How was Pathfinders Social Service organized? What services did Pathfinders offer and to whom?

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

Pathfinders was a comprehensive social service provider located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It consisted of three departments–rehabilitation therapies, early childhood and family services, and employment services. The agency served over 7,000 people and families per year. Pathfinders was a private, nonprofit organization that received much of its funding from state and federal grants. More than fifty percent of Pathfinder’s clients participated in employment services, which made employment services the agency’s largest department. The agency was also one of the largest private providers of employment services for people in the Twin Cities area. Pathfinders operated several employment programs that served a broad range of people—people leaving welfare; persons with disabilities; the homeless; and immigrants, refugees, and asylees. All employment service programs were based on two principles: helping people build on their strengths and enabling people to overcome their challenges in order to build better lives for themselves and their families.