Up and Out:

Chapter 14: Work Habits Earn More Than Job Skills

"UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 1: First Aid for the Poor

Chapter 14: Work Habits Earn More Than Job Skills

When we opened the shelter for homeless families in San Jose in 1988, we knew what to do:  give the homeless job skills and help them get good, or better, jobs.  Everyone knew that.  If the homeless were interviewed, what they said they needed most was job training and jobs.  Most experts also explained that what poor people needed most was job training, then jobs.

That is why we bought the building we put the shelter in: it had a very good, well-established job training center in the other half of the building.  They had agreed to give good, totally free job training to any of our clients who wanted it.

That is why we hired an experienced job counselor to scout out good jobs and help our clients get them. 

Imagine our dismay, then, when this did not work so well.  If we sent our clients directly to job training, they did not do well.  If we sent them to good jobs, the ones many high tech employers called to offer them, including training them on the job, they did not do well.  What was wrong?

Soon we learned our clients needed something different, and they needed it before they started job training and before they went to jobs.  We named it simply "work habits."  (Now this is better known, and is often called "soft skills.")  These were things that seemed too obvious to mention to experienced workers.  But they also seemed too unimportant to worry about to our clients.

When we began to emphasize work habits over job skills, we took a lot of hammering from many who considered this new innovation to be insensitive, cold and heartless.  The hammerers included many agencies and even did some damage to our funding.  But we wanted what worked best for our clients, so we persisted.  The success rates we achieved showed us this approach was better than the old way.

Here are the work habits needed to become just a minimally acceptable employee (i.e., one who still has not been fired!) explained as we might explain them to clients:

1.  Being on time

2. Showing up at all.

Again, to experienced workers these were too obvious to be mentioned.  But to our clients, this was a lot of fuss about nothing.  So we began by explaining that the reason for most jobs was that the employers really needed the workers they hired.

If their workers did not show up on time, someone else had to fill in for them until they came.  That person could not do his or her job while they did that, so their job went undone.  Or it might mean the business could not open on time.  Either one could mean that customers would be unhappy, business would be lost, the business would make less money, then there would be less to pay workers and therefore, fewer jobs.  Sooner or later, all that would cause the habitually tardy worker to be fired. 

As for simply showing up - if they did not show up at all, someone would have to take their place all day.  Or the client's job would simply go undone.  And the business really needed that job to be done, or they would not be paying someone just to do it. 

Maybe the client's absence would be an excused absence.  Still, if there were too many absences, excused or not, the client would eventually lose the job.  That is because the business really needed someone to be there, doing that job. 

So the first two rules, the rules above all others were: don't be absent and don't be late.  Don't be absent and don't be late.  The next rule was:

3.  Do what you are told.

One day at the family shelter, I was asked to deal with a client.  When I entered my office, the tall, lanky 17 year old was sprawled in a chair.  "Joe," I asked him, "Why did you quit that job we helped you get?"

With an angry look on his face, he sat up straight and said, "That man was always tryin' to tell me what to do!"

It was an article of faith with many of our clients that no one was supposed to tell them what to do.  That made it pretty hard to supervise them!  No boss will keep such an employee around long.  The next minimal rule was:

4.  Dress appropriately for the job.

Our clients had problems with this.  It was not that they did not have clothing appropriate for work; we saw to it that they did.  It was that many rebelled against wearing ordinary business attire.   

In fact, one client who did not really like to work would use this to get fired.  After five or six days on a new job, he would go to work with about six earings in one nostril.  If that did not succeed in getting him fired, he would pick a fight or something, until they fired him.  Then he would tell us, "See, no one wants me to work for them."  The next minimal rule was:

5.  Do not insult people.

Most of our clients had been on welfare, many all their lives.  Many developed a habit some wealthy people have, which is saying anything they want, to anybody, anywhere, any time.  Since what they say will not affect their income, they can indulge themselves freely.  Many became loud, rude and insulting most of the time. 

Naturally, if they insulted customers or fellow workers on the job, the boss would start losing customers and workers.  So they would be fired pretty quickly.   The final rule for being a minimally acceptable worker was:

6.  Be clean.

Be clean yourself and wear clean clothes.  Keep your work area clean.  Do not litter!  Do not make a mess anywhere at work.  If you do, clean it up right away.

Not job training, but just learning and habitually using these few work habits were the first step in changing from non-student to student in job training, and from unemployed to employed.  With a little luck, these simple steps helped a client to succeed as a student in job training.  It also helped the client survive in that first, entry-level job while these minimal work requirements become ingrained work habits. 

Then the client would be ready to move up from a minimally acceptable, not fired-yet employee to an adequate employee.  That is an employee who has adopted some additional work habits.  Through time, and through an additional charity, we learned that the next group of work habits starts with:

7.  Be reliable.

If you say you will do something, do it.  Be where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to do, when you are supposed to do it.  Your boss should be able to count on that.  Then the boss will come to think of you as reliable.  That can help you keep your job, even when there are lay-offs.  In fact, you could even get promoted.

8.  Be industrious.

Do not hide.  Do not goof off.  Do not act busy while trying not to work.  Do not use work time to take care of your personal business.  Work all the time you are at your job.  Try to always do a good job.  Your boss will notice.  It will make a difference in your job security and your pay. 

9.  Have a good attitude.

That means be cooperative.  Cooperate with your boss and your co-workers.  It also means be cheerful, not grumpy and grouchy.  Also, it means to be positive about things, not negative and always complaining or expecting the worst.  You will be surprised at the difference it makes. 

10.  Be courteous.

At the very least, have good manners.  Say "please" and "thank you" and "may I help you?" and "Excuse me."  Show respect for other people.  Wait for your turn; don't push in ahead.  Be pleasant, whether you feel like it or not.  Do not forget to smile at people.  All of this is what is meant by "common courtesy."  It is also called "being a professional."  You will not move up very far without it.

11.  Be neat and orderly.

This is more than being clean.  A person can be clean but messy.  Being neat and orderly means having a place for everything and keeping everything in its place.  It means not letting papers or things stack up in piles.  It means not only keeping your work area clean, but keeping the things in it neatly arranged.  You can work faster and better that way.  And your boss will have a higher opinion of you as a worker.

An adequate employee is one who is not at risk of being fired and who is doing acceptable work.  But the point is to reach the level of becoming a valued employee.  These are the ones who are least likely to be laid off and the most likely to be promoted.  To reach this more secure and prosperous level, some additional work habits are needed.  These include:

12. Being gracious.

This goes beyond being courleous.  It means showing deep respect for others.  It means making people feel welcome.  It means being glad to be able to help them.  It means showing real concern for others.  It means not always insisting on your own way, listening to what others have to say, ignoring slights and overlooking petty offenses.

We can sometimes act courteous without feeling courteous, and we should.  But it is harder to be gracious without feeling gracious.  True graciousness is a habit that must be worked at awhile before you truly feel it.  But it will be one of the best assets to your career that you can have.  It will also make you a better person, with a better life.

13,  Great dependability.

Your word should be your bond. If you say you will do something, everyone who works with you should know that you absolutely will do it, because you will have shown that you will, over and over.  Your boss should be able to count on your being there, on time, doing what you are supposed to do, and doing it well.

14. Honesty

Your boss should have learned that you can be trusted never to steal, even small things.  That you  do not cheat.  That you do not say you have worked more hours than you have. That you do not just pretend to do your job. 

Your boss should have learned that you can be trusted with cash.  In fact, that you can be trusted with the entire bank deposit.  That you can be trusted to open up the place of business and close it.  That you can be trusted with the keys to the place.  Workers who prove, over and over, that they can be trusted this much will be valued by their bosses almost more than any other employee.

15. Truthfulness

This may seem small, but it can be big.  Trust has a lot to do with never being lied to.  If you do not ever lie to your boss, it will cause uncomfortable situations for you sometimes.  But over time, you will gain much trust, and much respect, from always telling the truth.  Truthfulness will cause your boss to appreciate, trust and value you.  So will everyone else who knows you.

16.  Loyalty

You should be loyal to your boss.  Your boss has given you a job.  Your boss makes it possible for you and your co-workers to make a living.  To do this, your boss has to work harder and take more responsibility than just about anyone else there.  Your boss takes big risks, worries hard and sacrifices a lot to keep that business going. 

If there were no bosses, there would be no businesses and no jobs.  You owe a lot to your boss.  The best way to show your appreciation is through loyalty. 

For one thing, loyalty means making your boss look good.  It means not giving your boss bad publicity, inside or outside the business.  It also means treating the boss's business as if it were your own  business.  It means looking out for the whole business as if it belonged to you.  It means watching out for it, protecting it, helping it succeed and promoting it. 

It also means looking out for your boss, watching out for the boss's interests. it means understanding that bosses are not perfect, and allowing for that.  And it means appreciating the good things about the boss. 

If you are a truly loyal employee, there is no way you can keep from getting promoted.  Your boss will insist on it. 

17.  Not being a resentful person. 

This one can take a lot of work, for a long time.  But it will help you, not only to be more prosperous, but also to have better physical and emotional health.  When people hang on to resentment, it can actually make them have various illnesses, such as ulcers and high blood pressure.  It can give us a sour, bitter attitude.  It can make us always angry, always with a chip on our shoulder.

It is almost certain to make us a worse employee, which can keep us from being prosperous.  A resentful person can have a lot of trouble being gracious, or even courteous.  Resentful people may feel cheated, so they feel it is fine to cheat others.  They may feel unfairly treated, so they may feel justified in treating others unfairly.  They may feel taken advantage of, so they may feel justified in taking advantage of customers, co-workers, the boss or the company.  Any of these things will get in the way of getting ahead in the work world.  They can make it hard to get up and out of poverty. 

Even when we feel we have every right to feel resentful, it is best to let it go.  Resentment hurts us more than it hurts anyone else!  It never made anybody happy yet.

18. Being well-organized.

Being neat and orderly is more than just being clean.  In the same way, being well-organized is more than just being neat and orderly.  Being well organized means ordering how we use our time, planning ahead and being self-disciplined. 

Planning ahead means setting goals for ourselves, planning how we are going to reach them, then working out long-range and daily plans to reach them.  It also means putting these plans into writing.  That usually involves using some type of daily list or notebook or day planner. 

Getting ahead at work, getting promotions and moving up, will mean taking on more leadership responsibilities.  It is hard to lead well without being well organized.  This means planning ahead.  It means having the self-discipline to carry out the plans we make. 

It takes awhile to learn to be well organized.  So the best time to start is when we first start to work.  Then by the time we have earned a position of leadership, we will already have developed the work habit of being well organized.

These work habits are basic to success in the work world.  They are not all developed at once, of course.  But it is good to teach new clients about all of them at first, anyhow, at least in an introductory way.  That way, at least they see what will be involved in working for success.

But after such an introduction, the workers need to focus the clients on the first group.  Most of them may struggle just to achieve that much.  Many of them may have to go through more one job, and more than one firing, just to master the first set of good work habits.  Then as the training continues, the more advanced work habits are emphasized.  One of the reasons the training should continue for at least a few months after the client finds a job is to help the client develop as many of these good work habits as possible.

At the LIFT Project, we taught these concepts from the Bible.  That way, the clients not only understood them better, but also had less trouble accepting them as the right way to go.  (The great majority of poor people have no objection to religion.  There are very few atheists among them.  They believe what Christians believe, and accept the Bible as authoritative.  They just have somewhat more difficulty in practicing what they believe.)    

It may seem odd, but when clients were asked what help they needed to get ahead, they never mentioned good work habits.  They often mentioned childcare, transportation and job skills.  But they did not know they lacked good work habits, much less what they were.  That is why any good program to help the poor needs to go beyond just those things the clients already know they need.  That is one of the main reasons to base programs on experience rather than just on ideas and opinions.

Chapter 15: Character Trumps Talent, Sooner or Later

"UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II:  MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 1: First Aid for the Poor

Chapter 15: Character Trumps Talent, Sooner or Later

What we call "Work Habits" is one kind of shorthand for "Character."  As good work habits are built, better character grows right along with them.  Self-discipline, fairness toward fellow workers, employers and the public, and many other virtues, are nurtured and strengthened as better work habits are developed and improved.  Better character grows as these become built-in, an habitual way of working, thinking and living.

Job skills, on the other hand, reflect both effort and inborn ability, or even giftedness or talent.  By hard effort, even those who are less able can get and continue to improve  their job skills.  If these less able ones are also sterling employees in every other way, they will usually do well.  More able people who are also sterling employees will probably do even better.  But more able people who are not also sterling employees often do worse than less able people with better work habits. 

For that reason, experienced employers often hire or promote people who have good work habits over those better trained or skilled, but with weaker work habits.  Their understanding is that they can train most people in job skills more easily than in good work habits.  So it pays off better if they hire people with good work habits and train them in job skills, than to hire people with good skills and try to train them to have good work habits.

It is almost an article of faith with Americans, however, that if someone's talent is great enough, they can behave as poorly as they want and still be a great success.  And this is true of many, many people.  But the news is also full of stories of the downfall of people of great talent because they lacked simple good work habits, often accompanied by a lack of strength of character.  Now, character includes more things than just good work habits.  But good character also usually includes the things we call "good work habits."

Sometimes true-life stories are the best way to illustrate a point.  So here are two such true stories, about Thelma and Darryl.

Thelma Andrade came to us as a volunteer.  We had just opened a commercial thrift store.  It was an attempt to turn some of the tons of used clothing donated to us - far more than we could ever possibly use - into funds to keep the San Jose Family Shelter going.  I started the store, running the shelter from the store until the store was going well enough to turn it over to someone else. 

Thelma was a Honduran who spoke excellent English.  Though young, she had grown children.  She had also recently had a double mastectomy and was still on disability pay.  She was a brand new Christian, and wanted someplace to serve God while she healed.  So she came to us as a way to serve the poor.

We had about 50 volunteers staffing the stores in shifts of about 2 hours.  They were mostly retired people.  Many had been too fearful of homeless people to volunteer at the shelter.  But the store was in a safer part of town and they felt more secure there.  Each one worked only a few hours a week.

Thelma, however, worked 8 hours a day, 6 days a week.  She arrived promptly, riding the bus, and if needed, stayed late.  She worked as if she were a well-paid employee, not a volunteer, and as if it were her dream job.  She was enthusiastic, hard-working, and learned quickly.  Soon she learned just about everything there was to know about running the store.

Thelma was totally honest.  I soon learned I could trust her with any amount of cash.  If she had a car, I would have been completely comfortable with sending her to make our bank deposits, but the bank was too far away without a car.

She also looked out for me, fussing when I looked tired or worked over-long hours.  Most impressive of all, she treated the store as if it belonged to her.  She looked out for its interests in every way.  She thought of promotions to bring in more customers.  She continually changed the displays. 

She was also good at spotting shop-lifters.  She would follow them into the dressing rooms, retrieve our merchandise, escort them to the door and order them never to come back!

Thelma was superb with our volunteers, encouraging them, listening to them, joking and companionable with them.  Eventually she took over all their training, including on the high-tech cash register I never really mastered.  The volunteers adored her.

When the time came to hire a store manager so that I could get back to the shelter, I never for a moment considered anyone but Thelma.  Some of our Board members wondered if we should not get someone formally trained in merchandising.  I explained why Thelma would be far better.  Her work habits were excellent and her character outstanding.  Besides, she had already learned what she needed to know.  Actually, she was already running the store anyhow, and doing it well.

The Board agreed with my choice, with one exception.  That one Board member objected because, in her opinion, Thelma did not dress stylishly enough.  In fact, she wanted me to fire Thelma!

It was fortunate that the rest of the Board agreed with me about Thelma.  Fortunate, because for that reason, I never had to tell them that before I would fire Thelma - especially for such a nit-picking reason - I would quit myself.  But I would have.

Not only that, but every volunteer we had would have quit too, instantly.  Her firing would have closed down the store in hours.  I would have to start the store all over again, working against the bad good will created by angry ex-volunteers in their churches that supported us.  And the loss of more of my time to re-start the store was not worth the corresponding loss of more of my time at the shelter.  And since I would have  quit too, and since the shelter was still in the shaky "start-up" mode, the shelter would not have survived the loss of its founder at that point in time.

In short, it was ridiculous even to consider firing her.  It never would have happened.

A little over a year later, after giving 7 months notice, I went back to Texas.  I wanted to be part of my grandson's life as he grew up.  The shelter had finally turned the corner and was no longer in "start-up" mode, but had moved into "normal" mode, when it would be safe for a founder to leave.  After much prayer, I finally felt free to leave.

There was no job waiting for me in Texas.  But if there had been, and if I ever had an opportunity to hire anyone, Thelma would have been my very first choice.  I would have done my utmost to hire her, simply because she was absolutely the best employee I ever had or ever saw.  (Although there were some very close runners-up!)

Thelma was also a sterling example of a practice of many earnest Christians.  That is "working as if to the Lord," which means working as if you were working for God.  That is widely believed to make work more satisfying and fulfilling.  It clearly did for her.

Unfortunately Thelma died very suddenly and unexpectedly (it was not cancer) just a few years after I left.  But she left quite an impression.  And left a very big hole in many lives.  If only there were many, many more like her!  For anyone who wonders how to get ahead, she is the best example I can offer from my personal experience.

Some people may not be too impressed by someone like Thelma as a role model.  Her life might seem too plodding, too lacking in glamour.  Many feel they are blessed with talents that will open up doors of riches and fame.  So they may accept only the rich and famous as role models for their careers, however much of a long shot, however unrealistic that may be.

For many young men growing up in poverty especially, no goal less than being a big star of sports or entertainment is acceptable.  They may go to the extreme of rejecting all other work and spend their time practicing and dreaming.  And no one wants to take people's dreams away from them.  Dreams are good!  Probably even necessary.

But if lightning should strike, and someone's dreams of wealth and fame come true, and they make it all the way to stardom, they will still need good work habits!  If they want to stay there, that is.  (And they will need good work habits for the day jobs they will need to take along the road to stardom.)

Sadly, it is all too easy to find examples of big stars of sports or entertainment whose career crashed and burned, often for lack of some simple work habits, like not showing up for work a few too many times.

Even Marilyn Monroe, an icon of her time, was eventually, and regretfully, fired for not showing up for work far too many times.  It was generally agreed she had probably become unemployable because of her bad work habits, even before her tragic and untimely death.  Hiring her had become too risky.  Her star power would draw crowds to a movie.  But hiring her to make that movie had come to mean that the movie might never reach the theatres, and that everything invested in it would be lost.  At that point, even a huge talent could no longer get her a job.

Then there was Darryl.  Darryl Strawberry was one of the most talented baseball players ever.  Even after days and nights of drinking, drugs and carousing, he could show up and do incredible feats on the field, with seemingly effortless ease.

His talent was astonishing.  So good that as he became less and less reliable, his increasingly desperate managers moved heaven and earth to find ways to keep him playing.  But as no-show followed no-show, as he blew second and third and fourth chances, as he found ways to take drugs even while in rehab, even after being diagnosed with cancer, his career was ended.

It was not for lack of talent.  Talent like Darryl's is rarely seen.  It was for simple lack of good work habits.

Fortunately there is an upbeat turn in the story of Darryl Strawberry.  He makes talks to young people about not doing what he did.  Because of his previous stardom, they listen.  Surely, many are helped by his story to do better.  After many slips, Darryl Strawberry has found a way to have a better life by helping kids, many much like him, to make better choices.

Stardom is not a bad dream.  But even there, it takes good work habits to stay there.  And usually to get there too.  They are a key part of reaching any dream.

Job skills are very important.  In fact, they are essential.  Talent is needed to reach many goals and dreams.  But good work habits, together with the good character they help build, are one of the most important foundations for every life goal and every dream.   

Chapter 16: Help With U-Turn Decisions

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 1: First Aid for the Poor

Chapter 16: Help With U-Turn Decisions

We make choices all day that do not involve drastic changes in our lives.  Have a hamburger or a salad?  Read or watch television?  Go shopping today or next week?

But some choices have a much bigger impact.  Stopping smoking is a big choice, followed by difficult days and weeks.  Deciding to adopt a healthier way of eating means doing without a lot of foods we like, for a long time.  A decision to become much more fit will make big changes in our lives.  So will a decision to quit a job and go back to college.

But we can do these things, one at a time, without impacting the rest of our lives too drastically.  They change important parts of our lives, but not everything.

There are other choices, however, that are so big and all-consuming that they can only be called life changing.  In fact, they require turning our lives around 180 degrees and going in the opposite direction.  These are the most difficult choices.  But when there is almost no chance of changing for the better, only a “U-turn” decision has a chance of helping.  Until it happens, nothing else helps for long.

In prison this became clear as I watched the rehabilitation program.  It was based totally on education.  The idea was that giving the prisoners an education would equip them to have better jobs outside. Then they would not need crime to support themselves.  The Windham School District in prison was excellent.  It ranged all the way from teaching basic literacy to courses for college credit.  The teachers were, for the most part, dedicated and good at their work.

Nevertheless, there was a great lack of rehabilitation.  During my seven and a half years behind bars, I saw the same people coming back to prison over and over.  I got sick of it.  One woman came back five times while I sat there!  What was happening?  The education program was effective and important. It gave the women something they really needed.  But why was it not rehabilitating them? 

There was an admiring saying in prison, “She has a first-class criminal mind!”  It occurred to me that possibly all that education was doing was just making them better-educated criminals.  It was a disturbing thought.

It was then that I understood that, until a woman made a basic, life changing, u-turn decision that she was not going to do crime anymore, nothing else would turn her around.  Not education, not opportunities, not advantages.  In fact, they might very well serve to make her a more efficient criminal!

After that, I started observing who did not come back and remembering what they did while they were still in prison.  Then I compared those who did return to the ones who did not.

Because of prison rules and regulations, it was not possible for me to do a formal study or write up my findings.  Still, given my training as a social scientist and experience in field research, I thought that my on-the-inside observations of hundreds of prisoners that I knew personally, over a period of years, might be worth something.

What I learned was unexpected.  Most of the women I knew who did not come back had given their lives to God while in prison.  Some made it out, and stayed out, without doing so.  As a matter of fact, many who did give their lives to God in prison did come back anyhow.  Still, most of the ones who made it out and stayed out had come to God first. 

Also, most of the ones I knew who made it out and stayed out had made the basic, u-turn decision not to do crime any more.  Apparently, however, not all of them had the strength to stick with that decision.  Those who also committed their lives to God, trying to live as God wanted, did better than those who did not.  That seemed to have a lot to do with having enough strength to stick to their u-turn decision.

Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, learned those lessons long ago.  They learned that no one quits drinking without making a drastic, life changing, “u-turn” decision to do so.  They learned that the entire life had to change.  And they found that most alcoholics could not make such a drastic change successfully without turning to God.  They learned that the program could not succeed unless new AA members admitted that they needed the help of “a higher power”.

They also learned the necessity of frequent meetings between beginners and those who knew enough to guide them.  They demanded a lot, encouraged a lot, insisted a lot and gave a lot.

With drugs, the history of rehabilitation is more mixed.  We do know, however, that the success rates of some faith-based drug treatment programs are by far the highest.  It is not unusual for their success rates to reach 80%-85% (for instance, during my time in San Jose, at the Rescue Mission there.)   

These successful faith-based programs are not the ones who separate their faith from the program.  To the contrary, their faith permeates every part of the program.  They actively try to convince addicts to turn to God and to dedicate themselves to living as God wants. 

These programs can only try to persuade, as no one can really control what another person believes.  Usually, people are permitted to stay in their program without taking the step of faith.  But like alcoholics, drug addicts usually do not have the inner strength needed to succeed without looking to God for guidance and support.  Those who succeed are usually those who sincerely do that.

This is disturbing to many of us for many reasons, however well documented the high success rates may be.  We do not want faith forced on people, least of all on ourselves.  Some are uneasy at the idea of people even trying to persuade others to turn to their God.  Most especially, we have many concerns about the use of public funds for programs that are based on coming to a relationship with God.

With all this uneasiness, however, we still need to decide what we want most.  Is it to see the addict, or alcoholic, or criminal make that u-turn decision and straighten out their lives?  Is it to reap the benefits to society that this brings to us all?  If so, we need to learn to tolerate its being done in a faith-based way.

The problem of the poor has many similarities to the problems of such people.  That is because many of the causes of their poverty are so difficult for them to change.  Trying to change several such causes, not just one, makes it even harder.  Deciding to change them and to escape from poverty usually requires, in effect, a “u-turn” life changing decision.

That is not to say that poor people cannot better their lives significantly without such a decision.  Just moving from welfare to work can cause enormous changes all by itself.  The requirements of work typically change attitudes, choices, and even character, across the entire spectrum of a life.  Its effect can be very striking.

But if going to work is all that happens, and if there are not other significant life changes, there may be some improvement, but without real escape from poverty.

One thing about the poor we worked with did not truly strike me until well into the third charity I founded.  It was while we were going over what we knew about every single client we had, in an effort to determine what our success rate with them had been.

We were amazed to realize, first, that, of our clients who had teenage children, all but one of those teens was delinquent.  That is, they already were involved in the justice system and had a record.  The sole exception was under psychiatric care and heavily medicated. 

This fact alone was very striking.  But as we looked further through the records, we also had to conclude that every single client we had ever had was dysfunctional.  Not only that, but they were dysfunctional in multiple ways.

Some of these dysfunctions will be addressed in another chapter.  But they are a major reason that escape from poverty is not simple or easy.  Such escape does indeed require working, and working takes them a long way.  But until their dysfunctions are addressed, it can be very difficult for them to do well in a job, or to even keep a job.  Even with a good job, they still may fail to prosper as they should.

The problem of their poverty usually did not come about overnight. It also usually is not remedied without a massive effort.  Making such an effort typically requires a “U-turn” decision.  The biggest help to making, and following through with, a “U-turn” decision is a life committed to following God.  That is supported by scholarly studies that confirm the value of religion in escaping poverty.1 

Again, many have a concern that clients not be subjected to religious teaching.  Actually, very few of our clients found the religious nature of the program to be a problem.  In fact, all but a few already believed in God.  Talking to them about God, and about living according to God’s laws, was not offensive to almost all of them, however much it might offend some of us.

There were only two clients in Austin, for instance, who objected to the religious nature of the program. Both chose to leave the program as a result.  One showed up again six months later, however, participated fully in the program, including the religious aspects, and graduated very successfully after another six months.

If clients already believe in God, how does it help them to be in a faith-based program?  That happens because simply believing in God is a very long way from committing one’s life to God and trying to live according to the teachings of the scriptures.

The scriptures address all their most serious problems and dysfunctions.  Becoming part of a church gives them and their children much emotional and moral support and training, as well as good role models.  Regular study of the scriptures helps them to learn about what is right and moral and good.  A regular prayer life helps them to do those things.  A stronger relationship with their God gives them more strength and desire to do the things that will best help them conquer their problems. 

There is really nothing else that any purely secular program or effort can offer them that can approach having all that. Nothing devised by human ingenuity or genius has helped so many people change their lives so drastically, down through the ages and even now, as the diligent practice of faith in God.   

The proof is easy to see.  It is in the success of the graduates of programs that are built around teaching those things.

---

1 See “Who Escapes?  The Relation of Churchgoing and Other Background Factors to the Socioeconomic Performance of Black Male Youths from Inner City Tracts: in The Black Youth Employment Crisis, ed. Richard B. Freeman and Harry J. Holzer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), pp. 372-73.

Chapter 17: Overcoming Dysfunction

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 1: First Aid for the Poor

Chapter 17: Overcoming Dysfunction

What is meant here by dysfunction may seem to psychologists to be confusing.  Psychologists may focus solely on emotional dysfunction stemming from emotional damage already suffered by the client.  Here, however, the focus is on those dysfunctional lifestyles and behaviors that do so much to cause such emotional damage in the first place. 

The dysfunctions focused on here are those behaviors that help trap the poor in their poverty.  Scholarly names for these dysfunctions are lacking.  They could be called occupational dysfunctions or parental dysfunctions or social dysfunctions or other such names.

Whatever emotional damage has been done to the clients in the past, however, their dysfunctional behavior seems clearly to have been learned.  They learned it while growinig up.  Their children in turn are learning it from them.  It is damaging people right and left.

But whether their emotional scars are healed first or not, these behaviors can be changed.  They can learn, and perform, better.  As they do, their children are also learning from their new and better behaviors.  The vicious cycle of family dysfunction can be broken by learning, and by practicing, better behaviors.

So it is helpful to look at their dysfunctions, whatever their underlying emotional situation, as habitual behaviors that can be improved and even reversed.  Experience has confirmed this.  It has worked over and over, in many, many lives.

Here are some of the most important areas of dysfunction affecting the lives of our clients.  If theee dysfunctions were not addressed and modified, our clients were less successful.  These needed these changes just to stay employed and to get ahead financially.

Dysfunctional Parenting

We found that most of our clients were severely dysfunctional as parents.   In Austin we found that if our clients had teens, they were already delinquent before the clients came to us.  (There was only one exception to this pattern.  That teen was under psychiatric care and heavily medicated.)  That is, their teens had already committed crimes and were involved in the criminal justice system.

We saw how the clients handled their children who were not yet teens.  They did not handle them well.  Mostly, they were out of control.  Obviously, if they did not get their children under control before they became teenagers, it was certainly not likely to happen then. They also needed help in damage-control for their delinquent teens. 

So we understood that our clients bedly needed training in good parenting.

If they did not become better parents, soon enough, their dysfunction as parents could cost them job after job.  Having just one teenager who was delinquent could cause a client to miss day after day of work.  The client would have to attend school conferences, go to court hearings, and deal with emergency after emergency.  So many days would be lost from work that the client would lose job after job. 

If there were more than one delinquent child in the family, the employment problems would be even more severe.

So training in better parenting was essential to help clients keep jobs.

Financial Dysfunction

Our clients used the funds they had very badly.  With limited income, we found client after client who spent over $100 a month on phone bills.   We also found client after client who spent over $100 a month on cable TV.  This was when they did not have enough money to keep food in the house the entire month!  Or when they did not have enough for transportation to a job the entire month. 

Many spent money on unneeded, foolish things, while lacking money for necessities.  They "managed" by not paying their utility bills or their rent.  Then when cut-off notices came for their utilities, or when eviction notices came, they started looking around town for charitable assistance for paying their back utility bills and back rent. 

They also managed by not paying other bills.  Or they managed by borrowing from loan sharks at such high interest rates that they might never be able to pay off the loan entirely. 

In addition, they managed by not buying car insurance and by not paying their traffic or parking tickets.  This was one of the causes of the many outstanding traffic warrants they were likely to have.  Of course, these unpaid tickets led to ever-increasing penalties.  They also had sometimes to go to jail if they could not pay.  These caused additional absences from work, and sometimes loss of jobs.

With disasterous financial habits such as these, even getting a good job with good pay still would not get them out of poverty.  Until their spending was under control, until they learned to spend more wisely, and until they learned to save money, they would never get ahead, even with a good income.

Further, their financial dysfunction could cause them to lose jobs.  They might not be able to keep paying for child care all month.  Or they might lack reliable transportation to work.  Or they might have to miss work over and over to run around town trying to find a charity to help them with unpaid bills.

They might actually even have their utilities cut off, with all the problem of no lights, no hot water or bathing, no clean clothing, no refrigeration of food, no heat or cooling.  Just the lack of a working refrigerator can mean having to shop for food every day.  Such an emergency can easily result in missing days at work.  Or they might be evicted and actually become homeless, with all the problems that brings for keeping a job.

We taught them a budgeting course specifically designed for them and their problems.  It was a great help in turning their lives around financially.  For the first time, they learned to live on what they made, to pay off their outstanding debts, and even, before long, to save money.  It was a life saver for them.

Our volunteers surprised us by wanting this course for themselves.  They said it helped them.  Apparently, these mostly college-educated people were not put off by material written at a sixth grade level!

Nurtitional Dysfunction

This sounds silly.  But is was a very serious problem.  The nutrition of our clients was so bad that they and their children were sick much more than the rest of the population. This caused them to miss work more often than if they and their children were healthier.

Clients often complained of being hungry, of having 2 or 3 days at the end of each month when they were out of food.  Soon we could see why.  It was not that they did not have enough money.  It was because they spent it badly.  They also ate badly.

At the first of the month, with a new welfare check and a new supply of food stamps, they would go to the grocery and load up one or two grocery carts with luxury foods - steaks, roasts, ribs, ice cream, etc.  These would last a week or two.  Then it was simpler fare, while that lasted.  Then it was a day or two with no food in the house at all.

To a surprising extent, they lived on junk food.  Often they cooked very little, but would take the family to McDonald's or order pizza delivered.  They would consume loads of chips, soft drinks, twinkies, candy, ice cream and sweets.  Living on junk food is not only a very unhealthy way of eating.  It is also very, very expensive.

With the help of a professional dietician, we designed a nutrition course.  It taught them how to eat better and healthier, for less money than before, and using less time.  That may seem impossible, but is not so hard as many may think. 

For instance, it is not hard to be sure of having enough food, and healthy food, for an entire month, even on a small income.  One way is to do what I did in Bakersfield when there were several refugees living in the parsonage. 

There were nine of us at the table for meals.  My salary as pastor of an Hispanic church was not large.  So at the first of every month, when I was paid, I bought a 50-pound bag of pinto beans and a 25 pound bag of rice.  That way I could be sure we would eat all month, even if I ran out of money before the end of the month.

Not only that, but the food was healthy.  Beans, combined with rice or corn or any other grain, make a perfect protein.  It is just like the protein in meat.  No meat is necessary in such a diet.  Furthermore, it is a high-fiber, low-fat diet, which is a very healthy way to eat. 

We always had plenty of food.  Breakfast was hot oatmeal.  Otherwise, we lived mostly on beans and tortillas, or beans and rice.  It was simple food.  We made about a quart of salsa a day, and cooked a chicken at least every other day, with plenty of vegetables.  There were plenty of salads, including guacamole salad.

Eating in the parsonage was a lot like eating in a Mexican restaurant.  (A low-fat Mexican restaurant!)  Even with frequent guests, we always had plenty to eat all month, every month.  No one ever lacked for enough food.  We never ran low on food toward the end of the month.  We stayed well.  And we did it with very little money.

Another possibility is making this kind of bean-and-grain diet into a "soul food" diet.  If beans were served with cornbread, instead of corn tortillias, and plenty of greens and other vegetables were added, that is the traditional foundation for soul food.

A bean-and-grain diet does not have to be fattening, by the way, especially if fats are not addedto the food.  I lost 25 pounds on it.

While this kind of food is not what everyone would choose, it does demonstrate that it is quite possible to eat well and healthily all month on a low income.

This was not the kind of nutrition taught in our course, however.  It was not nearly so limited.  It included a wide variety of tasty, healthy meals.

It showed how to make meals once a week and freeze them, so that only re-heating was needed.  The cost was low, and the total time was less than in normal cooking.

It also meant being able to have a hot, tasty meal about 20 minutes after arriving at home after work.  That can mean a lot when a parent arrives tired and hungry, with tired, hungry, screaming children in tow. 

The course included menus for two weeks, so that no food was served more than once every two weeks.  It included training in shopping for food, storing it right and cooking it.

In fact, our book was so popular with our volunteers that many bought it for themselves!

When clients learn to eat better, they and their children are healthier.  They are sick less.  This means fewer days of work missed.  So parents are fired less often.  Better nutrition helps save their jobs.

While they saved money on food, they still did not run out of food before the end of the month.  Also, the money they saved on food left more money for transportation and baby sitters.  This too helped them keep jobs.

Time Management Dysfunction

Our clients were so dysfunctional in time management that it was absolutely amazing.  They lacked the most primitive time-management skills.

For instance, one reason they lost jobs for being late over and over was that they, and their children, got up so late in the morning.  So the children were almost always late to school and the parent late to work.

The reason they all got up so late was that they all stayed up so late the night before.  Usually they would have been watching television.  They lacked any concept of getting to bed early to prepare for getting up early.

Even if they got up early, but had not prepared ahead of time for a quick departure, they would still leave late.  For instance, they would not already have lunches to take with them, which should have been done the night before.  So they would have to fix lunches before leaving in the morning.  Instead of getting their schoolbooks ready to go the night before, they would have to hunt them in the morning.

They would not have clothes ready to wear.  When many of them washed clothes, they just left them in piles around the house.  Then in the mornings there would be a mad rush to find something to wear.  Kids would be digging through piles of clothes.  When they found what they were looking for, it would be wrinkled from being wadded up in the pile.  So they would have to iron it.

Instead of doing their schoolwork the night before, they had been watchinig television.  So they would be scrambling around trying to finish homework that morning, trying to get the parent to help, before they could all leave.

Often, the concept of hurrying was totally missing.  Some of them had literally never hurried in their lives.  The idea of keeping one eye on the clock, moving quickly and leaving some things undone if necessary, in order to get to school and to work on time, was foreign to them.

Training in simple time management is an incredible help for such people.  It too can help save their jobs by helping them get to work on time, all the time.

Sanitary Dysfunction

Many of our clients badly needed training in the very basics of house cleaning and sanitation.  It was not unusual for the yard of their home to be covered with edge-to-edge trash.  The inside of the house might be no better. 

Our volunteers who visited clients at home were sometimes glad they already had all their shots first!  They ofteh saw a great deal of filth and nastiness.

Just to avoid illness from filth and disease-carrying roaches and rats, many of our clients badly needed to understand the necessity for cleanliness and good sanitation.  They needed to know how important it was to the health of their families it was to have, at the very minimum, clean and sanitary bathrooms and kitchens.

This is a real health problem for many clients and their families.  It is one more reason many of them are sick so often.  It causes their children to miss school, and them to miss work, more often than they should.  It can put them at risk for losing a job due to too many absences.

Incidentally, at the LIFT Project we had to write curriculum ourselves for the courses our clients needed to work on their dysfunctions.  There were good courses available for such things as budgeting, for instance.  But they were not what our clients needed.

In the first place, they were written for middle class readers.  The problems they addressed were the problems of the middle class, not the problems faced by our clients.

In addition, even the simplest were written in a way that was above the reading skills of our clients.  We needed material written at about a sixth-grade level.  So we had to write the needed course materials ourselves. 

Together with experte on each subject, we produced curriculum for training courses that worked well for our clients, and could easily be taught by our volunteers.  It was very helpful to them in working on their dysfunctions. 

Again, it may be hard for middle-class people to comprehend the dysfunctions that impede clients from moving up and out of poverty.  Changing these things may seem simple to middle class people. They may respond, "Well all they need to do is just use common sense!  These are things anyone should know."

They may not realize, however, that unlike their clients, they were trained to do these things from childhood.  They take them for granted.

But to many clients, these certainly are not simple matters, easily solved by common sense.  Often, they were unknown in the families in which they grew up.  It can be a mystery to them that middle class people seem to manage such things with apparent ease.

Learning to overcome these dysfunctional behaviors helps clients improve their lives tremendously.  It helps break the cycle of dysfunction in their families, as their children learn new ways from watching their new behaviors.

Most especially, it helps them cope with a working life.  It helps them to work their way up and out of poverty.

Chapter 18: Holding the Poor Accountable

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 2: Attitude Adjustments for Poverty Workers

Chapter 18: Holding the Poor Accountable

Words trigger pictures in our minds.  And the words “be held accountable” make many of us think of a large adult leaning over a small child, shaking a finger and yelling.  We bristle, thinking of paternalism and invasion of privacy.  We remember people who are controlling, interfering and domineering, trying to run someone’s life.  The idea of being held accountable can make us pretty uneasy.

That is a healthy kind of unease.  Normal adults should have a drive to be independent.  We should want to make our own decisions and control our own lives.  Being held accountable is not an attractive idea at first glance.

Still, accountability is so essential that no society can last long without it.  All civilizations have learned that laws without “teeth” are flaunted.  That rules that can be broken without penalty are usually broken.

Many top executives and successful people have learned how much it can help if there is someone who will hold them accountable.  They have learned this lesson so well that many hire personal trainers to help them perform better.  The trainer sees them often and regularly, checks on their performance, fusses when they are lazy about their program, encourages them and pushes them to do better.  For this, they charge a high fee.  Their clients gladly pay well to be held accountable.  They already know it works.

Most of us would agree that a sports team needs a coach.  The coach plans strategy, trains the team, arouses them to a fighting mood, says terrible things to them when they do not perform—all to help them succeed.  They may not always like it, but they recognize that is what it takes.  Without the accountability provided by a coach, there would be no championship teams or athletes.

Many adults seek accountability for losing weight.  Just knowing someone is going to measure and weigh you once a week can provide considerable help in staying on a diet.  People are willing to pay for such accountability.

Students who are not tested in some way usually learn very little.  When I taught at the university level, I never knew of anyone auditing a course who ever finished the course.  Faculty members discouraged students from auditing, because it would be a waste of time for both student and teacher.

Auditing a course sounds good, especially for a student who is studious and highly motivated.  But just sitting in the class without having to take tests almost always means the auditing student gets behind the other students and so eventually drops out of the course.

Even to be good workers, we all need such things as having to show up at work, having to be there on time, and having to meet deadlines.  We need to have to prove in various ways that we are performing.  Without such demands, most of us would show up less and less, arrive later and later, leave earlier and earlier, and not do our work very well, if at all.  Trying to do good work in the absence of such accountability is much harder than people who have not tried it would believe.

Accountability is even more important when drastic life changes are needed.  For example, for alcoholics who want to stop drinking, it may take weekly AA meetings.  For some, it may even take daily AA meetings.  Having to account to someone else makes all the difference.  It can help more than any amount of persuasion or good intentions.

There are even accountability systems designed to help us after we have done something really wrong.  Such systems can help bring us forgiveness and restoration to the community.

For instance, when the pastor of a church yields to some temptation and does something wrong, most major religious denominations have an accountability process for that pastor.  It is used to deal with what is wrong, and if advisable, to help that pastor be a pastor again at some point.

First, the pastor must be willing to be under the full authority of that accountability system.  There may be forgiveness and if advisable, restoration of the career of the pastor, but only after the pastor follows the process fully to the end.

Whether there is remorse is a factor, and also whether there seems to be an earnest determination never to repeat the behavior.  Whether the pastor is willing to make amends for the wrong done is also considered.

The process usually involves keeping the pastor out of active ministry for at least a year.  During that year the pastor is counseled and checked on.  There are interviews with the pastor and perhaps with others. At the end of that year, a decision is made as to whether to restore the pastor to ministry. 

If the pastor is given a church, it is usually a different, smaller church.  The pastor is essentially “on probation” until it is clear that the lesson has been learned.

This process is so valuable and essential that pastors who follow it usually return to ministry, forgiven and accepted.  New levels of success may be reached.  But pastors who refuse to follow the system usually do not make it, and eventually leave the ministry.

One good example is the case of TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggert.  When he fell very publicly in the 1980’s, he was part of a denomination with an excellent accountability system.  Unfortunately, he refused to submit to it.  If he had, he might still be preaching. 

Many leaders—including pastors—want a situation in which they are essentially accountable to no one.  If they have a governing board, they may pack it with people who owe them or idolize them and think they can do no wrong.  The board members are essentially “yes men” and “yes women.”  They always say “Yes.”  They never disagree with the leader, or hold the leader accountable in any way.      

With that kind of structure, a scandal or other disaster is just waiting to happen.  Jimmy and Tammy Faye Bakker’s scandal, also in the 80’s, came out of that kind of structure.

Wise leaders make sure they are surrounded with capable and dedicated people who will speak their minds.  They want people who catch their vision and are supportive, but who also will be critical when needed.  They avoid “yes men.”  And if there is no system of accountability in place for them, they typically will build one.

They understand that we all need people around us who will dare to say “No!” or “That stinks,” or “That is going to be a disaster,” or “You do that and I’ll quit.”  Sometimes the most treasured employee—or friend—is the one who will dig in their heels when it really counts, and insist on accountability from that leader or friend.

One reason the American system of democracy has endured so long is all the careful accountability that the founders built into the system.  A President who abuses his power is accountable to the courts, the Congress, the laws, the press, and eventually, to the people.  So are judges, senators, congressmen and women and all other officials. 

The system does not work perfectly and there are many flaws.  But it is terrible to think how bad it would be without all that accountability.

Business, too, has a built-in accountability.  It is known as the “bottom line”, or profits.  If a business does not please its customers or does not treat them well, eventually it shows up in the bottom line.  If its products are shoddy, sooner or the business goes broke.  If a business gets lazy or does not perform well, some up-and-coming new competitor will eat its lunch. 

Reality eventually will hold us accountable for what we do.  That bottom line does it for businesses.  The need for a good job and a paycheck does it for many of us.  Reality, sooner or later, will hold all of us accountable for our actions. 

No one can talk the bathroom scales out of registering the truth about how much we have been eating.  Successful athletes cannot negotiate their way out of staying fit.  Coming to the end of life and facing death is not something we can talk our way out of.  If we eat a lot of fatty food, we cannot even get out of having clogged-up arteries.  Reality does eventually break in.

But the problem with depending on reality to hold us accountable is that it is the way of suffering and futility.   Crashing up against a hard reality is the tough way.  Unfortunately, it may come much too late.  By the time we realize that we should have acted very differently much sooner, it can be too late to make any difference.

Using accountability as a tool, early enough, is one of the few ways we can make reality turn out differently.

The poor need accountability as much as the rest of us.  Poor people who want to stop being poor are looking at major life changes.  These are hard changes that take great effort.  They cannot continue as they were and still achieve freedom from poverty.  They need accountability, just as we do, to make their efforts work.

Programs for poor people will work only when there is accountability built in.  They need a good program to follow in order to move up in life as they want.  They need to be required to follow the program in order to continue to receive help.  They need some checking on to assure compliance.  When they do not comply, there need to be consequences.  They also need training, coaching, mentoring, friendship, encouragement and pep talks.  It is not all of one and none of the other, but both together.

The help-givers need to check on themselves to avoid being too demanding on one hand, or too permissive on the other.  Experience in holding people accountable will eventually bring the skill needed to be a successful help-giver.

The accountability a good program requires of its clients will serve them well.  It is the only way to get them ready for the accountability the work world is certainly going to demand of them. Being held accountable is not bad for them, but good.  What they learn from it will continue help them long after they leave your program.

Chapter 19: The Human Need for Work

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 2: Attitude Adjustments for Helpers

Chapter 19: The Human Need for Work

It may be hard to believe sometimes, but work is greatly desired by human beings.  Surprisingly, even small children of two or three years of age typically follow a parent around, trying to help them as they work, trying to work themselves in the house or garage or yard, imitating what they see their parents doing.

So profound is the effect of work on us that Rollo May, the great psychologist, stated flatly that the only cure for grief is “time and work.” 

Work is still the major way we define ourselves.  “What do you do?” is one of the most common questions asked of a new acquaintance.  “What do you want to be when you grow up?” we ask children.  What we mean is, “What kind of work do you want to specialize in?”  “What kind of life do you want to have?”

Our work is a way to contribute our share to the welfare of our family, community, country and world.  No wonder so many of us judge our worth, rightly or wrongly, by the work we do.

Work brings dignity.  All work, except work that is dishonest, criminal or immoral, is worthy of respect.  All honest work adds something of value to society.  It supplies something that someone needs, that someone is willing to pay for.  It performs a service for that person and others.  It adds to the welfare of all.

Some people do not respect work that is menial or dirty.  They are making a mistake.  A city whose garbage stops being picked up soon realizes the value of the work of those who collect it.  The cleaning of our public restrooms, restaurants, and homes helps keep disease and pests at bay.  Cleaning is a foundational part of a hospital’s mission of fighting illness and contagion.  Those who do such work perform one of the most essential tasks in any society.  The fact that some people miss the importance of such work does not affect its true value.

Work teaches us to begin at the beginning.  We find that we must start as a beginner and learn the basics before we move up.  Many people—including the children of owners of businesses—have learned to their sorrow how much they were handicapped by starting in the middle or at the top, instead of learning the business from the bottom up.  (Wise owners start their children there, so that when they inherit the business some day they will not ruin it.)

It is too bad that entry-level jobs are sneered at in some quarters.  They are excellent training schools, run by bosses who are used to training beginners in the most basic work habits.  There is nothing wrong with having an entry- level job.  The only problem comes with staying in one.  (Even so, however, many are ideal for the long-term employment of retarded people.  After all, they want to work too.)

The importance of work may be seen in the distress of those who are temporarily out of a job.  While their biggest concern is about not having a paycheck, they are also uneasy about not being useful and productive.  It is not unusual for some to begin to feel worthless.

Work sharpens us.  It keeps our minds active and productive.  Its demands toughen and strengthen us.  It provides discipline that we may not appreciate until we see how sloppy and lazy we can get without it.

Work challenges us.  It helps us struggle to accomplish what is hard.  It gives us the invigoration of working toward goals.  It requires both teamwork and competition.  By correcting mistakes and fantasies, it keeps us closer to reality.  Work keeps us mentally fit.  It makes us capable and experienced.  We get better at taking on the world.

What happens when we do not work?  The old proverb, “The Devil finds work for idle hands to do,” seems to be proven true over and over.  If we do not stay as busy working as we should, we may have entirely too much leisure.  How can we tell?  We get bored!  It takes more and more hype and excitement to counter the boredom.

Children and teens once were kept so busy by work and study that they had little time or opportunity to get into trouble.  As recently as the 1930s and 1940s, children began to work for their families at four or five years of age.  They were given simple tasks at first, around the home or farm or family business.  As they matured, they were given more and more difficult tasks and responsibilities. 

Children also took part-time jobs at an early age.  Before and after school and in the summers, they delivered papers, collected bottles, sold seeds door to door, swept out stores, worked behind the counter, mowed lawns.  They were expected to earn some or all of their money for spending and clothing, and sometimes the cost of their schooling.  In many families, they were expected to help support their families.

That is probably one reason that crime rates were so low then, with so little juvenile delinquency.  They had little time to get into trouble.

In the years since then, we have achieved such prosperity that most of our children no longer have to work.  What has been the result?  The major complaint of our teens today is that they are bored!  They search harder and harder for something to break their boredom.  Some of the things they choose bring them a world of trouble.  Too much idleness from too little work has not turned out to be such a great thing after all. 

Is it possible to work too much?  Of course!  Is it possible to work oneself to death?  Absolutely!  Yet, many of us have found that overwork can be tremendously fulfilling.  Work can be such a pleasure that it can be addicting, causing us to neglect health and family.

There is no doubt that the most fulfilling work is work that is a mission, a calling, our way of making the world a better place.  Many have given up everything else, even their lives, for such work.

Then there is the quiet, daily heroism of millions of ordinary working Americans.  They live and work and sacrifice for their families, their churches or synagogues, their communities and their country.  Not for them the selfish egotism of living and working and spending only for themselves.  When they go to work, like it or not, every day, it is because they accept responsibility for the financial support of the people and causes they hold dear.  It is through working and earning that they serve others.

They serve without medals.  Their silent heroism is not flashy.  But the satisfaction it brings is solid and enduring.  They can look back on a life well worth living.

Work is a great gift.  Life would surely seem puzzling and almost pointless without it.  We would be frustrated beyond imagining if trapped in a society where work was not allowed. 

With all due respect and honor to many whose lives have been dedicated to working to help the poor, how did we ever come to imagine that we would help the poor by arranging for them to live without working?  How could we have distorted their lives in that way?  What a huge misunderstanding!

The poor are not less human or capable than the rest of us.  If we find work fulfilling, if we have a need for work, so do they.  To think they do not is to think that our capacity to be fulfilled by work is something that they lack.  That assumes we are somehow superior to them.  That over-estimates us and under-estimates them.

The poor need work, for their dignity and satisfaction, for their future, for their children.  Their children need to see their major role model, their parent or parents, going to work every day.  If they do not, they will not see why they should learn in school.  (If they think they will never work, which many think after years of seeing parents and even grandparents who do not work, why bother with learning anything?  What is the point?  They do not think they will ever need it.)  That attitude would continue to undermine and devastate much of our education system.

The poor have a deep need, whether they all realize it yet or not, to become an integral part of working America.  We are not concerned enough for the poor if we do not help them to work.

Chapter 21: When the Poor Are True Victims

(This is chapter 21 of "Up and Out," a book condensing my long experience about how to best help poor people.  I pledged earlier to get it up online as soon as possible, so it would be available for free to everyone trying to cope with helping the Katrina evacuees.)

(These are not things that need to be done during the first part of this emergency.  Rather, this is for the time after that, when Katrina evacuees will be moving from getting immediate emergency assistance to trying to normalize their lives.  That is when good programs to help them "up and out" of their situation need to kick in.  The following is for that time.)

(For other chapters, look under "Categories" and click on the chapter you want.)

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 2: Attitude Adjustments for Helpers

Chapter 21: When The Poor Are True Victims

No one can know many poor people, or work with them long, without hearing of cases where they have been victims.  There are cases of terrible abuse, of beatings, of severe neglect, of parents who never loved them or cared for them.  There are crime-ridden, dangerous neighborhoods, bad schools, substandard and filthy housing.  There are parents who are abusers of drugs or alcohol, or criminals, or prostitutes or pimps.  There are parents who pay little attention to their children or their needs, who never show up at a school, who do not teach their children the minimal things they need to know to have a normal life.   

Those who work with the poor eventually learn that many such tales are fiction, told solely to play on their sympathies and gain more assistance.  But they also learn that so many of them are true that they can almost be predicted.  They even learn of heart-breaking situations that the clients do not think to tell them, because they seem “normal” to the client.

There are whole groups of people who have been victims of society.  There were African slaves, English bond-servants, Native Americans repeatedly robbed of their land by broken treaties.  There were Mexicans who were not welcome in restaurants or hotels.  There were the early Chinese and Japanese immigrants, almost without rights.  There were also the early Irish, Jewish and Italian immigrants, each discriminated against in their time.  To this day, there are a few American private clubs which admit neither Jews or African Americans.

American black people were subject to slavery until the Civil War, then to the legalized discrimination of the “Jim Crow” laws until the Civil Rights Act of 1965, and are still subject to prejudice and illegal discrimination to varying degrees.

In addition to victims of society, there are also victims of individuals: of murderers, criminals, abusers, and harassers. There are also victims of fate, such as those who suffer serious illness, injury, disfigurement, or disability.  There are those who suffer disasters; tornados, earthquakes, fires and accidents.  There are those who suffer terrible losses of family or friends, bearing great pain and grief.

A victim is one who suffers some great loss or injustice through no fault of his or her own.  The question is, if some of the poor are poor because they are truly victims, should they be held responsible for their situation?  What is more important, should they be expected to climb up out of that poverty through their own efforts?  Should they be excused from trying?  Are they owed a living?  Is the rest of society responsible for subsidizing them?

These are troubling and important questions.  They can all but paralyze our thoughts and actions.

It was during my time in prison that I first learned some practical lessons from victims about their problems.

In women’s prisons, they form families.  Some women are asked by other women to “adopt” them, and they become their “mothers.”  If these adopted women then adopt “children” of their own, their “mother” becomes the “grandmother” of those children.  These relationships can be taken very seriously.  The mothers are supposed to look out for, and teach, their “children.”

In prison I had over 40 “children” and I do not know how many “grandchildren.”  Most of them told me their life stories.  There was no doubt at all that many of them never had a break of any kind whatsoever.  They were true victims.

But if I told them that they were victims, however true it may have been, an odd thing happened.  They stopped trying.

On the other hand, if I did not tell them that, but instead told them that they had to succeed on their own, that no one else was going to do it for them, and that it was the only way, then they tried harder.  It really made me think.

One thing I saw in them is that thinking of yourself as a victim makes you feel more powerless.  You think your life is determined by something beyond your control, that you cannot change it.

Another thing visible in them was that focusing on being a victim meant being focused on the past.  Or it meant being focused on something that probably could not be changed by them, or even in their lifetimes.  It meant looking back, not forward. 

It also meant wasting precious time and energy on things they probably could not change.  That bled them of the energy and resolve needed to do what they could to help themselves.

It was not that they needed to deny that they were victims, or to ignore it.  Instead, they needed to learn whatever lessons they could from it.  If it were something they could change, such as breaking free from an abusive husband, they needed to change it.  But they badly needed to shift their focus to opportunities to move up.

Watching them also showed me that even the worst victims I knew in prison were still capable of doing just about everything for themselves.  They did not need to be excused from improving their lives themselves.  They did not need others to subsidize them or run their lives for them. 

What they needed was not different from what the rest of us need.  They needed to make a basic, turn-around decision that they were going to change their lives for the better.  Then they needed to use whatever opportunities they could find or make to do that. 
Many of the victims I knew, those who tried, managed to do just that.

There are some victims who are so disabled that they cannot do these things for themselves.  If so, they may qualify for disability payments for life.  But even among the most damaged victims I have known, there were still many things they could do for themselves.  In fact, they wanted to do the things that they could.  They were very gratified to be able to do them. 

Long after prison, observing some 5,000 poor people helped by the three charities I founded, the most disabled person I knew also turned out to be one of the most resourceful.   A victim in several ways, she was homeless, abandoned by her husband, and on medication for schizophrenia.  In addition, she had two extremely difficult young sons, severely retarded and brain-damaged.   

She had problems we could scarcely comprehend.  Yet she constantly amazed us with her resourcefulness and independence.  The way she cared for and handled her sons, and her own problems, was both touching and magnificent.  She did not stay homeless long, either.

Another more recent example was a woman under medical care for bipolar depression, schizophrenia, and HIV infection.  Too disabled ever to hold a job, she had enough disability pay to live on.  But she still wanted to do as much as she could.  She tried valiantly to contribute to her own needs, and even to help others.  Doing the best that she could gave her considerable satisfaction.   

The things that make many poor people victims also usually contributed to their poverty.  Even so, there are still many, many things they can do to climb to a higher level of living and opportunity.  Their victimhood usually does not need to stop them. 

Subsidies only trap them where they are, putting a cap on their income.  Excusing them from doing what they can for themselves, out of sympathy, is helping them to stay in the trap.  The cold reality is that their true way out is to help themselves up and out.

Victims who are poor need our understanding.  They need a sympathetic ear and our willingness to help.  But the last thing they need is an attitude that, because they are victims, they are hopeless.  They need affirmation that they can make it anyhow, victim or not.  They need encouragement.  Most of all, they need hope.  That, we can help with.

Chapter 22: When They Rip Us Off

(This is chapter 22 of "Up and Out," a book condensing my long experience about how to best help poor people.  I pledged earlier to get it up online as soon as possible, so it would be available for free to everyone trying to cope with helping the Katrina evacuees.)

(These are not things that need to be done during the first part of this emergency.  Rather, this is for the time after that, when Katrina evacuees will be moving from getting immediate emergency assistance to trying to normalize their lives.  That is when good programs to help them "up and out" of their situation need to kick in.  The following is for that time.)

(For other chapters, look under "Categories" and click on the chapter you want.)

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 2: Attitude Adjustments for Helpers

Chapter 22: When They Rip Us Off

There is a story I told in Out of the Iron Furnace that may be worth repeating here.

It happened while I was still in jail before being sent to prison.  Because they believed I was a dangerous Communist revolutionary, I was kept locked up by myself most of the time.  I was in the “trusty” tank with the other women, but my cell door was kept locked.  The others were locked in only at bedtime.

My best friend in there was Pat, a tall, good-looking young black woman.  She was head trusty.  We spent much time talking.  Sometimes Tony, her adopted jail “child”, would be with her.

One day after she finished work, she came to my cell looking troubled.  She asked me if I knew that someone had been stealing from me.  I did not.

The way that happened was that we could not have money with us, but were allowed to keep money with the matrons.  In the evenings, a matron would come to the tank door and let the women order snacks from the commissary with whatever cash they had in their accounts.

Pat told me that Tony and her young friends had been ordering a lot of snacks at night out of my funds.  They told the matron they were doing it for me, since I was locked in and could not come to the door myself to order what I wanted.  Then they took the snacks, supposedly to bring them to me, and ate them.

“Your money is all gone,” Pat told me.  “What are you going to do about it?” 

I thought a minute.  “Nothing,” I shrugged.

“Why not?” Pat wanted to know.

“Well,” I said, “I have money and she doesn’t.”

Pat’s eyes narrowed—a bad sign.  She put her hands on her hips, dropped back a step from my bars and looked me up and down slowly.  I was getting uneasy.

Finally, head back, lip curled, she almost sneered, “You call yourself some kind of teacher?”

“Yes,” I told her, puzzled.

“Then just what do you think you’re teaching Tony?”

Thinking a minute first, I replied, “That there is at least one white who is compassionate and not a racist.”

Pat lost it then.  She yelled at me, “Dummy!  You’re teaching her to be a thief, that’s what you’re teaching her!”  Without taking her eyes off me she yelled over her shoulder, “Tony! Get over here!”

Tony ambled up, smiling and unsuspecting.  Pat lit into her immediately.  “What did this woman ever do to you?” she yelled close to Tony’s face, pointing to me.  “Answer me!” She was getting louder.  “Just tell me, what did this woman ever do to you?”

“Nothing.”  Tony’s voice was defiant.

“Then why were you stealing from her?  Tell me that! “Why?”  Tony lost her defiance and started trembling.  Pat got a tiny bit less loud.  “Don’t you remember all those times we talked, about how you weren’t ever going to steal anymore?”

“Yes.”  Tony was both trembling and crying now.

“Well?  Are you ever going to steal anything again?”

“No ma’m.”  Tony was looking down at the floor, trying to disappear.

“Do you promise?”

“Yes ma’m.”

After a few more minutes of this, they walked off together, their arms around each other, leaving me doing some of the heaviest thinking of my life.  It was one of those life-changing moments.  I knew that Pat knew more about Tony than I did; that she, not I, was the one who had done what was best for Tony.  Obviously, my thinking had to change.

What watching Pat and Tony taught me was that when you let people rip you off, you are not doing them any favor.  On the contrary, you are just confirming them in bad behavior.  You just make it more certain that they will do the same thing to someone else later.  Thanks to Pat, I learned that the only kind and loving thing to do is to bring them up short.  To tell them, “You’re not going to do that.”  And tell them why.  Tell them how bad it is for them.

The next time you are tempted to let someone get away with ripping you off because of a misguided sense of compassion, remember my story.  Remember Pat.  And don’t do it! 

Staff people should be very vigilant not to let their volunteers get ripped off by a client.  Getting “burned” by a client has caused many green volunteers to stop volunteering altogether.  They can be so disillusioned and disheartened that they give up on helping the poor.

Staff people need to be diligent in teaching volunteers that clients may try to rip them off.  They need to be trained in handling that situation.  They need to be taught, first, not to let it happen and why, and second, if it does happen, not to just overlook it.  Someone, whether a volunteer or a staff person, needs to confront the situation, and right away.

Remember, this confrontation is not just to protect the one being ripped off.  It is also to help turn around the one doing the ripping off.

Staff should be alert to spotting situations where clients are taking undue advantage of volunteers.  For instance, one LIFT client got a volunteer retired couple to find and donate to her a used dryer.  When they got to her apartment with the dryer, she had these older people carry the heavy dryer in.  When it did not fit, she got them to carry it back out, return it, find another of the right size, load it on the trailer they had rented, bring it back, unload it and carry it in too.  She could have caused them serious physical injury.  It should have not been allowed.

Another LIFT client had a technique that began by asking for a ride home with her baby.  When almost home, she would ask to just swing by a relative’s house nearby first. 

The relative was actually not nearby, but some distance away.  She would go in, to get back money she had loaned the relative, she would say.  She would be inside 15 or 20 minutes, then come storming out, swearing and angry, saying they would not pay her. 

Then, almost to her house again, she would ask to go to the grocery first, saying she had no milk for the baby.  When about to go in the grocery, she would say she had no money.  Could we give her some money?  When she came out, she had just one more place she needed to go before she went home.  And so it went.       

She was good.  It took us awhile before we compared notes and found that she was doing the same thing to several of us.  Getting away with that kind of exploitative behavior was not teaching her anything good.  And it certainly was not good for us either.

Getting ripped off may seem like a small thing.  Making a fuss about it may seem entirely too much.  But in a situation where there is a concern to help someone grow and change, letting them rip someone off is not the right thing to do.  Stopping them, confronting them, and explaining why, is the only way to be kind and loving about it.

Chapter 23: When Confrontation Is Needed

(This is chapter 23 of "Up and Out," a book condensing my long experience about how to best help poor people.  I pledged earlier to get it up online as soon as possible, so it would be available for free to everyone trying to cope with helping the Katrina evacuees.)

(These are not things that need to be done during the first part of this emergency.  Rather, this is for the time after that, when Katrina evacuees will be moving from getting immediate emergency assistance to trying to normalize their lives.  That is when good programs to help them "up and out" of their situation need to kick in.  The following is for that time.)

(For other chapters, look under "Categories" and click on the chapter you want.)

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 2: Attitude Adjustments for Helpers

Chapter 23: When Confrontation is Needed

We live in a time when confrontation is considered a negative.  “Nice people” do not do it.  Some parents can hardly confront their own children.

But then, some people have no problem at all with confronting others.  There are those who truly enjoy it.  For some, it is a part of almost every conversation. They normally talk in a challenging, confrontational way.  TV talk shows seem to have plenty of those.

Most Americans seem to hate confrontation.  They employ strategies to get around it, such as talking all around what they really mean.  Or they may speak so much in general terms that the person being confronted has no idea what they are talking about.

Like it or not, confrontation is an integral part of every “life changing” kind of program.  There is no accountability without it. 

One of the advantages of using reformed alcoholics and drug addicts in programs to rehabilitate alcoholics and addicts is that confrontation is easier for them.  In fact, it is not needed so often.  Knowing that they have been there before and are familiar with all the excuses and dodges, the clients often may not even try to fool them.  Then they do not have to be confronted so often over some deception.

In working with the poor, there will be all kinds of efforts to get around the rules, to deceive and to take advantage.  It is important not to allow that to happen, for the sake of the clients themselves.

One reason is that when they succeed in such efforts, it strengthens them in a bad pattern.  They are more likely to continue such behavior.  If they are confronted about it, they begin to learn to live by different standards.

Another reason is that they hurt their own chances of success in the program when they find ways to get around it.  The program is their best chance up and out of poverty.  Concern for them dictates that they be confronted when trying to evade doing what they should.  Or when they try to be helped more than is good for their future ability to help themselves. 

They do not yet know these things, but the helper does.  It is the responsibility of the helper to insist and to stand firm.

A typical situation involves the client’s approaching a volunteer, as an individual, for financial help.  This evades the rules of the program, which carefully limit how much financial help can be given and in what ways.1 

It is less confrontational for the volunteer to respond that such giving is against the rules.  It should be explained that all such decisions are made only by the team as a whole.  This takes the burden off the volunteer.  It also keeps it from being a personal matter.

That is why it is very important for the rules of the program to be spelled out clearly for clients at the very first.  That does not mean that the client will not try to evade them.  But it does keep it from being personal and arbitrary when the rules have to be enforced.

When a client does not follow the rules, not only should there be confrontation, but it should come as quickly as possible.  If it is delayed, there is more risk that the client will not continue the program.

For instance, when a client first misses a meeting or a day of work, it is important to contact the client, not on the phone but in person, that very day.  This is usually the first indication that the client is wavering.   

Without immediate action, the client may be lost.  Or if action is taken, but on a later day, the client may already be lost.  Often it is too late after just a day or two.  But an in-person contact that first day often saves the situation.

It should be remembered that it is hard to know what the client is thinking.  But when the client breaks the rules in some way, such as missing a meeting, that is a clue that should not be ignored. 

Confrontation at that very point, that day, is a great kindness to the client.  It has the best chance of discovering what is going on in the client’s life and mind.  It has an immediate reinforcement effect, which is stronger than a delayed effect.  It is a chance to remind the client what the goals are and why they are important in the client’s life.  It is a prime opportunity to encourage the client not to give up the effort to change, but to keep trying.

In that context—personal, not on the phone, showing enough concern to make the trip to see the client, giving encouragement—confrontation should happen.  There should be a firm reminder that unless the rules are observed, the client cannot stay in the program.  The benefits of the program would be lost. 

Without that confrontation, without enforcing the rules, the program degenerates into mere hand-holding.  No client I have ever seen comes to a program simply for hand-holding.  Like the rest of us, they have other things to do with their time. 

They have no need whatsoever for the program unless it is going to help them.  In their hearts, they know that being confronted when they need it is a part of that.  They do not mind as much as the person doing the confronting, as a rule.

Confrontation can happen without being rude or uncaring.  It can happen while showing respect for the other person.  It is not the end of the world.

When confrontation is needed, however, and does not happen, the program is weakened.  So are the chances for the client to succeed.  Trying to retrieve the situation can be a lot harder and take much more time than if the confrontation had happened when first needed.

Those who sincerely want to help poor people will need to learn, first, to confront when necessary, and later, how to do it well.  But doing it soon enough, even if awkwardly, is usually more effective than doing it later and better, but perhaps too late.

---

1 See Chapter 25, “Guidelines for Giving Help.”

Chapter 24: What a Good Program Looks Like

(This is chapter 23 of "Up and Out," a book condensing my long experience about how to best help poor people.  I pledged earlier to get it up online as soon as possible, so it would be available for free to everyone trying to cope with helping the Katrina evacuees.)

(These are not things that need to be done during the first part of this emergency.  Rather, this is for the time after that, when Katrina evacuees will be moving from getting immediate emergency assistance to trying to normalize their lives.  That is when good programs to help them "up and out" of their situation need to kick in.  The following is for that time.)

(For other chapters, look under "Categories" and click on the chapter you want.)

UP AND OUT: A GUIDE TO TRUE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR"

PART II: MOVING UP AND BREAKING OUT OF POVERTY

Section 3: Getting Into Action

Chapter 24: What a Good Program Looks Like

The first advice for having a good program is, do not be too inventive right at first.  The best way to start a new program to help the poor is not to get people around a table, brainstorm, then use untested new ideas to build a program.  Tested ideas are better.  Time and money will be too scarce at first for testing new ideas.  Better not try to reinvent the wheel until you have accumulated more experience.

Instead, it is better to look around, find people who have a program that is working well, and follow them around.  Learn everything you can from them.  Remember, experience trumps new, untested ideas, especially when starting something new.

Copy a good, tested program with documented good results.  Then do not try to change that program until you have at least a couple of years of experience with it.   

Meantime, watch and observe your clients carefully during that couple of years.  Think about what you observe.  Analyze what it means.  Pick the brains of all the experts you can.  Exchange insights with your co-workers.  Keep good records of your clients and their progress.  Analyze your results.  Know what your success rate is.  Try to figure out why it is that way.

Then, when you want to try some changes, do it on the basis of what you have learned during that couple of years about your clients.  They will teach you more about what they are like, what they really need, and what works, than any untested theory.  That will also help you spot any changing trends among the poor and how these affect your clients and your program.

What should a good program look like?  What should you look for?  It is important that the program be run by someone with a zeal for helping the poor.  That clients be treated with respect.  That there is good financial accountability.  That there is no dishonesty or fraud going on.  But most of all, more than any of these, what you should look for is results, results, results!

Results are more important than good intentions.  They are more important that having good equipment and nice offices.  They are more important than having a lot of funding.  They are more important than having a highly educated and credentialed staff.  They even are more important than sympathy and love for the poor. 

Without results, all the rest is a huge waste of everyone’s time and sacrifice.  It is especially a waste for the clients.  Leading them to invest time and effort and hope in a program that is not likely to help them is worse than giving them nothing.  It is close to fraud.  It can increase their discouragement and cynicism.

A program without good results, that does not insist on good results above all else, is not kind or loving.  It does not care about the poor.  It cares about something else, like proving an effort is being made, but not about the poor.  If good results are not achieved in a reasonable amount of time, a better program should be found.

Results are easy to claim.  Charities under pressure may sometimes claim fictitious results.  Unless results are well documented, however, by reasonable standards that are simple to understand, and available to whomever asks, they are not credible. 

Charities may struggle along without good results for some time while they are learning.  That does not mean they are bad charities or should not exist.  But it does mean that their program is not the one to learn from or copy. 

So when scouting for a good program, look for a tested program with good, well-documented results above all else.  Or, if it is a new program, see whether it was designed by an experienced person with a track record of good results in the past.

Some of the features a good program to help the poor is likely to have are these:

The application process

There should be a thorough application process before the client is accepted into the program.

If the program is faith-based, that should be explained to the client before any application is started.  If the applicant objects to faith-based instruction, the applicant should be referred to another organization.

No requirement ever should be made that a client must accept any religious point of view in order to be in a faith-based program.  The client may be asked to listen to faith-based instruction, but certainly never required to agree with it.  (Such requirements would be futile, anyhow.  No one can control what another person thinks or believes.  Such requirements could result in some applicants faking a religious conviction they do not feel.  That helps no one.)

The rules of the program need to be explained in advance.  In order to enter the program, the applicant must agree to abide by the rules, with the understanding that breaking the rules may result in leaving the program.

The information in the application needs to be checked out promptly.  Any discrepancies should be discussed with the client.

The pre-program process

Once an applicant has been accepted into the program, there should be some preliminary training and work before the new client progresses into the program itself.  That should take several hours a day for about a week.

The client should not move from the pre-program into the program itself until becoming employed.  If not, the program becomes mere charity, leading to dependence.

For those few clients too disabled to work, first make sure they have disability payments in place.  Then try to help them be as independent as possible.

Much of the pre-program time should be spent in preparing the client for a job.  Most important is training in work habits.1  Some training in having good attitudes, with especial attention to an attitude of resentment, is needed.

This is a good time to preview quickly the benefits of abstinence. It is also a good idea to touch briefly on typical areas of client dysfunction, such as parenting.  This will prepare the client for the “lifestyle” courses that will be taught as part of the program later.

Pre-program curricula for work habits, attitudes and abstinence, which is specifically designed for the kind of clients you have, is best.

The last couple of days of the pre-program week should be spent on applications and resumes, interview practice, and making sure the client is properly dressed for job interviews.

During the pre-program, someone from the organization should be scouting out job possibilities and setting up interviews.  The client should go, or be taken, to job interviews on the last day of the pre-program.

In a faith-based program, there should be an initial conversation about faith in God at the very beginning of the pre-program.  The faith that is the basis for the program should be explained.

As the pre-program proceeds, the principles of that faith and their relation to the problems of the clients may be explained.  This gives the client a faith-based foundation for progress that can be very helpful.

It is a good idea to give some financial assistance to help the client attend the pre-program week.  Their lunch should be provided or paid for.  They should also be given enough money each day to pay for their transportation to and from the pre-program.  If possible, baby-sitting should be provided, in a different room than the adults are using.   

In some cases, where the client wants to attend, but is in such urgent need that they feel they must find a job right away instead, it may be advisable to give such a client some financial incentive to spend the required week in the pre-program.  That could be conditioned on the client’s being on time and present every day of the pre-program.  It would not be given until the last part of the last day of the pre-program.  It should be made an award or prize, not a salary for a week, so that the client is in no sense an employee, and the additional bookkeeping of payroll deductions can be avoided.

The program

The program should involve the client and if possible, the children of the client.  Furthermore, if at all possible, the boyfriend or girlfriend of the client, who is almost sure to be around, should also be drawn into becoming a client in the program.

The program should offer classes weekly at a participating church, usually at night, since the client and most of the volunteers will be working.  Except for the staff person provided by the charity, the volunteers will be the ones who do all the tasks involved in the program at the church.

The sessions should begin with a simple meal for all.  This will be a time for bonding as well as for eating. 

The schedule should be closely followed.  If not, there will not be time for everything before everyone gets too tired.  Also, the clients need to learn how to follow a tight schedule.

Child care, and if possible, mentoring, should be provided for the children.  This should be away from the adult activities.

Transportation for the clients and their children should be provided.  Public transportation at night, with children, is not going to work.  Some volunteers can focus on just providing this transportation.  (Their car insurance usually will provide adequate liability coverage.  This should be checked, however.)

After supper, clients should have three short classes.      For faith-based programs, the first class would be taught from the scriptures, especially as it relates to client problems. For non-faith and faith-based programs alike, this class time can be used for abstinence training, and for further training in work habits and attitudes.  Curricula specifically designed for these courses is best.

The second class should work on job skills or education, whichever is needed more.  Off-the-shelf curricula can be used for these.

The third class should be “life skills” training.  This will be a series of courses focusing on typical areas of dysfunction: parenting, budgeting, nutrition, basic time management and health/sanitation.  Curricula specifically designed for these courses and these clients is best. 

During the classes for the clients, the team of volunteers should have their meeting.  At least one staff person should be there.  Information about clients and their progress should be shared.  Strict confidentiality should be insisted upon, with agreement that no client information will leave that room.  Plans and strategies for each client should be discussed.  The meeting should not be longer than an hour.  This will improve attendance.

Some of the volunteers should be assigned as “buddies” to each client.  That way, the client has at least one or two team members with whom to develop a closer relationship.  The buddies should work in pairs.  One or two home visits should be made by the buddies.  Going in pairs, especially when visiting in dubious areas, will help.

When clients do not follow the rules, there should be a scale of consequences ranging from small penalties to having to leave the program.  If required to leave, they usually should be allowed to try again after a certain period.  Some who need more than one try may succeed another time.

In addition to the weekly meetings, the program should have three more parts. 

One part is using staff to visit clients and their employers on the job once a week.  That is to keep track of how the employee is doing and help them progress.

Another part, for faith-based programs, involves getting the clients and their families involved with a church.  If the client already has a church, a deeper involvement with that church should be urged and monitored. 

If the client has no church, the client should be encouraged to become involved with one of the churches participating in the program.  Members of that church should be alerted to be especially welcoming and supportive to the clients and their families.  This “church family” will be an additional source of strength and encouragement for the clients.

The third part concerns financial assistance for clients.  In faith-based programs, this money may come mostly from participating churches.  The team of volunteers and staff would decide on each individual request for funds.  Then the church would be approached for the funds.   

If individuals provide funds, these would be “passed through” the church, providing the needed paper trail, accountability and tax deductibility.  So the individual would give to the church, and the church would cut the check.  Then the team would disburse the check to the client.

The time a client spends in the program should be around six months.  After that, the client should be encouraged to stay in touch and keep the team informed of their progress.

Although financial help to the client usually ends after the program, the client should be encouraged to continue in regular involvement with one of the participating churches. 

This will provide the clients and their families with a circle of friends who are interested in them.  The clients will be strengthened and encouraged.  Their children will have many good activities and role models.  They will continue to grow and learn helpful lessons.

After the program is over

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the program should be continuous.  It is especially important at the point a client leaves a program. 

There should be an exit interview.  The client should be asked to give an evaluation of the program.  The clients also should be encouraged to keep the program informed on their progress.  Clients could be brought back for follow-up information by such things as annual or semi-annual dinners with prizes.

After a client leaves, whether the entire program was completed or not, their data should go into the process used to figure success rates.  These success rates should be made public regularly, in the organization’s newsletter.

The true success rate should be reported with total honesty, whether good or bad.  If the organization must report poor results from time to time, it will at least earn vital credibility by doing so.

Good feedback is so crucial that no program can succeed for long without it.  Constant attention to results will provide that feedback.  The organization needs to know its own success rates much more than anyone else does.  Those rates are its major learning tool.  Success rates should be its most constant concern.

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1 Refer back to Chapter 14, “Work Habits Earn More Than Job Skills.”