How could Nathan’s experiences volunteering with Sudanese families in South Bend, Indiana, and working with Habitat for Humanity have affected his decision regarding Ayana?

Question

Nathan Bierwirth, BSW, worked as an employment counselor for Pathfinders Social Services, a nonprofit agency serving the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Pathfinders provided employment services for people leaving welfare, persons with disabilities, the homeless, and immigrants, refugees, and asylees. Part of Nathan’s caseload consisted of newly arrived refugees enrolled in Minnesota’s time-limited Refugee Cash Assistance–Employment Services (RCA-ES) program. Individualized Employment Plans (EPs) helped refugees transition from welfare to employment and self-sufficiency. EPs required a minimum of 35 hours per week of RCA-ES–approved activities, including employment services and formal education (limited to 20 hours per week). Nathan’s client, Ayana Tuma, a refugee from Ethiopia, had no educational or work experience and knew no English. This prevented her from effectively participating in employment service classes, so she enrolled in a full-time English as a Second Language (ESL) program. When Hennepin County audited Pathfinders, clients like Ayana, who exceeded the 20 hour instruction limit, could be sanctioned and even terminated from the program. As the audit approached, Nathan wondered if he should report Ayana’s ESL hours accurately or falsify her Employment Plan.

Answer 1

These experiences, particularly his work with Sudanese families, profoundly affected Nathan. They were certain to be in his thoughts as he deliberated about what to do. His tutoring experiences probably made him especially sensitive to Ayana’s English literacy needs, and the advocacy work he did for refugee families certainly involved issues of housing. Because Habitat for Humanity focused upon the importance of adequate housing for families, he was probably acutely concerned about any risk of homelessness for the Tuma family. Education and housing were both areas where he invested a great deal of time and effort. He seemed to have a particular concern for these two issues. In this case, how he reported Ayana’s educational hours would bear directly upon her family’s ability to afford rent.