Chapter 24: What A Good Program Looks Like
(This is chapter 24 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.
1 Refer back to Chapter 14, “Work Habits Versus Job Skills.”
