'Bridges’ program seeks to eliminate poverty in Columbiana County

from Salem News

By KEVIN HOWELL, Salem News staff writer

NEW WATERFORD — When reviewing applicants requesting court-appointed counsel in early 2006, Columbiana County Municipal Court Judge Carol Robb noticed that the applicants had an enormous employment turnover. The individuals showed the ability to get a job, she said, but not to maintain long-term employment.

When she began to research the matter, she discovered a book written by Ruby Payne called “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” According to Robb, the book displays distinctions in the academic arena concerning backgrounds, language and characteristics.

The book described the hidden rules in economic class which prevent individuals in poverty from succeeding in different classes, Robb said. Using the concept of hidden rules, Payne co-authored with Philip DeVol and Terie Dreussi Smith “Bridges Out of Poverty.”

Having been adopted as a seminar used throughout the country, “Bridges Out of Poverty” is the understanding of the different classes, Robb said. Identifying three basic economic classes, it describes characteristics and hidden rules within each. It also identifies two types of poverty: situational, in which an individual has enough resources to move into a higher class, and generational, in which individuals of two or more generations do not have those resources, Robb said.

Working with Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Robb said she received training in Bridges workshops in December 2006 and Circles, a correlating program, in October 2007.

Anxious to reach out to people living in generational poverty, Robb said the Bridges program “Getting Ahead in a Just-Getting By World” was implemented last year in Columbiana County as an option for individuals in the county Municipal Court’s STAR mental health program.

With over 50 graduates, the “Getting Ahead...” assists participants in identifying the resources they have and the ones they lack, developing a monthly budget and developing a plan to improve the resources they lack, Robb said.

Several community organizations and agencies assist in the Bridges program, according to Robb, including: Kent State University, Youngstown State University, the Community Action Agency, Columbiana County Center for Educational Services, One Stop, Family Recovery, the county Municipal Court Department of Job and Family Services and several ministerial associations, private employers and chambers of commerce.

Once the “Getting Ahead...” program is complete, participants graduate to the CIrcles program, according to Robb. A grass-roots, community initiative, Circles provides the participants, now called Circle leaders, with assistance from the community in working their way out of poverty.

According to Robb, the Circles program works on two levels.

“First, it works on an individual level, with community members befriending a circle leader to assist them with problems they will face in the working middle class,” she said. “Secondly, it works on a community level by identifying issues people in poverty face and attempting to change policies so that those issues can be resolved.”

As the first county in Ohio to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants to fund the “Getting Ahead...” program, Robb said Columbiana County has excellent record keeping, with statistics being kept on families and individuals living in generational poverty.

With the extra effort in record keeping and the grants from the state, Robb said she hopes greater things are forthcoming.

“This should open up availability of funds in the state,” she said.

This area desperately needs programs like Bridges, Getting Ahead... and Circles, too, Robb said, citing the results from an April 2007 Community Action Agency survey for Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine (NEOUCOM) indicating that 50.2 percent of Columbiana County residents have incomes at or below 200 percent poverty.

“I view the Circles initiative as a way for the county to corral its resources and create a better living environment,” she said. “It will provide a stronger, more stable work force. The individuals, employees, employers, community; everyone benefits.”

In an attempt to inform the public of the programs, Robb will speak at an introduction meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. March 31 at the New Waterford United Methodist Church at 46925 S. State St., New Waterford. The meeting is open to everybody and will explain what the community can do to help eliminate poverty in Columbiana County, Robb said.