Do you know how to get someone out of jail, keep your clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat, live without a checking account and move in half a day?

If so, you might be able to survive in poverty, according to Ruby K. Payne.

Payne, a nationally known author of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty," presented a workshop Tuesday in Rochester to almost 200 social service providers, educators and employment specialists who work with adults or children in poverty. Payne is also founder and president of aha! Process, Inc., the business through which she promotes her research on poverty.

Those who want to effectively help people out of poverty must know the culture of poverty, according to Payne. She gives quizzes about what it would take to survive in poverty, middle class and wealth to help prove her point.

"Class impacts what you have the opportunity to learn," Payne said.

All three classes -- the poor, middle class and wealthy -- have hidden or unspoken rules about behavior and communication, Payne said.

"Individuals bring with them the hidden rules of the class in which they were raised," she said.

In generational poverty, important information is given non-verbally, according to Payne. Someone in poverty who doesn't like a boss will quit the job rather than talk to supervisors about the problem. Working for a boss who isn't liked is seen as a sign of dishonesty, Payne said.

Another rule in poverty is that people believe their value is based in part on their ability to entertain.

"Poverty is painful," Payne said. "You need humor to survive it."

Payne said those in poverty and those who work with adults or children in poverty benefit from knowing the class rules. Understanding the rules and culture of poverty is more important than money in eliminating poverty, she said.

"Money is important, but money doesn't change thinking," Payne said.

Gale McEvoy, family development director at Three Rivers Community Action Inc. in Zumbrota, said Payne's research has the potential to change how those in poverty in the region are served.

"For service providers, it has an impact that could be a catalyst for changing how they do business," said McEvoy, a member of the committee that planned Payne's workshop.

"It already affirms some of the things we already do," said Susan Thompson, energy assistance program and weatherization coordinator for Semcac, a private, non-profit community action agency based in Rushford.