"Last year I sent some of my (EITC) refund to my mother in the Dominican Republic and bought some living room furniture and the rest went to paying bills. This year I want to save so my boys can go to college."
.....
"I used my (EITC) refund to make my last car payment and to put money into an account for each of my children. I tell my children that when I work, I save money for them."
.....
"Me and my husband... after every (financial education) class I tell him what I learned. We created a budget where we write down everything we are spending daily, trying to minimize."
.....
"It has been very helpful having different people come in, or going to different places like the realtor's office, and actually talk with them and find out what to look for."
-- EITC and Financial Education program participants
Community-based programs have been effective over the years in stabilizing the lives of vulnerable people and taking the worst edges off of poverty. They offer a mix of services that create a baseline of support and assist more low-income working people move into jobs with family sustaining wages. However, these agencies recognize that more is required to permanently alleviate poverty; programs targeting asset formation have evolved to build capacity and opportunity for financial stability. Engaging program pilots and evaluations of their effectiveness have aided in the development of innovative new approaches to asset building.
Compass Working Capital, a small innovative CBO, was selected for funding by Strategic Grant Partners, Boston, MA to implement an experimental asset-building approach to the HUD Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program for recipients of housing vouchers. Compass has entered into an agreement with the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development to administer their FSS program for new participants over the next three years. The focus of the initiative is to integrate new asset-building features into the program, building participants' financial knowledge, skills, and savings over a period of 3-5 years. IASP is developing and implementing the process and outcome evaluations and the preliminary cost/benefit analysis for this pilot FSS program. The evaluation will focus on how families use this opportunity to move toward economic stability, the positive impacts for families that are sustained after program graduation, and if it is cost-effective to take the program to scale.
For more information about this project please contact Sandra Venner or phone 781-736-8688.
....
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy has teamed up with Massachusetts Association for Community Action, Inc. (MASSCAP) to expand asset formation opportunities for low-income families across Massachusetts. The MASSCAP Asset Formation Initiative's strategy is to expand free tax preparation assistance, financial literacy education, and other asset formation services for low-income people through its statewide network of community action agencies and other partners. Through its involvement, the Institute:
The Institute provides training for agency staff who are engaged in new asset formation programs that link EITC receipt and financial literacy education to other asset building services offered through their agencies, including Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). The Institute is designing and implementing assessment processes at ten pilot sites that will provide ongoing feedback in the implementation phase and be used to report outcomes as the project progresses. Through participant surveys, the Institute is gathering information about participants' asset building experiences, behaviors, and expectations at the point of accessing services and over time. Lessons learned from these assessments will aid MASSCAP in scaling up and replicating successful asset formation practices in the 24 community action agencies across the state.
In the second phase of the initiative, six CAAs piloted provision of free tax preparation services as a vehicle to increase access to other financial and support services. IASP examined how these Super VITA sites further promoted asset formation by integrating existing CAA services and linking clients to services such as financial coaching and credit counseling, and access to public benefit programs as a compliment to free tax preparation.
For more information about this project please contact Sandra Venner or phone 781-736-8688.
© 2012, Institute on Assets and Social Policy, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. All rights are reserved.
