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Program overlapSocial Service Programs
This study demonstrates that adult education
services frequently overlap with those of other social service programs and
indicates the need for coordinating these services in ways that are mutually
supportive. Study participants
received a variety of social services that included subsidized housing, KTAP
(Kentucky Temporary Assistance Program, formerly Aid to Families with Dependent
Children), food stamps, Medicaid, and SSI (Social Security Insurance).
A small number of participants also received vocational training or
Vocational Rehabilitation services. Of
these services, KTAP participation had by far the greatest influence on study
participants. Twenty-five
respondents (31.3% of the sample) received KTAP benefits.
KTAP participation currently requires twenty-five hours per week of paid
or volunteer work experience for continued eligibility.
Of these hours, only five per week can be devoted exclusively to
educational programs and none of these may be spent in literacy tutoring or
study unless it is specifically designed for KTAP recipients.
Many KTAP respondents indicated these hours were insufficient and
believed their progress toward educational goals was limited by the small number
of hours that “counted” toward their work placement requirement. As one participant indicated, “They wouldn’t let you go
to GED classes to make up your time.”
Another respondent pointed out that, although her childcare was paid
while she participated in her required welfare-to-work program, she could not
afford additional out-of-pocket childcare expenses in order to attend GED
classes in the evenings. I can’t go to night classes plus do my welfare-to-work in the day. ‘Cause they just pays [childcare] for me to go to this class during the day. And I don’t have enough money to pay for my own time to go and try to get a GED at night. While not all welfare recipients may be interested in
pursuing further education, opportunities for more educational activities,
especially those that increase the students ability to make critical decisions,
would be beneficial.
The welfare-to-work programs discussed by study participants took a
variety of forms. Many counties
conducted mandated job readiness classes, often through local unemployment
offices, that met the work requirement. I’ve had those welfare-to-work positions, if that’s what you call ‘em, at the unemployment office. You have to have eight of ‘em, or something? And they show you how to dress and stuff, for a job interview. Another respondent reported: The teacher tells you what you’re doing wrong, why haven’t you got a job [and] how you need to dress. She gives you, like, mock interviews to show you things that people haven’t shown you before, to let you know what you’re doing right or what you’re doing wrong for when you go out and try to find a job. How to write an interview and how to do an interview. I never knew how. How to fill out an application. While some respondents found these readiness classes
useful, others were more skeptical of their value.
Respondents were also frustrated by the limited
time they could spend working toward educational goals as part of their mandated
work experience hours. Many felt
like their work placement hours detracted from time they might otherwise spend
on adult education programs. Two years ago I started at the Headstart and helped out down there for two years. They talked to me about the GED and they got me in a program, but I can only do it on Fridays and I’m gettin’ bored with that because it’s just Fridays. I’m thinkin’ about quittin’. ‘Cause if I had more days to go to the GED classes, well, I would even do ‘em at night. This participant believed that her work placement
effectively prevented her from attending GED classes.
Given that most study respondents had limited time and energy resources
to spend on adult education programs, this study suggests that, for the
undereducated adults, welfare-to-work requirements often conflicted with
educational goals.
The study demonstrates that on occasion social service programs failed to
inform participants about other services that might benefit them.
I never even
knew the program existed. I had
come down here for heating assistance, and my friend was here, and I was like,
“What are you doing here?” And
she had told me she had got put on the JPTA program.
And I was like, “What is that?”
So really, I don’t know anything about it.
But after she sat down and explained it, you’re like, “Well, that’s
a good program, I wished I had knew about that!” Clear communication between programs is essential for
adequately meeting client needs. This study demonstrates the importance of
coordinating service provision between social service and educational programs
that share clients. This
coordination will not only avoid unnecessary duplication of services; it can
also result in improved service provision and client outcomes. The need for
comprehensive service provision for low-income clients has been well documented
(Haleman, 1998).
Study participants were often critical of programs
they felt were impositional and capricious.
Respondents at times reported they were required to participate in
programs about which they were given little or no information and over which
they had no control. I’m gonna go through a computer course next month. I’m gonna have to. I don’t know how I’m gonna do it. It is part of my learning efforts to be able to go out and find a job. It’s goin’ to be twice a week but I don’t know when. I don’t know when it starts. I don’t know where it is. They haven’t let me know anything and it’s less than a week away. Respondents reported that welfare programs frequently
changed or were discontinued, leaving clients confused and frustrated by these
unexplained changes. Social service
providers were perceived as being unclear about program requirements and
provisions on occasion. This
uncertainty and inconsistency in program services was frequently disruptive and
frustrating for clients. Adult
education providers are in a unique position to assist their students in
researching facts needed to make informed decisions.
While adult education providers should not be considered caseworkers, the
critical literacy skills required of individuals to make responsible choices in
their everyday lives is a necessary part of an adult education curriculum. When social assistance, employment, and adult education
programs share clients, there is an opportunity to work on these critical
literacy skills.
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