We the Citizens Citizen Participation to Address Poverty

We the Citizens: Citizen Participation to Address Poverty EAU CLAIRE CLEAR VISION POVERTY SUMMIT Emmanuel Castellanos, Psychology Sophia Thoen, Social Work Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ruth Cronje, English QUALITATIVE FINDINGS BACKGROUND Three coders were used and sufficient interrater reliability occurred between the three independent coders (average percentage agreement of 97. 24, ĸ = 0. 67). Summit participants answered three similar qualitative prompts in October and April. WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE TONIGHT? 80 70 # of Code References 60 Democracy means the rule and voice of the people. The Clear Vision Eau Claire (CVEC) Poverty Summit was meant to offer community members a mechanism of inclusion in the democratic process. From October 2016 to April 2017, community members gathered and deliberated on how to best solve the issue of poverty in the area; 13. 1% of Eau Claire residents live below the poverty line (U. S. Census Bureau, 2016). This Poverty Summit was meant to include all types of community members in identifying and creating solutions related to reducing poverty To protect individual anonymity, the October survey data is not linked to April survey data. Using SPSS 24. 0, researchers conducted independent samples T-tests and frequency analyses. WHAT IS YOUR AGE? WHAT IS YOUR INCOME SECURITY? OCTOBER (LEFT) APRIL (RIGHT) STUDY OBJECTIVE 50 Our participation in the Summit was meant to investigate participants’ perception of the Clear Vision Eau Claire democratic process and demographics of participants over time. Was the CVEC Poverty Summit successful at including diverse voices throughout the entire process? 40 30 20 10 n ac t cia Te a l. I m nt Co er ep Sk /C oc es s So Pr he sio io n ism tic su lo en siv clu In Di ve re es s se Ex pe of ity ve rs ity rs Di Code Name rti er ie nc xp of E ly re ct nc ep tu e d Im pa ur io ct e sit y m Te a o al C Di Co Co Co m m itm en tt o en tt m m itm Co lla bo Ac ra tio n n 0 October April Figure 1 a. In October, participants stated a commitment to change and action, as well as curiosity about local poverty bringing them to the summit; in April, those were still the top reasons. HOW CAN WE ENSURE/WERE DIVERSE VOICES (ARE) ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE POVERTY SUMMIT? 40 35 METHODS Participants took voluntary, written surveys at the October (n=140) and April meeting (n=60). The October survey measured expectations and April measured reflections. These surveys collected demographic information and both quantitative and qualitative data. • Quantitative data was analyzed with SPSS 24. 0 using independent samples T-tests and frequency analyses. • Grounded theory model, inductive thematic analysis, constant comparative method, and NVivo 11® helped analyze qualitative responses. DISCUSSION We know that everyone has different lived experiences, therefore the same 25 process cannot work equally for all participants. Retainment of diverse 20 populations (and quantity of participants) was less at the final meeting than 15 the first meeting. In a summit that focuses on the deliberative, democratic 10 process surrounding poverty and diversity, it is important to have affected 5 members be active stakeholders. Participants responded feeling that they 0 treated each other respectfully across all household incomes, however those in poverty did not remain active in the summit, neither did other diverse populations. Future research questions include: Code Name October April • How can we encourage the retainment of participants of a diverse Figure 1 b. In October, diversity of experiences and then inclusivity were the background? top reported strategies to ensure voices were heard; by April, inclusivity was • How do/can we value the input of diverse populations and continue to the most cited strategy. involve those experiencing poverty in the conversation surrounding HOW CAN WE ENSURE/DID DIVERSE VOICES (WILL) GUIDE THE ACTIONS poverty and actions that are taken? Figure 2 a. Less than half of the total population at the October Poverty Summit were at the April Poverty Summit, including fewer very income insecure and somewhat insecure participants. WHAT IS YOUR COMMUNITY OF ORIGIN/RACE? OCTOBER (LEFT) APRIL (RIGHT) n ac t he sio io n ism Co er m nt Te a l. I oc es s Sk /C ep lo tic su re es s en siv clu Pr cia ADDITIONAL POST-SUMMIT TESTIMONY* WE WILL TAKE TO ADDRESS POVERTY ? HOW? 80 Why did you go to the CVEC Poverty Summit? “The people who invited me were people who I respected…Being broke is a form of trauma…It determines what spaces you are welcome in, and whether people listen to you. I felt like the poverty summit was an opportunity to level that playing field, to have my voice be heard. ” # of Code References 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 n io he s io ct So Co am Te nt e cia l. I Sk ep ra tic os u Cl s/ es oc Pr October n ism re s es clu In Ex of ity Di ve rs siv pe en rti nc rie xp e f. E yo sit ve r Di Code Name se e ed ct Di re tu ep nc ly al Im Cu pa rio ct sit y am Te Co itm m m Co o en tt en lla Co tt o bo Ac ra tio n n 0 April Figure 1 c. Lastly, in October, inclusivity, diversity of experience, and the CVEC process were cited to ensure diverse voices to guide actions; by April, having diverse experiences present in order to guide action of the team was the most frequent strategy. Email for references: thoensk 6816@uwec. edu; castelle 7650@uwec. edu What was the first meeting like? “I was sitting there with $20 in my pocket and 10 days until I get paid. I was devastated during that meeting. If you know they knew this [ALICE poverty levels], why hasn’t something already been done? Why are they expecting my feedback without giving me any benefit from it? I know nothing is going to change soon…” Why do you think others dropped out? “People can't look upstream when they are the ones floating down the stream. ” 15 th, *This testimony was provided by S. Ferber on March 2018. It is not included in the qualitative analysis. This CVEC Poverty Summit Participant is still on an action team and identifies as earning a low income. Figure 2 b. At the October Poverty Summit’s 84% of participants identified as white. By the April Poverty Summit, 95% of participants identified as white. Eau Claire, WI is 90. 4% white (U. S. Census Bureau, 2016). DID PARTICIPANTS TREAT EACH OTHER RESPECTFULLY? (APRIL ONLY) Figure 2 c. Participants were asked whether they perceived participants treating each other respectfully on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) participants. The average mean was between agree (4) and strongly agree (5) across all income securities. MEAN: Participants Treated Each Other Respectfully During The Summit Di Di ve So rs ve rs ity In of of E xp Ex pe rti er ie nc pa ct Im ly ct re Di Co se e ed y sit al C nc ep tu m itm en m Co Co ur io Te a tt o en tt itm m m o Ac tio n tio ra lla bo Co m 30 n # of Code References QUANTITATIVE FINDINGS Household Income Security We would like to thank our funding sources: our ORSP SREU grant and CVEC Poverty Summit. We thank the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for supporting this research, and Learning & Technology Services for printing this poster.