[homeles_ot-l] How our tangled social programs pathologize the transition to self-reliance. And... The National Post Reports on Canada's Welfare-Trap (Tamarack Institute).

[lj1967 at sympatico.ca]

Why is it So Tough to Get Ahead? 

Metcalf Innovation Fellow John Stapleton launched a new report in December 2007 called:  Why is it so tough to get ahead?  How our tangled social programs pathologize the transition to self-reliance. 

Stapleton writes that social assistance recipients live with disincentives.  "The more they earn, the more they lose in benefits; when they tell the truth, they are punished."

The report outlines a series of recommendations for policy solutions that can be taken right away to eliminate some of the barriers thrown up by multiple subsidies and program policies. 

Stapleton calls attention to the need for a new governance model that enables governments to forge policies and procedures in a coordinated way so that the transition to self-reliance is a healthy, supported process for people.

It's a call that resonates with communities across Canada.  For instance, Vibrant Communities Saint John has made several recommendations to the provincial government about policy barriers to people exiting poverty and how these policies might be changed.

 Download the report here<http://www.metcalffoundation.com/downloads/John%20Stapleton%20-%20why%20is%20it%20so%20tough%20to%20get%20ahead.pdf>

John%20Stapleton%20-%20why%20is%20it%20so%20tough%20to%20get%20ahead.pdf

Related Links:

  a.. Access Saint John's recommendations here<http://tamarackcommunity.ca/downloads/vc/SJ_Comm_Dial_bkgrounder.pdf> and here<http://tamarackcommunity.ca/downloads/vc/SJ_Policy_Paper_Mar3007.pdf> 
  b.. Register to see Stapleton present his findings at Opportunities Waterloo next week<mailto:communityconversations at owr.ca?Subject=Register for Stapleton Event> 
  c.. Why a Job Doesn't Pay<http://www.metcalffoundation.com/downloads/The%20treadmill%20of%20poverty[3].pdf> 
  d.. The National Post reports on Canada's Welfare-Trap<http://www.metcalffoundation.com/downloads/national%20Post%20editorial-8-dec-07[1].pdf> 
By: Louise Kearney, with files from the Metcalf Foundation.



-30-

Tuitio ad servitium pauperum -- Breath & Shadow: 

"Canada is not a country for the cold of heart or the cold of feet." ~ Pierre Elliot Trudeau. 

"Those who do not feel pain much, seldom think that it is felt. And yes, to wipe all tears from all faces is a task too hard for mortals; but to alleviate misfortunes is often within the most limited power: yet the opportunities which every day affords of relieving the most wretched of human beings are overlooked and neglected with equal disregard of policy and goodness." 
- Samuel Johnson.
The Hunting  of the Snark:  "Oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away, And never be met with again! We should all of us grieve, as you well may believe, If you never were met with again -- For, although common Snarks do no manner of harm, yet, I feel it my duty to say, Some are Boojums."  ~Lewis Carroll.

Live to make civil society every day -- Ne lache pas!

http://www.tamarackcommunity.ca<http://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20080314/348d0d48/attachment.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7792 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20080314/348d0d48/attachment.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 630 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20080314/348d0d48/attachment.gif