using brain science to create new pathways out of poverty ... · power, control, readiness to act:...

© 2016 Economic Mobility Pathways, All Rights Reserved.

Elisabeth D. Babcock, MCRP, PhD

President and CEO

Using Brain Science to Create New Pathways Out of Poverty:

Mobility Mentoring


Science Shows Us that Human Beings Are Amazingly Adaptive

Who We Become and How We Interact With the World

Is a Result of Our Genes, and Our Environment Too


Who We Become Is a Result of Our Genes, and Our Environment Too

If we grow up experiencing

life as predictable and filled

with many opportunities, we

become experienced at:

• making plans

• looking for the best

choices…..

• weighing our

options….

• investing in ourselves

for the future……


Who We Become Is a Result of Our Genes, and Our Environment Too

If we grow up experiencing life as a

series of crises, where new problems

wait for us around every corner, we

become experienced at:

• reacting….

• focusing on battling our

immediate problems….

• trying to follow what people

say we have to do to get what

we need….

• never planning too far

ahead…….


From Childhood to Adulthood, Our Brains Grow New Brain Wiring

People with predictable and rich

environments are more likely to build

strong “executive function (EF) skills”:

Pausing to think about what we really

want before we react to something;

Searching for and finding options and

alternative courses of action before

taking steps;

Organizing and juggling complex tasks;

Working to achieve goals over long

time-frames.

The more we “exercise” our brains to do something,

the better we become at it.


“EF” Brain Wiring is Special

• Although “EF” brain

wiring grows fastest in

early childhood, clear

evidence suggests it

can continue to built

even into old age;

• Scientists call this

brain “plasticity”.

You CAN teach an old

dog new tricks!!


Current Life Experiences Strongly Impact EF Brain Functioning Too

• Science shows that current life stresses also affect brain functioning for all of us- regardless of childhood experience;

• Brain wiring gets swamped by stress and the quality of memory, impulse control, and decision-making are all compromised.

Where did I put that computer password?

Why did I just eat that whole container of ice cream?

How am I going to pay all these bills?


EMPath Families Have Significant Experience of Poverty, Social Bias, Stress, and Trauma

• 75% are currently homeless

or have recent history of

homelessness;

• 54% report a history of abuse,

violence, and/or trauma;

• 35% report a physical,

cognitive, and/or MH disability

that serves as a barrier to

work or school;

• 50% have a least one child

with diagnosed special needs;

• 58% report limited or draining

social networks;

• $592/mo. avg. earned

household income at

program start.


Common Stress-Related Challenges

• Challenges Managing Thoughts,

Memory, Organization, and Learning

• Challenges Managing Behavior,

Emotions, and Interpersonal

Relationships

• Challenges Managing Health and

Well-being


So- To Summarize The quality of our “EF” strategic thinking and coping skills are influenced by:

1. The biology we are born with;

2. Our life experiences of poverty, trauma, and social bias (stress);

3. Our current life circumstances (especially stresses of poverty, trauma, and social bias).

This child’s future will be the result of

the gifts she is born with; her experiences

growing up; and the difficulties life throws

at her as she manages life choices.


The Breakthrough News from Brain Science Is-

There is increasing

evidence that, by

improving the

environments, tools, and

interpersonal approaches

we use, we can

substantially improve

human development,

decision-making,

behavior, and life

outcomes. The right kind of coaching can make a world of difference!


What have we at EMPath learned?

Breakthrough ideas

Drive=>

Breakthrough program

design

Drives=>

Breakthrough outcomes


Breakthrough Ideas- What it takes to get out of poverty

• Getting out of poverty today is a terribly complex process!

• Families must simultaneously battle to get ahead on multiple fronts- home, health, money, education and career.

• To do this they need incredibly strong decision-making and behavior-management skills.


Breakthrough Ideas- What poverty

does to us

• The stresses of poverty

compromise core decision-

making and behavior

management skills (so-called

executive functioning skills-

EF)

• It swamps our analytic

capabilities, compromises our

abilities to think about the

future, and heightens our

impulsiveness

kids

school


Breakthrough Ideas- Disrupting Poverty

is a Vicious Catch 22

To get out of poverty, people need optimal decision-making

and behavior management skills

Poverty compromises decision-making

and behavior management skills


Breakthrough Ideas-

Therefore, the Real Breakthrough Is

Understanding that….

• If getting out of poverty is a huge organizational (EF) challenge,

• And being in poverty compromises our organizational (EF) skills,

• Then we must aim to streamline and simplify services at the same time we work to build organizational skills

Strike Here


How do we use these breakthrough ideas to create breakthrough program design?

EMPath transforms lives by helping people move out of poverty and provides other institutions with the tools to systematically do the same.


Breakthrough (EF informed)Program

Design- Overarching Principles

• Integration and silo-

busting;

• Elimination of hurdles

and barriers;

• Simple, clear, rules

and expectations;

• Environments and

approaches that

reduce stress.


Breakthrough Program Design- Evidence-based (EF) Roadmap


• First building personal agency, self-efficacy and motivation;

• Then coaching for decision-making, problem-solving, planning, and goals-orientation;

• Finally coaching for increased self-regulation, persistence, and resilience.


Design- New Coaching Approach

“The goal of

Mobility

Mentoring is for

participants to

ultimately

mentor

themselves”


Breakthrough Program

Design: Coaching- for Participant Agency

Cultivate participants’ "sense of

agency" – feeling of personal

power, control, readiness to act:

• Participants should own

their achievement plan;

• Self-assess;

• Identify their own goals and

how they align with the

program;

• Develop their plans for

goals achievement

“I know what I want; I can usually find a good way to get there; if I work

hard, I can do almost anything.”



Design : Coaching Focus

• Practice containing

rather than eliminating

the “crisis of the day”;

• Not being easily

“swamped”/taken off

course;

• Remembering personal

motivations for change;

• Maintaining focus on

goals and future

“I know that things are tough right now, but let’s stop talking about those things for a minute and instead talk about your future…..”



Design: Coaching- Focus on Building EF

• Pausing to own reactions- “Stop for a minute; think about this. What do you really want to accomplish?”

• Discovering and weighing options-

“You do have choices; you just may

not see them yet.”

• Resilience- “Everyone feels over-

whelmed sometimes. Let’s think about it; there’s bound to be another way.”

• Pro-social behavior- “ What do you think they are feeling and thinking? How do you think they’re likely to react?”



Design: Coaching for Goals Creation

• Partner to create a clear set of steps for how to achieve goals;

• Make sure goals are “SMART”- specific, measureable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound;

• Use goals contracts; public goals contracts are even more powerful;

• To stay on target, make sure you regularly track, reinforce, remind, and recalibrate goals.

Measure and celebrate progress!



Design- New Evaluation Systems

• Goal is to create

positive participant

change;

• To create positive

change, one must

assess where they

are, then set a goal,

make a plan, and then

measure whether the

goal was achieved;

• Each time this process

is done it builds

important EF skills.



Design- New Rewards Systems

• Tied directly to goal-setting processes;

• Designed to shorten reward horizons; memorialize and reinforce goals attainment;

• Should be earned by participants not “awarded” by staff. You’re just

amazing!


Breakthrough Outcomes Adults- FY’15

Career Family Opportunity Program (5 yr.)

Avg. length of program

participation≈ 3 yrs.

• 98% of CFOs worked

($20.71/hr.);

• 56% in school and working;

• 79% completed post-

secondary education since

enrollment (56% college

degrees; 23% prof. cert.);

• 21% now in family

sustaining jobs ($27.17/hr.);

• $3,172 avg. savings/pp.;

• 96% program retention


Breakthrough Outcomes Adults and Children- FY’16 Intergen Project

• 86% of parents either

worked or were in school;

• 93% were banked and

78% had savings;

• 78% of children had EF

gains (Rothbart Scale);

• 71% of families had

improvements in

measures of home life

(CHAOS Scale);

These outcomes are particularly striking because 67% of families were homeless during the study and 64% of children had diagnosed disabilities.


Better Lives Through Science


Additional Helpful Resources • EMPath’s Families Disrupting the Cycle of Poverty: Coaching With

an Intergenerational Lens; Using Brain Science to Create New Pathways Out of Poverty; Mobility Mentoring; and Coaching for Economic Mobility research briefs and the Economic Independence Exchange at www.empathways.org .

• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University- research brief #11, Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System and Building Adult Capabilities video at http://developingchild.harvard.edu/

• Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress: Foundations for Understanding Self-Regulation from an Applied Developmental Perspective. OPRE Report # 2015-21, January 2015

• Ideas42- Poverty Interrupted: Applying Behavioral Science to the Context of Chronic Scarcity, May 2015

http://www.empathways.org/

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/



using brain science to create new pathways out of poverty ... · power, control, readiness to act:...

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