The Sticky Bottom and Living Just above Broke:: How America Neglects its Most Valuable Resource

By Dr. Allen H. Simmons II

This book underscores the fact that there are many people who are trapped in an economic system that keeps them from moving ahead. The sticky Bottom and Just above Broke describes the condition that most welfare recipients find themselves in after leaving welfare rolls who are unable to find employment and paying them sustainable wages to live. They are left stuck at the bottom with no escape. In addition, there are many aspects of the welfare to work vendor programs of which the educational programs are inadequate. As a result of the diminishing values of our society, this situation goes undetected leaving those matriculating through welfare centers neglected and forgotten. This book illuminates the issues within this systemic condition and offers the idea of an intervention to ameliorate current conditions in our society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9781663250872

Dr. Allen H. Simmons II

Dr. Allen H. Simmons II is one of the nation’s rising thought leaders in our society seeking to promote positive change through social justice, education, and empowerment. He is a prophetic voice of the 21st century speaking truth to power on various platforms for the advancement of the underprivileged, and disenfranchised. Dr. Simmons is an educator, activist, organizer, religious leader, public speaker, and democratic strategist seeking to find ways to make our society greater through the values of equity, equality, and opportunity. Currently, Dr. Simmons serves as President of Beth- El College, he is the National Director of Education for the Sounds of Praise Fellowship Ministries Inc., and he is an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Saint Peter’s University located in Jersey City, New Jersey. Dr. Simmons has earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Sociology, a master’s degree Public Administration, a master’s degree in Divinity, and a doctoral degree in Education. Dr. Simmons recently founded Beth- El College, School of Social Justice, Public Policy, and Civic Engagement where he provides certificate classes in Strategic Leadership, Conflict Resolution, Community Organizing, and Fundraising. He is a social engineer and an advocate for equality and human rights through sound ethical principles. His pride and joy belong to his three children Isaiah, Elijah, and Naomi Simmons.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-5086-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-5088-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-5087-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023903015

iUniverse rev. date:  12/18/2023

Contents

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1:   The Harmful Influence: The Problem Beneath the Surface

Chapter 2:   The Historical View of Welfare and Career Technical Education

Chapter 3:   Origins of Welfare and Technical Education

Chapter 4:   Watered-down Teaching Instruction

Chapter 5:   A New Approach- Inclusion of the Soft Skills Curriculum

Chapter 6:   The Forgotten Class: What we Found was Jarring

Chapter 7:   We Need an Intervention

Chapter 8:   Removing the Glue: The Shift towards a Living Wage

References

Appendix A: Teacher/Paraprofessional Interview Protocol

Appendix B: Informed Consent

Appendix C: Educational Vendor Career School

Appendix D: Educational Vendor Career School

Appendix E: Phases of Backwards Planning

Acknowledgements

Throughout the process of writing this book, I am grateful to have received a tremendous amount of assistance and support from many incredible team players.

I would like to first thank the faculty and staff of the Saint Peter’s University Department of Education for making this journey an exciting and seamless process. The professionalism and devotion to seeing students succeed from Dr. Joseph Doria, Dr. Anna Cicirelli, and Ms. Kimberly Lewis have made this an experience that I will always cherish.

I would like to thank my employment family—Mrs. Hope Porter, Esq., and my Clinical Director, Ms. Cheryl Bruce—for your unwavering confidence in and continued support of my efforts to pursue my endeavors while working with the team of Staffing Etc. You have been a true support and an invaluable blessing to my life, and I am so grateful for your support.

I would like to thank Dr. Joseph McLaughlin for being an indispensable source of encouragement to me throughout my doctoral process. Your leadership, guidance, and trust in my abilities as an adjunct professor have inspired me to aspire to higher heights. I truly appreciate your wisdom and support. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Jennifer Ayala for your indefatigable effort in coaching me and training me in qualitative research design as well as the valuable feedback that you have provided throughout the process.

I would like to thank my dissertation mentor, Dr. Nicole Cippoletti, whose experience and expertise provided a wealth of insight and encouragement. Your ability to provide the substantive feedback to help me formulate my study has been priceless. You have inspired me to a deeper level of critical thinking and a higher level of academic rigor, and I am ever so grateful and blessed to have had you for my dissertation mentor. I will remember you always!

In addition, I would like to thank all those who helped me from the welfare agency to compile my data for review and investigation. Words cannot express how grateful I am for your time and support in providing transparency with your experiences.

Finally, I would like to thank my friend and brother Mr. Larry Hamm for all your help and insights pertaining to social justice and the fight against injustice. You are truly one of America’s greats and I appreciate and respect you dearly. You all are the best!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the countless thousands of individuals who have ever endured the process of the welfare system enrolled on TANF rolls across the United States. May the pages of this book lead to brighter days for all who need to partake of the welfare program.

This book is also dedicated to my dad and also my mother who has always endeavored to present herself as a chaste woman of God. May you both be blessed in all your days, and may the memories of our past experiences of laughter be ever present for generations to come.

Furthermore, this book is dedicated to my daughter, Naomi, who has been a composite of love, joy, and strength. Your wit and insightfulness, along with your charming yet congenial personality, have provided you with a charismatic gift that transcends race, gender, class, and ethnicity. May the pages of this book inspire you to pursue your dreams of becoming that lawyer or journalist, which you have mentioned on numerous occasions. Your passion to advocate for women’s rights and equality at such an early age has been an encouragement to me as well as a glimmer of optimism in knowing that with you and your generation on the rise, our country has hope. I truly thank you and love you dearly.

Lastly, this book is dedicated to my two sons, Isaiah and Elijah. May this book also encourage you to be the best that you can be in all things. May you see from the pages of this work that you have within you the power and strength to soar and be as great as you possibly can as you step into higher education and adulthood. You both have been a major encouragement to me, and you will always be my pride and joy.

I am proud of all three of you, and I admire you. May we always keep strong bonds between us, and may God allow us to remain closely knitted throughout our lives. So until the next published work, this is dedicated to you.

Preface

The devastating effects of the novel coronavirus and the impact that stay-at-home orders and mask mandates placed on businesses caused countries to plummet into economic recession. State quarantine measures and the fear of contracting the virus previously led to structural change, resulting in more people enlisting on welfare rolls. The significance of this issue is the continual problem of helping individuals on welfare secure and maintain long-term employment. The purpose of this book was to provide insight to show clearly where the problem lies that contributes to the inability of large volumes of welfare recipients to maintain long-term employment. This book provides insight into why substantial amounts of recipients are inhibited in securing long-term employment after completing welfare educational programs in addition to living in the trapped condition being broke. The major contribution of this work illuminates new revelations to understand why individuals completing welfare programs are unsuccessful in maintaining long-term employment and remaining stuck in poverty. Utilizing a narrative inquiry research design of six participants from two northern New Jersey career technical schools, I examined four welfare vendor instructors and two educational administrators on their varied experiences and classroom methodologies. From the rich text data given by each instructor, I was able to gain insights from the coded responses of each respondent. I utilized artifacts (i.e., syllabi, job requirements, lesson plans, record of training, and the student handbook) to identify trends in institutional practices. Finally, a thematic analysis of all coded data yielded three overarching themes: (1) pedagogy and limited teaching strategies; (2) efficacy of soft skills readiness, which was broken down further into the sub-themes of (a) andragogical instructional deployment, and (b) soft skills: conversations versus course within the curriculum; and (3) instructor readiness and the drawbacks of accelerated learning. I observed snapshots of classroom methodological patterns of instruction that may have contributed to welfare recipients’ inability to maintain long-term employment. Holistically, I examined the effectiveness of welfare educational vendor programs and classroom methodologies that impact long-term employment outcomes. The concluding chapter provides recommendations and interventions for improvements to help welfare recipients obtain long-term employment but also provides interventions for wages for the working-poor. This book provides opportunities to mitigate existing conditions that hinder individuals from maintaining long-term employability. In addition, the saliency of book contributes to improving classroom instructional methodologies that can help individuals maintain long-term employment outcomes, particularly by giving recipients the ability to obtain self-sufficiency in supporting their families within distressed communities in America.

Introduction

Upon graduating from high school, I enlisted in the united states Navy. I had a great four years of Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp (NJROTC) at the high school I attended, and I knew a considerable amount of information regarding maritime operations that encouraged me to enlist in the naval branch of the military. During my enlistment, I remember receiving orders to the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72 which at the time was in port for a routine port visit in San Diego, California. I would never forget that day I arrived. It was the spring of 1998, and I had nothing but my C-Bag! I remember flying into Los Angeles International Airport- LAX, then catching the greyhound bus from LAX to San Diego. The bus was empty with the exception of about 12 people and three of us were beneath the age of 21. While we traveled, I met a young lady who was about my age but was traveling to San Diego to meet some friends of hers. She was energetic, charismatic, very intelligent, and was in her freshman year of college. During the trip she began telling me about the state of California and many of the attractions to attend while the ship was in docked San Diego.

She told me about great places to eat, exciting attractions to visit, museums, parties that she was going to visit, as well as all of the happening spots in the city that she emphasized that I was sure to have a good time. During the conversation, her face lit up as she reminisced over her previous visits to San Diego. However, during the conversation, as she mentioned all of the great attractions the state had to offer both legal and illegal in her flippant urban parlance she paused and said, it’s a shame that for all that this state is worth, the state is eroding! I was taken aback by how she did a 180 degree shift in the conversation to voice that sentiment. So it must have been serious and meant something to her. I knew what she meant because of classes that I had taken in high school that spoke towards the eroding conditions of California coastlines and other books that I read that alluded to the condition. However, the way she commented, piqued more of my curiosity and goaded me to inquire deeper.

What is apparent is that in California, the coastline is eroding. Some scientists and geographers believe that someday California will become engulfed and encroached upon from the ocean. Griggs, Davar, and Reguero (2019) suggest that what we are noticing is that the future sea-level rise will affect California’s coastal development and infrastructure through both flooding of low-lying areas and erosion of cliffs, and dunes. With the global rate of sea-level rising, many low-lying developed shoreline areas are already experiencing flooding at extreme high tides, particularly during periods of large storm waves. The combined effects of short-term extreme wave and tide events and the global rate of sea level increase will present greater risks in the near future for coast of California. In addition, coastal hazards are a function of human activity also known as anthropogenic effects on the coastline along with other influences. Moore, Bunemof, and Griggs (1999) share that eighty six percent of California’s 1770 km coastline is actively eroding. What is concerning is that many people are unaware of the occurrences, and many do not seem to care about what may happen over time- or what this means, being that the erosion is not a threat to their lives at this present time. What is frightening in its peculiar way is that the ongoing natural hazards of cliff-retreat, storm inundation, and beach erosion have been unrecognized, unappreciated, poorly understood, or just plainly ignored by many coastal builders, developers, government officials, and homebuyers in the past. Because of the erosion, we are slowly losing a great resource.

This erosion factor is where we are as a nation. Like the coastline of California, our nation is experiencing a decline, a sort of diminishing of values! In short, the values of our society appear to be receding! Like the coast of California, our values are receding and it is evident from our own reluctance to respond to the despicable behaviors and activities we allow to pass unchallenged. Activities like ignoring the fact that people like George Santos can incessantly lie and fabricate his resume and fool and befuddle thousands of people to be elected to office, and the party’s leadership notices, but tries to justify his behavior before calling for an expulsion vote to remove him from his position. Or, the way in which people retreat to the privacy of their homes to gossip about the problems they notice in public but are too afraid to speak out regarding those same problems. Do we really care, or is it just that our values that we once held are not as poignant or important to us anymore.

With all of our extracurricular activities taking place in our lives, working jobs to make an honest living, trying to support our children in their endeavors such as their basketball games, football games, wrestling matches, parents as soccer moms and football coaches, and the like- have we been so preoccupied with our lives that we overlook the present dangers- that due to neglect will have a deleterious effect on us later. In the same sense, are we so preoccupied with our specific lives that we are overlooking the erosion of our values in our American system of life. It is my contention that like the coastline of the state of California, so also are the values of our country eroding. Consequently, it is depressing to see that for what this country once stood for in its nascent stages, the values of freedom, love, honesty, integrity, equality, justice, and the like, that those values appear to be diminishing at a rapid rate. This book focus on the neglect of a very important class of people who have been overlooked and forgotten. This pool of valuable individuals go unnoticed and it could be because we are too busy with our lives to care or simply notice. Have the eroding of our values allowed us to become desensitized to conditions that are hurting good people on one end and killing our status as a hegemonic nation on the other. Have the erasing of such values caused us to ignore this group of people because we have misguidedly attributed their status of poverty to being their fault for the living condition that they find themselves in for their lives. Something needs to be done!

For where we live in American society, it is bemoaning to see that so many of our citizens who are thrown on to welfare rolls have a difficult time locating sufficient employment upon their exit off welfare. As a person who have worked with welfare recipients, I have come to a few surprising discoveries that have corrected many of my misconceptions about welfare recipients. These beliefs may also be those held by others who have not spent any time around those who are on welfare. The most notable discovery was that for many people on welfare, the majority of them are hardworking individuals who are not indolent but immensely industrious but