Accessibility of Services
Needs
Many families who work describe the difficulty of tapping community services that are not accessible during non-work hours. Parents unable to leave work in the day frequently need services in evening hours. Mental health and counseling services are often greatly needed by families moving from welfare to work, as is assistance with parenting concerns. Transportation is almost always cited as a critical component to work success.
Concerns
Organizations and agencies are seldom creative in the way they extend hours and make their services available. A structure that allows flexibility is often hard to find and afford.
Lack of access to reliable transportation not only impairs parents ability to conduct an adequate child care search, it also keeps Work First participants from being able to take jobs that are too far away, and it contributes to worker absences and tardiness. Participants with unreliable vehicles or no vehicle at all must often use public transportation, which can be slow, time-consuming, and also unreliable. Further, many rural areas are not served at all or are served very infrequently by public transportation.
Community Response
Communities should determine the accessibility and availability of healh care, counseling, swing-shift child care, financial services, and other necessary services. Are the hours convenient, or are they a barrier? What recommendations can be made and what creative solutions can be sought through the community? County commissioners can publicly address solutions for more flexible hours and locations for service delivery.
Strategies
1. Parenting "Warm Lines"
"Warm lines," like crisis or hot lines, are accessible phone lines that enable the public to seek information. These lines have been effective in providing parents with non-judgmental parenting advice and emotional support. They could be located in a child-care resource and referral office with volunteer parents answering the "warm line." In North Carolina, there are several numbers available for parents: 1-800-For-Baby and 1-800-367-2229.
2. Creating Awareness of Services
Communities often have services that families in poverty do not know are available to them, such as assistance with child care, counseling, job training, and formal education. These are services that can significantly improve Work First participants chances of success in their new jobs. A booklet could be created listing basic services and resources available to low-income families in the community. Booklets can be distributed through employers and service agencies. Since the booklet could quickly become outdated, an online version could be developed, kept up-to-date, and printed out to fit the needs of the client.
Community agencies and employers could also hold "resource" meetings for new workers where different service-providing agencies can explain their services and how to access them. These meetings could rotate throughout the community in various accessible locations.
