Self-Sufficiency Matrix

"For practically every family, then, the ingredients of poverty are part financial and part psychological, part personal and part societal, part past and part present...There is no single variable that can be altered to help working people move away from the edge of poverty."

                                                    - David Shipler, The Working Poor

In the mid 1980s, "self-sufficiency" became the goal and objective of many programs and funding sources. Although the term was used with increasing regularity, self-sufficiency remained a broad and complicated concept that was not used consistently throughout Snohomish County .

In the 1990s, Dr. Diana Pearce, a researcher and professor at the University of Washington , developed a Self-Sufficiency Standard for use as a counseling tool and a benchmark for helping families move out of poverty. The Standard is calculated based on the basic expenses a working family must have in order to meet their basic needs without public assistance based on geographic location and household composition. As a result, it is more comprehensive and realistic than traditional poverty measures (namely, the Federal Poverty Level) and allows for a common understanding about economic self-sufficiency. For more information about the Self-Sufficiency Standard, please see the subsequent section on "Additional Resources."

In response to the growing national recognition and local applicability of this Standard, the Snohomish County Community Action Division of the Human Services Department, United Way of Snohomish County, and other community partners interested in a common local understanding of self-sufficiency convened a taskforce to further explore the issue as it pertains to the provision of services in the local community. The group agreed on two key issues:

•  the definition of self-sufficiency should include more than an economic assessment of a family's situation and must attempt to incorporate less quantifiable aspects of a person's life, including education, housing stability, life skills, mental health, etc;

•  it is in the best interest of agencies and funders to create a common understanding of what self-sufficiency means in Snohomish County and, in so doing, incorporate the less quantifiable aspects of what it means to be self-sufficient.

To compliment the work of Dr. Pearce's Self-Sufficiency Standard and to address the key issues outlined above, the Self-Sufficiency Taskforce adopted a federal standard for outcomes measurement, ROMA (Results Oriented Management and Accountability). ROMA is a tool designed to encourage an outcomes-based approach to the service delivery, management and administration of human services. It consists of a series of outcome scales documenting an individual or family's condition. More detail about the structure of the outcome scales is included in the "Instructions" section.

Dr. Pearce's Standard offers an elaborate economic analysis of what it means to be self-sufficient and the matrix builds on this work by defining self-sufficiency in 25 key areas (outcome scales). The Matrix is designed to be flexible: any combination of scales can be used, based on the goals and strategies of individual programs. In addition, each scale was developed independently on a continuum from "in-crisis" to "thriving." The outcome scales are client-oriented and include: Access to Services, Career Resiliency/Training, Childcare, Clothing, Education, Employment, English Language Skills, Food, Functional Ability, Housing, Income (Self-Sufficiency Standard), Income (Area Median Income), Income (Federal Poverty Level), Legal, Life Skills (Household Management), Life Skills (Human Resources), Life Skills (Financial Matters), Life Skills (Setting Goals & Resourcefulness), Mental Health, Parenting, Physical Health, Safety, Substance Use, Support Systems and Transportation. The Self-Sufficiency Matrix has many applications:

•  as a CASE MANAGEMENT TOOL for case workers as they work with individual clients and document progress towards self-sufficiency over time at specific intervention points or, when appropriate, to document a client's ability to maintain a certain level of functioning. The Matrix is an effective and efficient tool for documenting the progress or maintenance of client skills and abilities by providing a clear illustration of where a client has strengths, as well as where to focus additional energy to generate improvement.

•  as a SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL for individuals who wish to determine their own strengths and areas for improvement as they work towards self-sufficiency. This application of the tool is similar to its use as a case management tool.

•  as a MANAGEMENT TOOL for programs and agencies to determine what is and isn't working in terms of the type of services offered to clients and the way those services are delivered. The Matrix allows program staff to identify where additional resources are needed and how to deploy those resources most effectively.

•  as a MEASUREMENT TOOL , both for funders and organizations that receive grant funding. The Matrix provides funders a way to clearly articulate their funding priorities to interested applicants and to the community at-large by using specific scales on the matrix to articulate funding priorities or primary interests. For programs that are widely using this tool, the Self-Sufficiency Matrix can serve as a way to consolidate outcomes for multiple clients and report results to funders.

•  as a COMMUNICATION TOOL for demonstrating the success of local programs, as well as sharing information about community conditions with both the general public and policymakers. As use of the Matrix continues to grow, it promises to be an effective communication tool for illustrating the strengths, as well as weaknesses, of our community to help families work towards self-sufficient living. In addition, a collective analysis of the results generated by programs using the Self-Sufficiency Matrix will aid the community and policy makers in their understanding of what self-sufficiency looks like in Snohomish County, what barriers exist for families working towards self-sufficiency, and where system-level efforts are required to improve opportunities for low-income working families.

The "Instructions" section provides additional information about how to use the Self-Sufficiency Matrix.

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