Career counseling strategies to facilitate the welfare-to-work transition: the case of Jeanetta.

Possible Problems and Issues in Counseling

The possible complications to effective career counseling are as varied and complex as the lives of the individuals on public assistance. Attendance at group or individual counseling sessions is often problematic. Competing priorities, such as ill children, the threat of eviction, other family members needing help, or simply a missed bus, lead to missed appointments. In addition, trust may also be an issue because of negative experiences clients have had with other human service programs. Gaining trust can be a slow process and one that may involve numerous phone calls or letters before engaging a prospective client.

Collaboration with other community programs and with the local welfare department is also helpful but complicated. Multiple problems need multiple solutions, and no single counselor or agency can do it all. However, caseworkers and job trainers may not understand the value of personal or career counseling. This is compounded by PRWORA itself, which emphasizes employment first. Thus, counseling (and even job training) may be seen as a luxury.

Counselors also need to be aware of their class, gender, race, and political biases. In addition, the work itself can be frustrating. Helping clients handle multiple barriers successfully can feel overwhelming to clients and to counselors. Therefore, the counselor will need to practice stress management, as well as teach it.

Final Comments

To help women like Jeanetta most successfully, career counselors need to understand the multitude of environmental and personal factors that influence career development for this population. Unfortunately, the changes in welfare policy have preceded informed scholarship. Thus, research and proven intervention strategies are lacking. Both are needed to inform policy and effective program development (Brown et al., 1998; Edwards, Rachel, & Dixon, 1999; Taskforce on Women, Poverty, and Public Assistance, 1997) The good news is that most welfare recipients want to work and "leave the system." Appropriate career counseling services can facilitate this process by helping clients evaluate their strengths, their personal barriers, and their options to ensure a successful transition from welfare to work.

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Donna L. McDonald, Portage Path Behavioral Health, Akron, Ohio. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Donna L. McDonald, Portage Path Behavioral Health, 340 South Broadway, Akron, OH 44308 (e-mail: dmcdonld@portagepath.org).