3248 Chef training for the homeless

is the topic of Roger Thurow's lastest installment in his series about creative ways to address poverty and hunger in the Wall Street Journal. The devil is in the details, as usual. Although he describes an innovative program to train chefs, his story is a reminder that if you think low wages or poverty can be addressed by adding an amendment to raise the minimum wage, or consciousness raising among the middle class, think again.

Eighty-four low wage and homeless people signed up for the chef training program, of which half didn't show up the first day. Thirty-eight completed the interviews. Twenty were dropped after a battery of tests and a 3 day kitchen trial. Finally, they had a class of 17, of which 14 completed the course and 12 found jobs.

As I've said many times, homelessness is not the correct term. These people suffered from lack of a sense of responsibility, absenteeism, health problems, poor math skills, and test anxiety. If there is a chance of overcoming these life long habits and problems, it is in the small programs that Thurow describes.