students into their individualized leadership journey.

This course explores the basics of social media channels and how those channels relate to organizations. Students will learn which social media platforms work best for an audience by determining target demographics. By the end of the course, students will be able to recognize the significance of social media for organizations, the influence social media has on current culture, and its relationship to a biblical worldview.

Course provides an introduction to Geneva College, its history and mission, as well as the commitment of the online programs to robust faith integration within its curricula. Includes the development of proper attribution and academic writing skills, as well as personal and professional proficiencies required for success in Geneva’s online programs.

This course is designed to equip adult learners with strategies for success in college and in life-long learning, emphasizing personal responsibility. With a specific focus toward success in online learning, the course covers foundational ideas about faith, learning, and a biblical worldview; Geneva’s available resources and services; goal-setting; time management and organization; writing basics; reading strategies; APA; and adult learning theories.

Completing this course will prepare students to analyze the structure and function of an organization in light of contemporary organizational models. Participants apply theoretical knowledge about organizations to a specific organization and explore how organizations can be transformed into redemptive agents in this world and contribute to human flourishing.

This course explores the primary works of wisdom literature in the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes) along with related materials elsewhere in the Bible. In doing so, the course maintains a focus on Jesus Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3 ESV).

This course introduces Christian apologetics, that is, the giving of well-reasoned and faithful responses to challenges and criticisms raised against the Christian faith (1 Peter 3:15). Common objections to the claims of historical Christianity, such as the problem of evil and the reliability of Scripture, are considered. Various approaches to apologetics are explored. The course helps to equip learners to more effectively serve as ambassadors of Jesus Christ within a radically skeptical, post-modern cultural context.

Students will explore the basics of Christian apologetics in terms of identifying the assumptions that drive life-commitments. In particular, the most common and influential perspectives will be evaluated, and the contradictions inherent in living out worldviews will be considered. It will be the perspective of this course that a biblical worldview, with its assumptions deriving from Scripture, best explains the world and human experience.

Introduction to the history of salvation as expressed in the Old Testament, including historical and theological study focused on Israel as the covenant people of God, with special attention on the relationship of the Old Testament to Jesus Christ.

The political, social, and religious background and setting of the New Testament; the Gospels as witness to Jesus Christ; and the development of Christianity in the first century.

An introduction to the major types of nutrients needed by humans, their utilization by the body, the consequences of their deficiencies, and their sources. Nutritional principles are applied through the life cycle.

This course provides a non-clinical knowledge base of the physical and mental aging processes, Geneva College 2024-2025 165 including forms of dementia, and will introduce students to holistic (physical, spiritual, psychological, and social) wellness promotion in older adults, with particular attention to creating programs for this purpose. Students will be introduced to principles of spiritual development in older adults that can aid individuals and their families in adjusting to loss and later-life transitions.

This course is designed to give the student an understanding of the research and theories of death, dying and the bereavement process, as well as the development and impact of a Christian understanding/eschatology for both the patient and loved ones in these processes. Hospice, palliative care, ethics, and euthanasia are discussed, as well as cross-cultural beliefs that come to bear on these phenomena.

Fundamentals of expository writing. Offers practice in reading, interpreting, and responding to texts. Passing grade to meet college requirement is C- or better.

The course is intended to serve those students who seek to improve the knowledge, skills, and strategies to find and critically evaluate information, and then organize the results of their results of their research and communicate them in writing. Prerequisite: ENG 101 or equivalent.

This course examines human cultural achievement in western civilization from ancient times until the Renaissance. The philosophical, theological, and political contexts will be examined, along with literature, visual and musical arts.

This is a survey course of the historical, cultural, social, economic, and religious developments in western civilization. This course will examine, through reading, writing, and discussion, the dominant ideas in western culture as expressed in the philosophy, art, literature, and music from a Christian perspective.

Students will explore the Scriptural and philosophical underpinnings of government and survey the history of political thought with particular emphasis on the Christian tradition, including a discussion of the American Founding. In addition, the biblical principles of justice, economics, and liberty will be explored in the context of a reflection on modern political ideologies. Lastly, students will investigate a number of important issues in contemporary political debate, such as war, globalization, and the environment.

This is a foundational course. Myers defines psychology as a scientific study of behavior and mental processes. This study includes an exploration of how these processes are affected by the physical state, mental state and external environment of an organism. Introduction to Psychology 201 material applies not only to future courses in psychology, but also to sociology, education, business, biology, and other academic areas. Allow the course to challenge the way you understand others, yourself, your relationships and your overall environment.

The Lifespan Development course is designed to provide information that will assist students in understanding the normal developmental process of individuals over the entire lifespan starting with conception and ending with death.

A course covering the major issues in the psychology of adult development and aging.

This is a foundational course. Textbook authors Barlow and Durand define psychopathology as a scientific study of psychological disorders. Until several years ago the science of psychopathology had examined the separate effects of psychological, biological and social influences. Recent advances in science confirm that the integrative approach to understanding psychological disorders is most effective. The approach of this course reflects the current state of our clinical sciences and enhances the learning process. Allow the course to challenge the way you conclude that a behavior is either normal or abnormal.

This course introduces principles of environmental science with a purposefully Christian perspective. Course topics include understanding our environment, evolution, species interactions, human populations, biomes, environmental conservation, environmental health, pollution, energy and environmental policy, and sustainability. An important goal is to gain an understanding of the environment and our place in it. Underlying this course will be the concept of biological stewardship- the idea that all humans are required by God to be careful and thoughtful in our usage of Earth’s limited resources. There are many voices saying how we can best live on Earth; it is necessary to personally evaluate and understand what God says about this also.

This course introduces principles of earth and space science with a purposefully Christian perspective. Earth and space sciences include the detailed study of Earth’s materials, hydrologic systems, tectonic systems, as well as an understanding of the other planets in our solar system. Underlying this course will be the examination of God’s hand in this orderly creation and His continued involvement in it.

The primary purpose of this course is to introduce students to a way of seeing the world through social spectacles. More than that, the course is designed to help students see our very social world through Christian lenses. This course has been designed to help the adult student identify some of the sociological theories behind the social dimension of their own lives and for social institutions, how current social institutions have fallen short as well as the potential for renewal within various structure and function of macromolecules; the basic structure of cells; energy and cellular respiration; the genetic basis of cellular division, regulation, and the means of inheritance; the mechanistic approaches to cellular signaling; microbiology and the mechanisms employed by both foreign and host defenses. The laboratory component of this course is delivered using virtual labs and interactive simulations with detailed instruction and demonstrations from an experienced instructor.

The social world is full of institutions, and is held together by institutions. These institutions change over time, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. In this course we will explore the contours of four social institutions- marriage, the family, the church, and neighborhoods. How are these institutions changing? Why are they changing? And what is our own role in these institutions? Biblical norms for these social institutions will be considered, and we will work together to develop a Christian perspective to apply to other social institutions as well. Meets the ADP social science graduation requirement.

Available Minors

Minors are available in the following areas: