Snyder pledges to change how state helps those in need

I'm pretty certain that Gov. Rick Snyder has not, as I have, interviewed a 39-year-old single mother with nine children and no job who is about to be evicted from her home.

But as he outlined possible changes in government during his State of the State address Tuesday, it sounded like he had.

After celebrating successes from 2014, Snyder plunged right into his major plan for 2015: To change the way Michigan helps residents in need. If successful, it could set a precedent for other states.

But the key words are "if successful."

In a speech whose theme partially matched that of President Barack Obama's State of the Union, full of hope of moving people from unemployment and dependency on social programs to America's working and middle class, Snyder said it's time to change the economic status of millions of people who haven't had the opportunity.

He wants to dramatically reorganize government to be "people-centric, not program-centric," to treat the root causes of people's problems rather than create programs that apply Band-aids to problems.

A man who repeatedly uses the phrase "relentless positive action" had no problem terming his new philosophy: the river of opportunity."

"We've been a nation of opportunity since our founding," he said. "Many of us stay in the river's mainstream with support from parents, schooling, careers. You went to a good school. ... You found a good first job. ... You're on that path to great opportunity. You're a contributor to helping others through churches, charities, nonprofits. You're volunteering your time to help people. ... I was one of those people. I grew up in a 900-square-foot house in Battle Creek."

Snyder said too many Michiganders struggle with poverty, illness, disability or a lack of education. "For 80 years, government's solution has been to create more programs," noting that Michigan has more than 145 programs to help poor people.

"The system is failing, folks," he said. "What we've done is sliced and diced people into programs. In some cases, we've taken their dignity away by putting them through so many programs. ... We're facilitating dependency on government and that's not right. That's unacceptable."

Watch out, Gov. Snyder. This kind of thinking, this kind of policy, could be revolutionary.

It could be massively life-changing.

It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Snyder didn't discuss dollars, but he did talk public-private partnerships.

At a time when the current deficit is $289 million and the projected deficit for the next fiscal year is $532 million, how is he going to pay for it?

Snyder says it's doable and cited two pilot programs his office has already begun: Pathways to Potential and Community Partners.

Snyder made clear that he gets it: You don't keep giving new paddles to a resident with a hole in his canoe. But if the state is going to provide wraparound services for all residents who need it: transportation, child care, mental health services, job training, literacy classes, health care, what does that price tag look like?

"It's not just about government," he said. "It's about community. It's about friends and neighbors. We need to be that village of support together. We need to measure success differently," he said. "It's not how many maintained their dependency. It's how many that were out of that mainstream of opportunity are now in the mainstream of opportunity."

What the governor has to now is:

■ Convince legislators to buy into the plan.

■ Find community partners to help pick up the tab.

■ Make sure that the people he pushes out into his river of opportunity don't drown.

It's a tall order in the fourth quarter of his tenure, but then Detroit is emerging from bankruptcy, and Seattle did win the NFC championship last weekend.

So anything's possible.

Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley99@freepress