Welfare reform derives from a simple principle: It is better to see to your own needs than to be a sullen ward of the state. The case of Mary Berry of Pittsburgh is instructive. The 24-year-old single mother of three children — 6, 4 and 3 — is smiling now. Her income has risen from $400 to $1,800 a month, not a great sum, but indicative of progress — from the welfare rolls to helping others find jobs. She is able to put a few bucks away to buy a home. She now looks like a pro and acts like one, professionalism first being a state of mind before it can yield it fullest rewards. Ms. Berry plans to begin courses at Carlow College in January. Her hope comes after hitting bottom when she lost a job at Children’s Hospital. Fear set in when her benefits were nearing the end. However, Pennsylvania welfare officials sent her to another program — supported by federal and state dollars — where Mary Ann Howard taught her lessons about the working world that Ms. Berry had not learned. How do you write a resume and look and act like someone who will do a good job? Government help for people at the end of their ropes has not ended; it has changed direction — skills learned and refined can lead to self-sufficiency. Berry is but one single mother in a nation with too many single mothers, many of whom will not do as well as she has. However, that does not detract from her achievement nor from her example.

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