The contracting process

Our contracting process is geared toward the individual. Participants create their own unique steps to move from personal starting points to more achievable goals. They move from their current status to a place of change – the cultural crossover.

The choices made by the participant are steps to reaching their goals, and include all aspects of their life. Thirteen life categories incorporate the main issues each of the participants are likely to deal with. They are the pragmatics necessary to survive and ultimately thrive in the real world.

Contracting
Each participant begins the process by naming personal goal(s). The contract is the starting point for thinking and developing action steps toward individual goals. The participant decides what step he or she needs to take. Each contract step fits into one of 13 life categories (housing, employment, education, finances, drugs/alcohol, legal, personal, problem-solving, planning, identification, volunteer, leadership, health or other). The contract categories provide a framework for thinking and focal points for problem solving.

Each contract page deals with an individual step. A three-step critical path is employed:

• Where am I today?
• Where do I want to be instead?
• What do I need to do to get there?

A contract step may be to write a resume, look for a place to live, get medical attention, buy food, apply for school, deal with family issues, handle outstanding legal concerns, money management, find strategies to build self-esteem and respect, or any one of the other challenges life constantly presents.

Negotiating the steps
Each contract step involves a conversation between a participant and a volunteer Cultural Interpreter to clarify mutual perspectives and to identify workable options. Once each contract step is negotiated, the dialogue is completed with a handshake. The participant then receives $15 cash for the business transaction. This is not a reward in the traditional sense — that can be a manipulative process — but is an incentive to the participant to continue in the 24-month step-by-step process.

Each transaction is an investment in the life of the participant. Participants can negotiate up to eight steps per month for a total of $120. As the individual begins to see success in reshaping his/her life, the money grows from being viewed as easy cash to useful cash to seeds of hope.

The course of contracting
THE DOORWAY offers unconditional acceptance, respect, access to engaged citizens who provide cross-cultural information, cultural cues about mainstream society and ultimately engagement in a self-determined goal-setting and planning process.

Leadership for such independent-thinking survivors does not require compliance and obedience, but calls upon a more personal and proactive response.

Over the two years of contracting, participants discover and experience a range of personal benchmarks. These achievements provide a sense of hope for the future, and teach the participant the importance of making necessary change as a continuing process.

Graduating participants
At the end of the contract process, participants are ready to access the next entry points of their choosing, such as upgrading or furthering their education, or entering into training and employment programs.

Graduating participants believe that change is always possible and is personally initiated, and that problem solving is an effective way to manage one’s life.