^^
Improving
Home and Family
living...
...among
Low-Income Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
MAY 1962
Every social worker knows that a person with little money—and often
in poor housing—may have difficulty in maintaining a good home. Many
low-income families are expert in budgeting, preparing nourishing, low-cost
meals, keeping a neat home, and other activities that contribute to family
well-being.
Other low-income persons, through lack of money, knowledge, and
experience, may keep homes that are the legitimate target of community
criticism. Through effective help and training in homemaking, some of
these individuals can be helped to improve their home and family life and
their control of family resources.
This help can be brought to them through the combined skills and
knowledge of a local welfare worker and a teacher. As they assist and
guide families toward a better life, they also help them become more active
participants in their communities. The concern of welfare workers and
teachers for those with whom they are working also can do much to stimu-
late community interest in low-income families.
Improving
Home and Family
Living...
...among Low-Income Families
By
GLADYS O. WHITE,
Home Economics Consultant,
Bureau of Family Services,
Social Security Administration
and
ALBERTA D. HILL,
Program Specialist,
and
EDNA P. AMIDON,
Director, Home Economics Education Branch,
Ojfice of Education
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
WASHINGTON 25, D.C.
MAY 1962
FOREWORD
The Nation's health and happiness depends in large measure upon how
our 53 million homes are maintained.
In this period of urbanization and rapid change, all families face new
and difficult problems. For none are hardships of adjustment more severe
than for those who have moved from rural areas to urban centers.
Leaders in home economics are aware of the need to strengthen and
expand their programs to reach all segments of our population. At the same
time, many State welfare departments are seeking ways to help low-income
families, who, for lack of skills, seem unable to manage a household well.
A joint effort to improve health, education, and welfare services in
public housing projects, where many low-income families new to city life
live, was announced recently by the Secretary of Health, Education, and
Welfare and the Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency.
This plan for stimulating the provision of constructive services where
needed will include programs to improve money management and house-
keeping practices.
The Bureau of Family Services, in cooperation with the Home Econom-
ics Branch of the Division of Vocational Education, Office of Education,
has prepared this booklet to encourage joint action by vocational education
and public welfare agencies in providing more adequate homemaking educa-
tion to troubled low-income families. Attention is called to the resources
available to State welfare agencies within State departments of education
for teaching the fundamentals of homemaking.
Some of the social and economic handicaps found in low-income
families exist also among families with mental retardation. A project
involving a home economist in work with such families is described as an
appendix to this booklet.
As used in this publication, the term "home management" is the
decision-making aspect of the comprehensive job of homemaking. This
includes conscious planning, controlling, and guiding the use of family
resources to achieve the kind of home life that is satisfying to the family
and to society.
This definition and some of the concepts of teaching have been adapted
from Management Problems of Homemakers Employed Outside the Home,
Vocational Division Bulletin No. 289, 1961, published by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Health, Education, and Telfare, Office of Education.
Improving Home and Family Living Among Low-Income Families was
written by Gladys O. Thite, Home Economics Consultant, Bureau of Family
Services; and Alberta D. Hill, Program Specialist, and Edna P. Amidon,
Director, Home Economics Education Branch, Office of Education.
The report in the appendix was prepared by Mabel H. Parsons, In-
structor of Home Economics and Research Associate in the Department
of Pediatrics at the State University of Iowa.
Kathryn D. Goodwin
Director
Bureau of Family Services
Taker M. Arnold
Assistant Commissioner for
Vocational and Technical
Education
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. SELECTING COUNTIES FOR HOME MANAGEMENT
PROJECTS 1
II. PLANNING WITH THE STATE EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT 3
III. HOW PHILADELPHIA DID IT 5
IV. THE SUPPORTING ROLE OF WELFARE AGENCIES . 8
V. SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN TEACHING 10
VI. HOW THESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN MET 13
Appendix: A HOME ECONOMIST IN SERVICE TO
FAMILIES WITH MENTAL RETARDATION,
by Mabel H. Parsons 18
1
Chapter I.
SELECTING COUNTIES FOR HOME MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
The State welfare agency that undertakes to improve home management
practices of low-incorne homemakers^ probably will think it best to begin
its educational projects in a few localities that show widespread need for
such training. At this stage, planning may involve the program directors
(e.g., public assistance, child welfare) and home economics and other
subject-matter consultants as well as representatives from the State's field
staff. This group will have to develop some criteria for the tentative
selection of appropriate counties or areas. In any State, the need for
teaching home management will be more acute in certain places than in
others because these counties or areas are isolated, have low incomes, or
have very limited adult educational opportunities for their citizens. Thus,
the need for special adult educational opportunities may be particularly
acute in either the crowded slum areas or housing projects of cities or in
the less prosperous rural areas.
These may be the counties the State welfare department will select for
further study by "its personnel in local offices. From its study, the State
will want to select those counties where staff has real sympathy and under-
standing for people who have suffered handicaps and is interested in their
success. The selected local office also will need to have some staff with
competence in creating interest among the families and arousing the com-
munity to do something special for them.
The State welfare agency will need to appraise these counties to
determine if the welfare staff has the time, ability, and interest necessary
for participating in a project of this type.
I "Homemaker" refers to the woman in her own home. "Homemaker service"
as provided by some health and welfare agencies is a term that describes a
woman who takes over some of the homemaker's duties because of the home-
maker's illness, or for some other reason. The term "homemaking" is commonly
used to describe home economics courses taught in the high schools.
2
Although the final selection of localities should be made jointly by
representatives of the State departments of public welfare and of education,
the welfare personnel should have made preliminary selections among
areas needing such projects at the time they contact the State home eco-
nomics supervisor.2 Some departments of public welfare may want to
employ a home economist on the State welfare staff to help in the selection
of areas in which programs will be developed, to work with staff in local
welfare offices to stimulate their interest in home management projects,
and to assist in the planning and organization of local projects and in the
development of teaching materials. The home economist may also act as
liaison between the State and local welfare departments and the State and
local departments of education.
^ In some States this person is called Director of Home Economics, Chief of a
Bureau of Home Economics or Homemaking Education, or a Consultant. Here-
after in this document the title of State home economics supervisor will be used.
In some States the State supervisor has direct responsibility only to those
programs that are designated as vocational, but in all States she will have
information concerning teachers, supervisors, and administrators responsible for
the home economics programs in all schools.
3
Chapter II.
PLANNING WITH THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
An appropriate member of the State welfare agency's planning group
will need to contact the State education department to discuss the pos-
sibiLity of teachers working with such low-income families as may be found
in the aid to dependent children (ADC) caseload and with neighbors of these
families. The education program in home management may be provided on
an individual basis as well as in adult education classes. The person with
whom this initial contact is made will depend upon the size of the State
organization, the channels of communication that have been established in
the State, and relationships that have been previously developed. Thus,
the first contact may be with the State commissioner or superintendent of
education, the State director of vocational education, or the State supervisor
of home economics.
Schools in some States are organized by school districts or townships
rather than on a county basis. Pilot programs will be carried out more
easily within the jurisdiction of one school district. In some instances a
city school system may be selected.
The State supervisor of home economics may require some time to
study the areas which the State welfare department has selected tentatively.
She will need to determine whether school officials are interested and
whether qualified teachers can be found to participate.
The availability of suitable teachers is a major consideration. A home
economics teacher for a home management project may be a regular second-
ary teacher who has sufficient interest to put extra time on this project or
who has time in her schedule for teaching adults. In other instances, there
may be qualified home economics teachers who are regularly employed in
the adult programs of the school but who do no secondary teaching. Quali-
fied secondary or adult teachers would have had courses in management,
family life, and child development as part of their professional training.
4
Recruitment may be possible among homemakers who are fully qualified
home economics teachers and who can be interested in helping with the
project on a part-time or full-time basis. It may be possible to interest
local boards of education in employing homemaking consultants to teach
home management to individual families.
5
Chapter III.
HOW PHILADELPHIA DID IT
The Divisions of School Extension and Home Economics, School
District of Philadelphia, have carried out a program for families in sub-
standard housing. This program is worth thoughtful study by administrators
in welfare and in education who are looking for ways to extend adult educa-
tion to families who need an approach that is one of individualized
education.
A program that searches out individual family problems can get down to
bedrock even in places where a teeming population may make the task look
formidable, as the project in Philadelphia has demonstrated.
About 15 years ago, families in substandard housing areas in Philadel-
phia were in great need of help in housekeeping practices, in managing
what income they had, and in meeting all the day-to-day needs of the home
and family. The request for some form of adult education came from an
active community council, greatly concerned over housing conditions.
A visiting homemaking consultant program was initiated as a special
service in the public schools. Its purpose was and is to develop in people
the desire and ability to improve their personal, family, and community
living.
The Division of School Extension called upon the Division of Home
Economics and together they planned and developed an adult education
program serving homemakers. It was designed to:
(1) Help people help themselves.
(2) Help develop good family relations.
(3) Improve the health of family members.
(4) Provide instruction in home management which would help home-
makers to plan for wise spending of the family income, to keep a
clean, orderly house, to improve their homes through the best
use of time and energy, and to assume responsibility for the care
of the property in which they live.
6
There are now nine consultants, each assigned to a particular com-
munity which has indicated a real need for help. Each consultant has head-
quarters space in a public school in the neighborhood. Here she keeps
records of families visited, makes telephone calls, and stores her supplies.
The homemaking consultant visits those individual homes which have
been suggested by the local housing committee—if there is one—or by the
school principal, the school counselor, the school nurse, and/or the home
and school visitor. In addition, mhny families, learning of the service,
request help themselves. The homemaking consultant works with the
homemaker on the problems which concern her most in the general field of
homemaking.
The homemaking consultant introduces this service in one or more
ways.^ At the outset, she studies the community, getting as much informa-
tion as possible concerning the people, the public schools, the social
agencies and their services, the physical aspects of the neighborhood,
and the problems in the area. Every possible source of informatipn is
tapped through conferences, meetings, and conversations with key people
in the community, including school principals, teachers, counselors, nurses,
social workers, clergymen, businessmen, and residents.
From these contacts, a picture gradually emerges of needs, resources,
and possible ways of meeting some of the needs. The conferences and
contacts during which the consultant has explained the reason for her study
and the plans for giving homemaking service result in requests for service.
From this point on, the consultant cultivates every opportunity to gain the
confidence of the residents and to tell them about the service she can
give. The success of such a program depends largely upon the method of
carrying it out. The Philadelphia project shows that, if the consultant
considers the goal of the service to be the preparation of a meal or the
repair of a chair, values are temporary and little enduring progress has been
made. This is also true if the consultant takes too active a part—in getting
a meal, for example—while the homemaker is a passive onlooker.
More lasting progress is assured when the homemaker does the work
under the consultant's guidance and when the consultant seizes every
chance to relate a family's effort to other possibilities for better living.
Sometimes a family's problems are related to those of their neighbors.
The consultant may then suggest that several neighbors meet together
to attack their common problems. The consultant remains the resource
person ready with help and guidance; she can help identify the problem,
uncover causes, and aid in finding a practical solution.
By keeping in close contact with the other service agencies in the
community, she can avoid duplication of effort and make her own work more
^ The following material is drawn from: Homemaking Education Programs for
Adults, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education,
Vocational Division Bulletin No. 268.
7
effective. Very often a school principal, teacher, nurse, or counselor
gives her clues as to where there are needy families, or requests help with
a suspected home problem. A staff member of the Department of Public
Welfare or the private family agency may point out a family in which the
mother, for example, needs to be taught how to make over clothes for her
children. Help in this area is often the entrance wedge, opening a way
to increase the mother's desire for changed attitudes and habits.
Sometimes the consultant, noting conditions that call for medical care,
guides members of the family to the right source of help. In this way, she
often wins the respect and confidence that make them seek her out for other
kinds of guidance.
The consultant may be a member of a coordinating committee serving
the area. Such a committee may be composed of representatives of the
visiting nurse society, the department of public assistance, family service
agencies, the community council, churches, and public schools. The
committee usually meets monthly to review the needs of families served by
the member agencies.
Decisions are made in these meetings as to who can serve a particular
family most effectively, and when. In administering this work, oppor-
tunities for service require careful evaluation in terms of needs and ob-
jectives. As those families being served show signs of continuing improve-
ment, the consultant service is gradually transferred to those in greater
need.
8
Chapter IV.
THE SUPPORTING ROLE OF WELFARE AGENCIES
There are definite points at which the welfare agency's support to an
adult education project for low-income homemakers is particularly signifi-
cant. Such a project has, as its primary purpose, the development of an
education resource for the welfare department to use with public assistance
families, although the project need not be exclusively for them.
In carrying out any training program in home management, the home
economics teacher and the workers in the local welfare office begin to
sort facts about families within a selected area to determine what ap-
proaches to use. They may decide to start their work individually with
selected families, to progress to small neighborhood meetings in the homes
of the families that are participating, to plan later for larger group meetings
at a public place, or to use any combination of these three methods.
If work with individual families is considered the best way to begin, an
effort should be made to move from individual help to group meetings as
soon as possible. Group activities provide opportunities for participants
to learn from each other, make it possible for low-income families other
than those receiving public assistance to join, and enable one teacher to
reach more people. In many communities, group activities have particular
value because homemakers from low-income families have little chance for
social contacts. Loneliness is their common characteristic.
Welfare workers and the home economics teacher should accept the fact
that some homemakers who appear to need the most help may not be ini-
tially receptive to an education program. The welfare worker's introduction
of the project will be very important for it shows the mother that the worker
is interested in her and believes the project will be worth while. A creative
teacher, skillful in working with people, will be able to develop interest
among these homemakers. Final judgment concerning which families will
be interested and able to use help with management problems should not be
9
made until each family has been approached and been given several op-
portunities to participate.
If the first step is for the home economics teacher to work with families
individually, the approach to the families must be carefully planned by
the welfare worker. She should be able to tell the homemaker what to
expect from the teacher's visit and ask the homemaker if she would like
to participate in such a program. Welfare workers must be convinced them-
selves that the home economist can help homemakers in these
circumstances.
The teacher will consider each family's needs in the light of principles
of learning and the social and psychological aspects of communication.
If she feels that no person could possibly manage on the money a family
has, it is unlikely that she will be able to teach in a way to which it will
respond. The teacher who is to work directly with these families must
develop understanding and a feeling for individuals who may have values,
family patterns, and economic standards much different from her own.
The next step probably will be to have the home economics teacher
and the welfare worker visit each family together. The welfare worker will
explain that the teacher wants to learn as much as she can about how
homemakers manage so that she may share their ideas with others. Sub-
sequent visits can be made by the teacher alone. The teacher and the
homemaker then may explore the homemaking practices now being carried
out and identify one or two which the homemaker may wish to improve or
change.
The teacher will need to work slowly and patiently with most of these
families and to guide the homemaker in evaluating her own ptactices.
Actual teaching, which probably will be done by demonstration, might be
delayed until the third or even a later visit. After three or four visits, the
teacher may feel it is possible to have a small group of families 'meet to
share ideas that seem to work or to demonstrate skills they have developed.
The teacher will, of course, supplement the knowledge of the indi-
viduals or groups. If the homemakers have some reading ability, she may
use direct, brief, written materials. If the homemakers lack reading ability
and if resources can be found for teaching literacy, then both the welfare
office and the teacher should try to interest families in using these re-
sources. Ingenious teaching methods will be needed to reach and teach the
mother who is embarrassed about her inability to read but who wants to
learn how to improve her home.
10
Chapter V.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN TEACHING
In reaching desired goals in any educational program, there are ob-
stacles to overcome. This is particularly true in developing work in home
management for low-income families. Let us look at some of the special
hurdles which must be jumped in this field.
Lack of interest.— There is apt to be an initial lack of interest in, and
acceptance of, education programs on home management on the part of
low-income families. The use of all the home's resources to achieve the
kind of family life that is important to an individual family and that contri-
butes to the good of the community calls for frequent decision-making at
many levels. Then a home is well managed, the management, unobtrusive
as it may seem, is the result of a conscious effort to have family members
well fed and well clothed, and to provide a setting where they can enjoy
each other, develop as individuals, carry on their activities with ease, and
obtain the rest that refreshes them for the next round of duties.
Reports of homemaking education programs in public schools and in
home economics extension courses often have indicated that instruction in
clothing, home improvement, and foods is most in demand. Home manage-
ment, child development, consumer economics, and family relationships
usually are less popular. Studies of our society, of motivation, and of
present programs give us some clues to the reasons for the difficulties in
promoting homemaking education in the areas of financial management and
family relationships.
One clue comes from a look at society's attitudes and values regarding
certain abilities. Generally speaking, it is more acceptable for us to admit
lack of skill in a specific activity such as dressmaking, than it is to con-
fess lack of ability to manage our income or to get along with others. A
homemaker does not feel too guilty if she doesn't do a good job in making a
slipcover, even after having had some instruction, but she finds it hard to
admit failure in rearing her children. She doesn't "lose face" in asking
11
how to refinish furniture, but she hesitates to acknowledge that she doesn't
know how to manage money. In our society, family finances and relation-
ships are highly personal matters. People sometimes are fearful that a
study of these fundamental problems will reveal situations that are "none
of the business" of the teacher or the other members of a group.
Another clue to lack of interest can be found in what we know about
learning. Studies in educational psychology support the conclusion that
learners are more highly motivated and more interested if they have a feel-
ing of achievement—if they know they have made progress. People often
can see results of work more easily in the clothing and home improvement
courses than in some other courses. A homemaker is pleased with her
accomplishment when she has made something, but she may have little
feeling of progress after discussing the basic needs of children or the
relation of family values to a family spending plan.
Teachers' feelings of inadequacy.— Agencies know the families who
need to be taught skills and to be helped with better home management
practices. Home economics teachers know how to teach the skills, but
some teachers lack experience in working with low-income families. Some
teachers may know little of the cultural patterns of certain income groups.
In general, home economics teachers also feel less prepared for teaching in
these less tangible areas than for teaching clothing construction or food
preparation.
It takes good teaching to promote interest and teachers who feel in-
adequate cannot easily develop interest among participants. One possible
reason for the teacher's feeling of uncertainty is that the field of manage-
ment is complex. The same steps in breadmaking can be followed time
after time, while each of the elements of a management decision is part of a
constantly shifting process and is different for every family. Many teachers
have spent much less time in college management courses than in foods
and clothing classes.
The teacher needs to have time, willingness, and freedom to be creative
in planning a variety of experiences which will give homemakers practice
in solving management problems. The teacher who perceives teaching as
"telling how" will not do a good job. Homemakers will not respond favor-
ably to being told how to spend their money or how to plan their time to
get their work done. They will react constructively to suggestions of
different ways that have been tried and reports on the results.
Need for time and leadership.—Welfare staff at all levels are busy with
many responsibilities and many welfare workers carry large caseloads.
Finding time for an adult education project in home management will be
difficult.
In education also, whether the person is the supervisor, the coordina-
tor, the director of adult programs, a school principal or superintendent, or
a teacher, he has multiple responsibilities. A coordinator, supervisor, or
assistant superintendent in charge of all adult education may have little
opportunity to know the possible scope of homemaking education. Com-
12
raunity pressures may direct his attention to other aspects of adult educa-
tion. He may not know the work of the local welfare agency.
In cities, it is often the supervisor of home economics to whom pro-
motional responsibility falls. Sometimes the task of administering the
established day-school program takes most of her time. In other instances,
she may be bogged down with the administrative details of an established
adult program of traditional homemaking courses. If administrative policy
requires that the number of enrollments in homemaking courses be main-
tained, or that classes must be started with a minimum enrollment, then,
again, there is little chance to promote management-type classes or pro-
grams for low-income groups. The administration and those especially
interested in the program will need to pool ideas to find the time for promo-
tion and administration.
13
Chapter VI.
HOW THESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN MET
Experience proves that "where there's a will, there's a way." Even
with rather high hurdles to clear, a number of communities already have
successful programs, and teachers and welfare workers report satisfying
results in their work with families. The following suggestions summarize
ideas from successful programs.
Start with present interests.— Interests of homemakers need to be
determined in order to find a suitable "starting place" for teaching any
given group of adults. The conscious, expressed interest of women with
low incomes may be sewing. If it is, the wise educator will plan a course
in sewing—not in meal-planning and food preparation or in home hygiene,
even though the teacher sees that the participants have a more serious
need for knowledge of nutrition or hygiene. If a group of low-income women
feels that home improvement is its chief interest, then that is the place to
start. The criteria for judging whether or not an educational program is
worthwhile will be the direction it takes, not where it starts.
Start with success. —Success breeds success. In planning programs,
teachers must not only search zealously for the real problems of low-income
homemakers, but try just as zealously to find a starting point where there
can be a modicum of success. Most people cannot be interested in activi-
ties in which they feel they have failed; they want to forget those activities
and their own inabilities. The best learning takes place when the learner
has a recognized need along with some success or hope for success.
Adults who have done many things are most likely to be interested in the
areas of living where they already have been successful to a certain extent.
Among low-income families, there are adults who have had more failures
than successes, but all share a hope that they may be able to function
more adequately as adults.
For example, low-income families may be overextending their credit.
Furniture or household equipment may have been reclaimed because install-
14
ment payments could not be met. Families whose children need clothing
or dental care may be paying high interest rates on a television set or
new furniture. Grocery stores may report that women buy high-priced,
ready-prepared food items immediately after they receive their welfare
checks, and then ask for credit to meet food bills the rest of the month. It
may seem logical, therefore, to begin immediately with education in family
financial planning. However, homemakers who are really failing in their
management of money are not apt to show interest in starting their new
"education" with money management classes.
The job of the teacher is to bring together needs and interests. Ex-
panded interests can grow out of present interests. An alert teacher will
see the signs which indicate the direction to take. An expressed need for
a new washing machine can lead to a consideration of caring for or buying
clothes or of the cost of buying on credit. The leader who works with
families on sewing may find that a family needs a place to store clothes,
such as improvised closets or nails on the wall. From these leads, she
may encourage groups to share ideas and methods of storage or to discuss
common concerns about meal preparation. Interest will not be expanded,
however, unless the teacher at the same time is helping the group work on
its original concerns.
It may be found that families generally are satisfied with their way
of cooking the dried beans which are a staple in their diets, but express
a desire to learn how to buy and cook meats which might add variety to
their meals occasionally. A teacher who can help them feel successful in
selecting a good chicken and preparing it well can then progress to lessons
about other food purchasing and preparation problems. Later, after they feel
more at home in the learning situation, they may be ready to face squarely
some of the problems of budgeting the family income to get what the family
needs and wants.
Find the right place and time.—It can be assumed that many low-income
homemakers do not attend the conventional evening classes for adults
held in a school center. The local welfare office and the teacher should
study the area jointly to find appropriate public meeting facilities that are
as convenient as possible to the families invited to attend. Some families
may be able to assist in this and other planning activities.
If transportation is necessary but not available, the local welfare
office will need to consider ways of providing it. One community reported
that when the welfare department provided the "tokens" for transportation,
a mother felt that this proved their real interest in her attendance. Teachers
or welfare workers may be able to interest volunteers who can provide
transportation.
Convenient places for adult groups may include churches or community
recreation centers. Some housing developments have a place where neigh-
borhood classes can be held. In small county-seat towns, appropriate
rooms may be found in the courthouse, or school lunch-rooms may be used.
15
Space in schools may be available during the summer months. In one com-
munity, a branch bank makes a lounge available for evening groups. Find-
ing a place to meet may be especially difficult in fast-growing communities.
Welfare advisory committees, county boards, or advisory committees to
the education department may be of help in arranging for the care of children
while mothers attend group meetings. This may involve enlisting volunteers,
perhaps from service and youth organizations. The time meetings are held
should be determined in relation to convenience for the homemakers and
the hours that the meeting places are .available.
Promote attendance.—Several different methods, or combinations of
methods, have been helpful in creating an interest in attendance at group
meetings. 'Then families with whom the teacher has worked individually
form the nucleus, they may encourage their friends to attend. On all per-
sonal contacts the welfare worker has with the family, she should try to
create and sustain interest. Elementary teachers may make announcements
about time, place, and subject of the meeting at school. These teachers
may be able to provide the children with meeting-reminder cards to take
home to their parents. In some cases, these cards may be prepared by the
welfare office for the signature of the teacher.
Attractive posters or other eye-catching announcements may be dis-
played in the reception room of the welfare office, elementary schools, and
local stores.
It may be appropriate to announce the first meeting by sending out
written invitations over the signature of the county welfare director or of
the welfare worker who has the caseload for the area. If the teacher has
had previous contact with the families, it may be more suitable for her to
sign the letter announcing the first meeting, even though the notices may
be prepared by the local welfare office. It should be kept in mind that
written notices may be ignored by those who have no confidence in their
ability to read or who cannot read English. Each community situation will
call for different arrangements for contacting adults. Both teachers and
welfare personnel have a responsibility to try a number of plans to find
those that are most practical.
Check progress. portion of the time and energy of those working
with the educational programs should be spent in deciding how well the
program is accomplishing the purposes for which it was planned.
All programs will need to:
(1) Help those participating to see what progress has been made and
to decide what further understanding and abilities they need.
(2) Help the teacher decide which procedures, materials, or learning
experiences are best for reaching various goals of the group and
its members.
(3) Determine changes that may be needed in arrangements or em-
phasis, and plan "next steps."
It has been noted that one obstacle to effective programs may be the
inability of participants to see progress. The feeling of accomplishment
16
has such great influence upon continued learning and continued interest
that it is of utmost importance to give attention to this aspect of evalua-
tion. One successful way of helping the group members to see their own
accomplishments is for the teacher to summarize, or lead die group in
making its own summary of, what it has been doing. Summarizations and
reviews are an essential part of the learning experience. They serve
also to measure the effectiveness of a discussion, dramatization or
demonstration.
Any one method of summarizing, even though good in itself, may lose
its value if overused. The teacher or leader needs to assume the respon-
sibility of guiding the group in summarizing, but most summaries are best
made by the group members themselves. Group participation will reveal
misunderstandings and give the teacher an opportunity to note any concepts
which seem difficult for the group. The observation may indicate the need
for more intensive work in certain areas with individual homemakers. The
teacher also will be able to observe what is most valued by the group.
A relaxed atmosphere, with plenty of time for group members to share sue-
cesses and ask questions, will aid self-evaluation. A homemaker who is
shy or self-conscious may not be ready immediately to report the results
of her efforts to stretch her food budget. If enough time is allowed for
discussion, she may "get up nerve" to tell about her experience.
Sharing her ideas will strengthen her feeling of accomplishment. Approval
of her new practices by the group, with some sincere and tactful sugges-
tions for improvement, will help her decide her next steps.
Use other agencies.— Once the interest of the group has been caught
and the individuals have developed a relationship with the teacher, she
and the local welfare office may use other agencies for teaching certain
subjects.
The health department nutritionist (State or local) may be asked to
discuss diets for children, the aged, or the ill. Other professional staff
members of health agencies may meet with the group to discuss tuber-
culosis prevention, home care of the sick, immunization, children's dis-
eases, and similar health subjects.
In areas served by a State college or university, the teacher may be
able to obtain help from specialists in home management, family life, or
child development. A county home agent of the cooperative agricultural
extension service may be asked to help. A qualified social worker may
be asked to discuss children's behavior problems.
Report.— The continuity of the welfare department's interest in the
project can be demonstrated by workers asking the mothers what they are
getting out of the project, by following up with any who have failed to
avail themselves of the program, and by making efforts to learn why this
has occurred. Both the teacher and the workers will need planned oppor-
tunities for exchanging their experiences. Whether the teacher works with
individuals or groups, she should make written reports. These will be es-
sential for her own continuing work, for the use of subsequent teachers
17
and the staff of the county and State welfare offices, for her own school
administrator and for others in the community who are interested and can
help in interpreting this work.
19
Appendix
A HOME ECONOMIST IN SERVICE TO FAMILIES
WITH MENTAL RETARDATION
by
Mabel H. Parsons *
The Pine School Project was initiated in 1957 at the University of
Iowa to study children in situations of "familial mental retardation."2
As this study grew in scope, the families of these children were also in-
eluded in the project.
Familial retardation is believed by most workers in the area of mental
retardation to be due to deprivations—social, economic, and educational.
It is found almost entirely within the lower socio-economic group and there-
fore includes families on the welfare rolls.
In an attempt to alleviate the deprivations of the families and children
in this study, it was found that the services of staff from the fields of
social work, medical care, and education were not sufficient. Consequently,
a home economist and a public health nurse were engaged to work with the
project staff in developing an area to be called "The Family Life Study"
of the Pine School Project. These disciplines would work with the families
directly to develop their environmental capacities.
The social worker, who had been with the Pine School Project prior
to the entrance of the public health nurse and the home economist, knew
the families quite well and was instrumental in the development of this
1 The author is Instructor of Home Economics and Research Associate in the
Department of Pediatrics, State University of Iowa, Iowa City.
7
This term refers to retardation occurring throughout a family without any ap-
parent organic cause. See Children, September-October I960, "A Home Econo-
mist in Service to Families With Mental Retardation." Page 184.
20
phase of the study. He prepared the families for these additions to the
staff by explaining the nature of their individual training and how each
could be of service.
All of the social, medical, and psychological data concerning the
families were made available to the home economist and the public health
nurse. These data were carefully studied before visits were made to the
families. The home economist and the public health nurse were accompanied
by the social worker on all initial visits to establish rapport. Later visits
were made without the social worker. This report is primarily concerned
with the work of the home economist in "The Family Life Study."
During the first visit, the social worker carried the brunt of the con-
versation, allowing the home economist to observe and become oriented
to the families whom she was to serve. The availability of the reports
and the support of the social worker made these visits more meaningful
and eased the beginning of relationships for both the home economist and
the families. Some greater difficulties in establishing a basis for a fruitful
relationship might be expected if this introductory procedure were omitted.
After the initial visit, the home economist visited the mothers in their
homes at least once weekly. Her purpose was to become acquainted with
the families and to locate their problems of home management with them.
The visits at first were merely friendly overtures. The home economist
looked for ways and means of establishing a firm rapport; she attempted
to find out what the mothers were interested in and what they believed
their accomplishments to be. If their ego structure was poor, she pointed
out some accomplishment that she had observed. This worked very well.
At the end of the first month, the home economist had discovered two
things: (1) These were lonely, ostracized women who wished that they
were not so isolated; and (2) that she had more requests for help than she
could possibly fulfill. After consultation with other staff members of the
Project, the decision was reached that the home economist's work would
take form along two lines.
1. She would work with the individual women to help them solve
their home management problems.
2. She would try to develop a group organization for the women to
attempt to help them meet the problem of their loneliness, and she
would use the group as a means of stimulating the women to better
home management practices.
In order to give the service that was really needed and wanted by the
individual mothers, it was necessary for the home economist to concentrate
on only a few of the women at one time. Other families in the study were
to receive services from the public health nurse, others from the social
worker of the project, according to the families' need.
The work in three families is described because of the differences in
their response to the home economist. (All names are fictitious.) In two
of the cases, the rapport between the mother and the home economist was
exceedingly good. In the third situation, the home economist felt that the
21
mother did not accept her very well. The rapport that was established was
believed by the home economist to be important to the success of each
mother's improvement in home management.
The Green family consisted of 10 children, the mother, and the
father. The father had a steady job as section hand on the railroad
so that his income was fairly adequate. However, he drank and
gambled on the weekends and ended up with little for the family to
live on. The home was one of the poorest of all of the families.
The home economist's job was to, help the family get out of debt,
particularly to a small, expensive, neighborhood grocery that had
cut off credit, and yet ensure them something to eat. She also hoped
to encourage the mother to clean up the house and the children.
Mrs. Green and the home economist first worked together planning
lower-cost meals? The menus and grocery orders were planned for
a week at a time, and were geared to supermarket "specials."
The home economist encouraged Mrs. Green to select menus
which were inexpensive and based on the likes and dislikes of the
family. The home economist found Mrs. Green able to assume more'
responsibility for planning and buying the food at a low-cost level.
The children responded to the situation with little objection, but
the father resented Mrs. Green's attempt to feed the family on what
he regarded as a "minimum" diet. The home economist helped
work out an adjustment for him, by increasing his lunch-pail meal.
This seemed to appease him. This work with Mrs. Green led to
other aspects of home management. Gradually the house became
neater. The children were cleaner. Mrs. Green made attempts to
refurbish her home. She became more aware that she wanted to
live in a better fashion and could.
Another mother had a family of six to care for. She was crip-
pled in her right arm and leg. Her intellectual capacities were
among the lowest in the project group. She was underweight and
depressed. The results of the first nutritional survey showed that
the family's food intake was meeting only 50 percent of the National
Research Council Recommended Daily Dietary Allowances.
The first task of the home economist was to attempt to en-
courage better eating habits. All her visits to the mother were
aimed at this. Recipes, food purchasing, and the children's height
and desirable weights were discussed. The home economist gave
the mother many compliments on her culinary skills. She was asked
to bring refreshments to the group meetings and to share her recipes
with the group. Some of the group meetings were planned with her
in mind. She finally began to become aware that she and her family
were undernourished and to ask for some more definite help. This
3 The meals were based on U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 662,
"Helping Families Plan Food Budgets."
22
was a slow process and took most of the first year. After she
recognized her problem, the home economist was able to suggest
menus within her ability to accomplish and purchase. She began
to gain in weight and, by the same time the following year, she was
beginning to have a problem of overweight.
During the first year of the home economist's visits, she ex-
pressed the desire to learn to sew. In fact, the family purchased
a used sewing machine for her use. As several of the women in the
group had expressed a similar interest, a sewing class was planned
for them. The task of repairing or remaking clothes was more dif-
ficult than the construction of a new dress. So, after a few pre-
liminary lessons, material was purchased through funds available
to the Project, and new dresses were made in the class.
This mother had many problems in learning to sew because of
her crippled hand, and special methods of accomplishing each of the
sewing tasks were worked out. For basting and ripping out mis-
takes, the material was pinned to her dress above her knee. She
seemed to freeze on the sewing machine and let it run at great
speed, making the home economist afraid that she would injure
herself. After sewing many plain seams with repeated stops and
starts, she finally mastered the use of the electric machine. She
also finished her dress quite neatly, but with much effort. She
should have followed up with additional practice sessions during
the next year, but the grant for the home economist terminated and
the work was not completed. It would seem, however, that, even
with all these handicaps, if the desire is great enough, almost
impossible tasks can be accomplished.
But we were not always successful.
In one of the families, 12 children had been removed from the
home by order of the court and placed in foster homes.
The parents had four more children at home when they came to
the attention of the Project staff. The home economist visited the
family often. The mother was friendly but it was impossible to
establish real rapport with her. She would not discuss her problems
with the home economist or accept any suggestions. She did enjoy
the group meetings with the other mothers and attended regularly
during the first year. This group participation seemed to break down
some of her defenses and, during the second year, she cooperated
to the extent of participating in the nutritional survey, moving to
better housing, and asking the public health nurse for help with
health problems. The home economist was not able, however, to be
of much service to her in the area of home management practices.
23
Perhaps, if more work could have been done with her the third year,
more progress could have been seen.
The feasibility and development of a group were discussed with the
staff. It was believed that the group organization would ease the loneliness
problem for the women, give added impetus to the home economist's work
with the individual mothers, serve as an organ for presenting material of
interest to all of the mothers or for presentation of material on a "touchy"
subject, and be a means of stimulating the mothers to better home care.
Group meetings were started for the mothers and pre-school children soon
after the home economist entered the Project.
In developing this group, the home economist first asked each of the
mothers if they would be interested in a group. After it was ascertained
that they would be, she encouraged one of the mothers to suggest the
organization of such a group at one of the regularly attended Pine School
parents' meetings. The idea was accepted.
The home economist and the public health nurse working together made
plans for the first meeting. They chose the home and the hostess for the
first meeting. They arranged transportation for the mothers. They prepared
the food except for the coffee and cream. They presented the subject
matter for the first meeting. The meeting was a great success and the
women wanted one each week. The staff believed that weekly meetings
would be more than it could manage and suggested every other week. Such
meetings were held on a rotating basis at the families' homes.
Each of the mothers volunteered to be the hostess or co-hostess for
the group for one meeting. The home economist checked before each
meeting with the hostess (who was furnishing the home and coffee) and
with the co-hostess (who was furnishing the refreshments) to see whether
she could be of any help and to be sure that all was in readiness. She and
the public health nurse provided transportation for those who needed it.
They also planned the subject matter to be discussed.
The meetings drew almost 100 percent attendance during the year, and
it was apparent that all objectives of the group plan were more than ac-
complished. The women enjoyed the meetings, made friends with others,
exchanged clothes and babysitting service, and seemed to feel that they
were of increasing importance. They also appeared to have more capacity
to move into new experiences. This was demonstrated by their request
to visit a manufacturing plant within the city and by their holding a party
at a popular downtown clubroom.
Through the group, the home economist and the public health nurse
worked to fulfill some basic social needs of these mothers. The women
began to progress in both health and homemaking areas. They did much
painting, cleaning, and repair work around their homes. Some fathers also
became interested. Dental care was more obvious as was attention to other
physical needs.
Most of the mothers brought their pre-school age children to the meet-
ings. Sometimes as many as 12 youngsters and 2 babies would be present.
24
This prevented group teaching of complex subject matter. For the most
part, the topics were very elementary. Some examples were: hairwashing,
successful baking, laundry methods, painting dried weeds for winter
bouquets, decorating quilts for the Pine School, exchange of recipes,
cleanliness, correct tooth-brushing, and temperature-taking. Presentation
and discussion were always brief. The staff believed that subject matter
was not as important as the development of a group spirit which would
enable members to participate and to have a sense of belonging to the
social life of their group. Certainly an important ingredient of the Pine
School Project was the provision of group experience for these mothers
and the children who came with them. It accomplished a great deal with
little effort, in comparison to individual work. The latter was important
also, but it was more difficult to execute and much slower in showing
external results. An undertaking such as "The Family Life Study" within
the Pine School Project should be planned on a long-time basis. It should
not be taken lightly because this work, which attempts to change personal
habits, is complex indeed, and involves many problems for both the families
and those who would work with them.
A multidiscipline approach seems to be an excellent way of working
with people whose lives have included severe social, economic, and educa-
tional deprivation. The public health nurse can understand and help them
with certain health needs. The social worker can assist with many of the
social problems that arise in these families as well as give advice and
support to his co-workers, and the home economist has special knowledge
and skills which she can use to help these families improve their living
conditions and move toward familial adequacy.
Progress is slow with many setbacks, but when one considers the
number of years to which many are exposed to severe family deprivation,
one becomes quite sympathetic with the apparent slowness of the mothers'
progress. Almost any movement for the better is a great step forward for
them and their children.