Lesson 8: Providing Effective Welfare Assistance

Objective

Bishops, priesthood leaders, and Relief Society leaders will be inspired to provide effective welfare assistance in the Lord’s way.

Materials for This Lesson

Essentials of Welfare videocassette (53045) or In the Service of Your God DVD (54645)

Caring for the Needy study guide (32294)

Statement from the Church Handbook of Instructions

Invite a participant to read the following statement:

“The Lord has established a way to care for the poor and needy and help them regain their self-reliance. When Church members are doing all they can to provide for themselves but still cannot meet their basic needs, they first should turn to their [extended] families for help. When this is not sufficient, the Church stands ready to help. . . .

“When people give, they should do so freely and with a spirit of love, recognizing that Heavenly Father is the source of all blessings and that those blessings should be used to serve others. . . .

“Providing in the Lord’s way humbles the giver, exalts the receiver, and sanctifies both (see D&C 104:15–18). Both become more able to give as Christ gives” (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 256).

Ask participants to share examples they have seen of providing effective welfare assistance in the Lord’s way. (Remind them not to share confidential information.)

Scripture

Invite a participant to read the following scripture: “Behold, I say unto you, that ye must visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief” (D&C 44:6).

Remind participants that the Lord has commanded that this relief be administered in His “own way” (see D&C 104:16).

Key Points

Help participants understand the following points, and discuss them as needed:

1. In 1854 the First Presidency taught, “True charity to a poor family or person consists in placing them in a situation in which they can support themselves” (in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. [1965–75], 2:134). Years later the First Presidency reaffirmed this principle: “The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, 3).

Ask participants for examples of how ward leaders can place needy members “in a situation in which they can support themselves.”

2. The bishop should give members opportunities to work to the extent of their ability for the assistance they receive (see Caring for the Needy, 5–6, 9). The First Presidency explained in 1936, “Relief is not to be normally given as charity; it is to be distributed for work or service rendered. . . . The spiritual welfare of those on relief must receive especial care and be earnestly and prayerfully fostered. A system which gives relief for work or service will go far to reaching these ends” (in Messages of the First Presidency, 6:11–12).

Ask participants: How do members benefit from working for the assistance they receive? What are some examples of work assignments that needy ward members can be given? Bear testimony of the importance of work in the Lord’s welfare plan.

3. To foster greater self-reliance on the part of those being assisted, the bishop uses the Needs and Resources Analysis – Self Reliance Plan form (32290; this form is explained in more detail in the lesson Helping Other Become More Self-Reliant

4. Bishops should follow the guidelines below to ensure that assistance is a blessing to those who receive it:

• Seek out the poor and needy.

• Assist with necessities.

• Use commodities before cash.

• Assign work for assistance.

• Make appropriate use of community resources.

• Use the services of Church welfare operations (such as employment centers, Deseret Industries stores, canneries, bishops’ storehouses, and so on) where they exist.

• Keep needs and assistance confidential.

5. Bishops should follow approved financial policies when administering financial assistance.

Briefly review some of these policies (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1: Bishoprics and Stake Presidencies [2006], 153-158).

6. The bishop may involve the Relief Society president in assessing family needs and planning how to respond (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 194, 208, 260). The bishop should teach welfare principles and resolve challenges that arise when assistance is given.

Video Presentation

Show part 2 of “Caring for the Needy” (part of the videocassette Essentials of Welfare or the DVD In the Service of Your God ), if available. Ask participants: What did the bishop in the video do to ensure that effective assistance was given?

Case Study

Present the following case study for participants to discuss. If the group is large, divide participants into smaller discussion groups; then invite participants to report on the ideas generated in their discussions.

A young woman in her early 20s came to the bishop asking for help to make a car payment that was due the following day. She was a member of the ward but had never attended Church. She told the bishop that she and her husband were separated and that he had left her with the burden of the debt. If the payment was not made, the car would be repossessed, leaving her without transportation to get to work. The bishop asked her if any family members could help. She replied that only her parents lived near, and she had asked for their help, but they had refused. The bishop called her father, who said that he had helped many times before and the young woman failed to learn the needed lessons about money management, staying out of debt, and so on.

Ask participants: What could be done to provide effective welfare assistance for this young woman? (Answers could include: the bishop should complete a Needs and Resources Analysis – Self Reliance Plan form [see the lesson Helping Other Become More Self-Reliant] with the young woman to determine her exact needs and make a plan to become more self-reliant; the Relief Society president could visit with the young woman, permitting her to express her feelings and her needs; the bishop could provide commodities, such as food, which would allow the young woman to use her available cash to make the car payment; the bishop could contact her husband’s bishop and ask him to counsel with the husband concerning his responsibility to properly support his family; the bishop should assign the young woman work for the assistance she receives; the bishop could call a welfare specialist [see lesson Using Welfare Specialists] to work with the young woman to help her help herself.)

Bear testimony that when the poor and needy are provided for in the Lord’s way, the givers and receivers are blessed.