Why Don't They Just Get a Job?: One Couple's Mission to End Poverty in Their Community

by Liane Philips, Echo Montgomery Garrett

Why Don't They Just Get a Job? describes the journey and the incredible results of Dave and Liane Phillips' efforts to help those in poverty find their way to self sufficiency. Under the premise that existing job-readiness programs only focus on job placement and not retention, Dave and Liane Phillips created a poverty to economic self-sufficiency program with an 80 percent one-year employment retention rate. In the past three years this organization, Cincinnati Works, has brought $25 million in wages locally to over 1500 families. The not-for-profit offers a complete spectrum of free, lifetime employment services for the entry-level job-seeker to sustain and advance in today s work climate. The model is a winner of the 2009 Manhattan Institute Social Entrepreneur Award. Following its success, Dave Phillips is now volunteering as a consultant for similar programs in other cities.

Genres: Social Issues, Poverty, Nonfiction

253 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[LAURI CRUMLEY COATES · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why Don't They Just Get a Job?
One Couple's Mission to End Poverty
in Their Community
Authors: Liane Phillips and
Echo Montgomery Garrett
Publisher: aha! Process Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-934583-37-1

No one sets out to live their life in poverty, on welfare or serially jobless. Even before the current economic crisis, there were too many Americans chronically unemployed or having no opportunity for job training. As a former Social Worker and longtime American taxpayer, I am able to see both sides of this issue. In our society, there are many people considered unemployable. There are a variety of reasons for this. Many just do not have the financial means to continue education, and are left with no real marketable skills. Some people are truly driven into the welfare system because of circumstances beyond their control and lack the support; emotional, logistical, etc., to crawl back out. The "multiple generation" welfare share does come into play, also. It's probably the area most attacked by many as an abuse of the system. But if your mother never learned from her elders about motivation, ambition, personal skills,and the personal satifaction they offer, she probably won't know how to teach them to you. It's a vicious circle, and a tough situation for those involved. We won't solve that issue overnight, but it can be addressed successfully.

Thanks to a retired corporate couple, the people of Cincinnati now have a way out of the vicious circle that poverty often becomes. When Liane and Dave Phillips retired, they were at loose ends. With lots of energy and their shared corporate talents and experience, they started a revolutionary program. Their program is called Cincinnati Works. It's a nonprofit, member based organization changing the welfare landscape. It's a program that can (and should) be available thoughout this country.

To give an example of the success of Cincinnati Works, 80% of the people trained and hired into the community have retained their positions. That's a really incredible retention rate when you acknowledge that government funded programs of this type generally average a retention rate of 20 to 25%. Thousands of families have moved from welfare and poverty to self sufficiency and the personal satisfaction it can bring. The Phillips and their groundbreaking program have won numerous awards and the recognition of the Harvard Business Review.

The authors of this book have done an outstanding job. The writing style is clear and concise, and the story is moving, entertaining and inspirational all at once. With lots of attention to detail, it's easy to see how the plan can be duplicated. If this is not enough to convince you buy this book, the fact that a portion of the profits will be donated to Cincinnati Works (a program that really DOES work) should cinch the deal for you. If I could personally afford it, I would purchase copies of this book for every welfare and poverty program in the country. Utilizing this type of program would change the way the system works or doesn't work, in many cases. Highly recommended by this reader!

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a social worker who has spent many years working with people who experience poverty and homelessness, so the book entitled Why Don't They Just Get A Job? by Liane Phillips and Echo Montgomery Garrett is of particular interest to me. This book traces the development of Cincinnati Works, an agency whose central objectives are to help low income people become gainfully employed, maintain their jobs, and when possible, achieve advancement. The noble mission of Cincinnati Works and its founders is to end poverty in their community. This requires considerable skill development, a flexible support network, ample job opportunities, counseling and legal services, as well as dedicated and culturally sensitive staff that have faith in its central mission, among the many other things that the book reviews.

Clearly, the couple who started Cincinnati Works brings a strong sense of Faith, which inspires them to lend a helping hand to others. While the religious aspects of this story are highly relevant, I thought it was a bit overdone during the early chapters of the book. That being said... this is an uplifting story and a highly instructive book. The authors share the nuts and bolts of running a self-sufficiency employment program from job readiness training to advancement counseling, as well as assistance with concrete needs such as securing an ID or information and legal counsel on how to expunge charges from a criminal record (40% of its clients had criminal records). Just as important, there is a culture at Cincinnati Works that promotes a sense of partnership and empowerment for its members and staff. In fact it is not unusual for former members to become staff and thereby provide a powerful example of success, as well as help other staff to develop a better understanding of the trials and tribulations of the members that they serve.

Cincinnati Works has an impressive success rate with the people (members) that it serves. In fact, they have a better than 80% job retention rate. There are certain understandable prerequisites to membership regarding housing stability, addiction and legal issues, so their accomplishments do not include addressing poverty among the homeless or providing employment services to people with active drug addictions. The story of Cincinnati Works shows what can be accomplished when you have a sense of faith, really believe in the importance of your mission, and are willing to utilize data collection toward developing best practices. I really appreciate the spirit of this book and what it has to offer. Anyone who is interested in helping people of low income rise out of poverty, as well as learning the intricacies of this challenge would gain a great deal from reading this book.

Jay S. Levy, MSW, LICSW
Social worker & author of Homeless Narratives & Pretreatment Pathways: From Words to Housing, as well as many other publications on homeless Outreach & housing First.

[Shellie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great telling of what two people can do in the community for the less fortunate and how others can help.

[Nicole Carson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think if you do not have a social work background, or have not had the opportunity to work with the most vulnerable clients this book may be insightful. However, from my personal perspective this book made me literally LOL at times due to how naive the founders were at times. I give them kudos for starting up a non profit with zero experience.

[Jamie Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got several great ideas from this book.

[Mike Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I'm a new board member of an organization that is starting to provide a service modeled on Cincinnati Reads. This proved to be a wonderful primer on the problems of the chronically unemployed and the working poor. The problems encountered by the Phillips in bringing their organization to maturity, their zealous -yet methodical - approach to problem solving, and the active way they track their successes and failures amount, in sum, to a helpful roadmap for others whose goal is to bring people out of poverty and to a state of self-sufficiency.
I strongly recommend this book.

[Margaret-Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent easy read. Read the whole thing from cover to cover in one afternoon.