The new Jesuit Social Services study Moving from the Edge is not a welfare tale of woe. It is a celebration of lives that have 'come good'. Individuals and families have spoken in a basically human way about their transition from being 'outsiders' to social 'insiders'. In the process we gain some important leads on different influences that have supported that journey.
But there is another fundamental lesson to be learned. We are witnessing the revival of an old, recurring criticism called welfare dependency. It goes something like this: there is a morally lax group of people who, given half a chance and in the absence of stern social controls, would happily sponge on society.
The predecessor report to this one, Dropping off the Edge, threw light on the real circumstances of many people needing help; it showed how within a small number of Australian communities people get caught in a web of disadvantage. Blaming these neighbourhoods, these people, for their entrapment achieves nothing. It is far more productive to build up the communities, provide opportunities for advancement and help demonstrate what it's possible to achieve.
The stories in Moving from the Edge are about individuals and families whose plight matches in severity that depicted in Dropping off the Edge. Despite overwhelming challenges these people have made their way to more satisfying and productive lives. Their stories are a reminder of the fact that with human courage and the support of others it is possible for people to 'turn around' ill-starred lives.
Frankly, I was deeply moved by the stories and I hope that reading them will have a similar affect on a wider audience, especially those who make social policy.
Overcoming the odds has in every instance involved external encouragement (from professionals in the field, partners, relatives, teachers, community groups) cultivating and supporting positive aspirations that lay within the people assisted, helping them to chart a path to the attainment of their goals and conveying confidence that the goals can and will be achieved.
Nothing that I heard moved me more than Candice and Louis's efforts to regain custody of their child Priscilla from the care of the state. Prior to that action being taken the lives of the parents had