During the 1990s, the province of Saskatchewan designed a group of programs to help people make the move from social assistance to jobs. One of those programs, the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement, provided a cash incentive to work. The benefit actually increased until people were earning enough income to sustain themselves; then it tapered off like traditional assistance.
Six years later, there was a 41% drop in the number of families receiving assistance – 6,800 families and almost 15,000 children. The province had its lowest social assistance case-load since 1991. A fairly successful program, wouldn’t you say?
So why had so many of the families eligible for SES failed to apply? To find out, Saskatchewan Social Services developed a profile of eligible applicants and held a focus group. They discovered that the knowledge level about the program was very low. When focus group participants were given the description of the program from the brochure, only one person felt she had a better understanding.
Most of the participants said the brochure was vague, lacked details, and did not help them to understand the program. So Bill Carney, then Director of Communications and a clear language champion, had the brochure revised using clear language and design. When the new brochure was tested with focus groups, there was 100% interest in the SES program.
Through a comprehensive direct mail program, Carney blanketed Saskatchewan’s low income population with the new brochure. The result within two years: 42% more people from the target group were receiving the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement.