Then Bost tells how Seattle dealt with its panhandlers and homeless people. Seattle, he said, went from giving money to wanting to see homeless people help themselves. He now faces the challenge of changing attitudes about welfare not only within the agency but outside it as well. Bost's own employees feel trapped between helping the state's needy residents and meeting state and federal mandates to cut off that help. They're being told by the governor and agencies that the private sector can do a better job.
Morale is at an all-time low.
Qualified people are looking elsewhere. In this turmoil, Bost says there is another story. The human services chief displays photos of people once on welfare who are now employed, he said. Bost wants people to share his enthusiasm for moving people off the welfare rolls. Texas needs to focus not only on reducing its welfare rolls, but also on keeping people from ever returning, Bost said.