Understanding is key to ending poverty, expert tells Tucson forum

To lift more people out of poverty, community leaders must strive for a deeper understanding of what it means to live with financial and social instability, an international consultant says.

Philip DeVol, whose books include “Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals,” said Friday that business leaders can boost employee retention and productivity by trying to look at life through the lens of employees who are living in or on the cusp of poverty. DeVol, whose programs have been adopted in 40 states and five countries, spoke at a Friday poverty forum at the Radisson Hotel, hosted by Pima County’s Ending Poverty Now initiative.

Those employees may feel as through they’re careening from one crisis to the next, operating in survival mode, he said. He advocates for creating “employer resource networks,” an extension of human-resources departments that can confidentially help employees struggling with minor issues — such as a ticket for a broken taillight the employee can’t afford to replace — that otherwise could spiral into a crisis.

DeVol also calls for training of staffers who work directly with clients in poverty so they have an appreciation for the grit and resourcefulness it takes to survive without a safety net, he said.

“We think of people in poverty as problem-solvers, not as the problem,” he said.

In Pima County, nearly one in five people lives in poverty, or 19 percent of the population. In Tucson, the figure is 25 percent. The situation is worse for children: 26.6 percent of children in Pima County live in poverty, and 37 percent of single mothers are impoverished.

Pima County is already implementing some of DeVol’s ideas in pilot programs, including a partnership between the Pima County Health Department and Ending Poverty Now to help young mothers navigate the health-care system. The program aims to listen to the needs of mothers in poverty and to adjust the health-care system to accommodate those needs.

Las Artes Arts & Education Center, an alternative education program that helps at-risk young adults get their GED, is also incorporating DeVol’s ideas, including adding a coaching component, said Bonnie Bazata, program manager for Ending Poverty Now. The majority of people with GEDs say they want an associate’s degree, but in reality few go on to achieve that, she said.

“How do we increase the odds for these kids?” she said in an interview. “We want to really drill into the plan with them so they know, on the day after they have their GED, what they’re going to do next.”

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Eradicating poverty isn’t just a humanitarian issue; it’s an economic-development issue, Chuck Huckelberry, Pima County administrator, said at the forum. Pima County spends $30 million each year on services related to poverty and indirect costs are closer to $230 million, he said. The first question businesses ask when considering a move to Tucson doesn’t have to do with tax rates or the local arts scene, he said. They ask, “How well-trained is your workforce? Are they capable of being trained?” he said.

The middle class is struggling, too, making it even harder for those in poverty to climb the social ladder, DeVol said.

Pima County has incorporated poverty-reduction goals into its latest economic-development plan, Huckelberry said. Some programs already underway include a job-training center based at the county jail and a new demonstration project, funded by a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, to provide supportive housing and wrap-around services to the chronically homeless. The goal is to reduce the burden on the justice system and emergency rooms.

At the forum, DeVol said liberals often focus primarily on the political and economic structures that perpetuate poverty, while conservatives emphasize individuals’ choices and behavior. In reality, those two ideas are bookends on the spectrum of poverty’s myriad causes, he said.

Policies to end poverty must address those two causes, but also must consider factors in between, like the communities in which people live, as well as exploitation of the impoverished, such as industries like payday and title loans, he said.

People in poverty are often overwhelmed by what DeVol calls the “tyranny of the moment,” entirely focused on responding to crisis after crisis, such as car trouble, childcare issues or an eviction, he said. Under these conditions, individuals don’t have the mental bandwidth to think about long-term, abstract goals like furthering their education — just getting through the day is an act of heroism, he said.

Programs that help people in poverty must seek to escape the trap of only addressing immediate needs, and instead focus on helping individuals contemplate a long-term plan for reaching stability, he said.

He said those working with people in poverty should consider, “What percent of what you’re doing is about maintaining people, and what percent is about helping them get out?”