Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 2) | Page 35

Working with Various Client Groups
systematic way of working with families and helping them to systematically
access amenities and services to rebuild expectations and hope.
In working with poorer families, it is good to appreciate the needs and
deficits of people with low-income but we should not focus too much on
them while overlooking their strengths. This is not to say that we should not
ensure a good safety net which is crucial when people are in crisis. In the
words of Lim Miller, founder and CEO of the national Family Independence
Initiative (FFI), “Most poor families are not in free fall. They don’t need nets
to catch them so much as they need springboards to jump higher.” So in
social work practice, it is important to create a structu re for families that
encourages the sense of control, desire for self-determination and mutual
support. It is less about doing things to people or implementing changes but
more about enabling, facilitating and supporting individuals and families to
help themselves by giving them the resources that enable and equip them
to improve their lives.

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