CFED is pleased to join the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a 2012 KIDS COUNT outreach partner. In its first data snapshot of the year, the Foundation explores the increased number of children living in America's high-poverty communities. The new snapshot includes the latest data for states and for the 50 largest cities. This information also is on the KIDS COUNT Data Center, a source for the most recent national, state and local data on hundreds of indicators of child well-being.

For more information about the 2012 KIDS COUNT release or the data contained within, visit the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Data Center.

Behavioral Strategies for IDA Program Recruitment, Enrollment and Retention: An Upcoming Webinar from the Assets for Independence (AFI) Resource Center

Are you having trouble recruiting savers? Are your program participants not saving consistently? Do you struggle to support clients who do not follow through with their intentions?

Join us to learn about easy, cost-effective strategies for promoting positive program behaviors and tactics to encourage enrollment, increase savings and create a more efficient and effective IDA program.

In this hour-long webinar you will learn about:

Presenters include:

Visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/416826369 to register now!

The webinar is free to all interested participants. In advance of the webinar, please send any questions you would like our panelists to address during the session to Johanna Barrero at johanna.barrero@idaresources.org, or call 202-207-0117.

Take a look at SETI’s first-ever report on "Empowering Entrepreneurs at Tax Time." This reseasrch brief, sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation, provides a look at the value that entrepreneurs contribute to the American economy, describes the impetus for the SETI program and lifts up successful, creative models of service delivery that SETI has supported over the years.

The brief includes research about:

In December 2011, we also hosted a webinar highlighting some of the key findings from our research and two of the programs featured as particularly creative in the report. Practitioners from AccountAbility Minnesota and Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, who have designed, implemented and run their own very different self-employment tax programs outlined the techniques they’ve used and shared real world procedures, challenges, successes and lessons from their experiences. Click here to view the archived webinar materials.

To download and read "The Self-Employment Tax Initiative: Empowering Entrepreneurs at Tax Time," click here.

Program receives boost; grants available

For the past two years, CFED has kept you up-to-date on an innovative proposal to expand access to entrepreneurship training through the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Self Employment Assistance (SEA) Program. Today, we have great news: Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) included a major expansion of SEA in the recently signed legislation to extend Unemployment Insurance (UI)! As a result, thousands more unemployed workers will be able to unleash their entrepreneurial talents while they receive unemployment benefits and training to help their businesses succeed.

The nation has been struggling with an unemployment rate higher than eight percent for more than three years and nearly half of all unemployed workers have been out of work for more than six months. For some job seekers, starting a business provides a way to create their own jobs. For more than 20 years, SEA has allowed UI recipients in seven states to work full-time on starting a business while receiving unemployment benefits. SEA has been evaluated and found effective but has had limited reach because it was difficult for states to participate.

Senator Wyden’s SEA reform legislation is based on a bill he introduced in the Senate last year, with support from Senators Carper (D-DE) and Casey (D-PA). It allows a state to opt in easily, through a formal agreement between the Governor’s administration and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). A critical feature of the legislation is that it authorizes and appropriates $35 million in one-time funding for states; the grants are to be used to set up new SEA programs or improve existing ones, including through the development and implementation of entrepreneurship training resources for UI recipients.

Specific provisions include:

We anticipate that microenterprise development organizations across the nation will have opportunities to expand their services through partnerships with state workforce agencies. CFED will keep you informed as DOL rolls out the new rules and requirements for the state grant funding. Meanwhile, if you hope to see a new or improved SEA program in your state, now is the time to contact your state workforce agency!

Inadequate savings for retirement present a serious threat to the future of American prosperity. Even before the recession, half of all households headed by someone aged 55-59 had less than $13,000 in retirement savings. This anemic level of savings threatens to leave retirees struggling with financial insecurity throughout their elder years. Social Security benefits, of course, fill part of the gap, but in 2011, the average benefit paid to retired workers was a meager $1,177 a month (just over $14,000 per year). Despite a difficult legislative environment, the case for addressing retirement security is gaining steam.

Congressman Richard Neal of Massachusetts, following the lead of New Mexico’s Jeff Bingaman in the Senate (S. 1557) and the Obama Administration’s proposal in the FY 2013 Budget Request, has introduced legislation to address this problem: the Automatic IRA Act (H.R. 4049) will make employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts available to many of the 78 million employees who currently do not have access.

Today, households rely heavily on personal assets, pensions and 401(k) accounts to help them make ends meet, even before both spouses retire. However, according to the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, only 44.9% of Americans participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plan and almost 50% of the American workforce currently does not have access to a work-based plan at all.

Why is that so critical? Because employer-sponsored retirement plans are one of the main ways Americans are able to save for retirement. However, many small businesses and lower wage industries do not offer retirement plans to their employees. For those that do have the option to enroll, many are discouraged from ever doing so due to complex rules and investment options.

To make financial security for older Americans a reality, policymakers need to make sure that families have the tools they need to save for their later years today. Congressman Neal (D-MA) recognizes this fact and has reintroduced the Automatic IRA Act (H.R. 4049), which he says “provide common-sense reforms that will help Americans prepare for a financially secure retirement.”

The bill would enable nearly all employees who work for a private business with more than 10 workers to contribute to retirement savings through payroll deductions into an IRA. In addition, the bill provides employers with a tax credit to cover the administrative costs of setting up the IRA. Automatic IRA is a low-cost and effective way to reach millions of Americans struggling to build a nest egg for themselves.

This legislation is one of the few proposals that could break the gridlock in Congress. Despite the strong partisan differences between the parties, proposals for Automatic IRA have had bipartisan support in the past. Nods from the AARP, Brookings Institute, Aspen Institute for Financial Security and Heritage Foundation all support Automatic IRA policies similar to what is included in H.R. 4049.

CFED will track this bill and similar legislation as it moves through Congress. Despite the challenging political environment and the upcoming elections, we hope that this sensible and employer-friendly legislation will find broad support among lawmakers.

Yesterday, CFED’s Vice President for Policy & Research, Ida Rademacher, joined Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) in Dallas for the release of the city’s Assets & Opportunity profile, published by CFED and commissioned by CFT and the Thomson Family Foundation.

The report, which you can read about here, reveals that two out of every five households (39%) in Dallas live in asset poverty, or roughly twice the number of families (19%) who live in income poverty. To find out how Dallas compares with the rest of Texas and with the nation, visit the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard.

Yesterday’s release event featured a press conference and legislative briefing which were attended by a full slate of city officials and nearly 300 nonprofit leaders from the Dallas region, including Assets & Opportunity Network lead local organization YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas and lead state organization RAISE Texas. Here at CFED, we’re especially excited about how the data has been received; the Assets & Opportunity profile and its release have been covered in, among other venues, the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Observer. This high-profile coverage illustrates the potential asset poverty has to become part of a robust dialogue, not only in Dallas, but nationally as well.

We hope you’ll take the time to view the report for Dallas and join us in thanking CFT for coordinating this important event.

An Upcoming Webinar from the Assets for Independence (AFI) Resource Center

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. PST / 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. EST

Is your program struggling to raise the non-federal match funds for your AFI grant? Are you well into your grant period and haven’t met your fundraising goals? Join us and hear from organizations that have successfully raised their non-federal match funds. Learn from seasoned practitioners about strategies they’ve used to approach funders and secure financial resources for their IDA programs.

In this hour-long webinar you will learn about:

Presenters:

Visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/610029281 to register now!

The webinar is free to all interested participants. In advance of the webinar, please send any questions you would like our panelists to address during the session to Johanna Barrero at johanna.barrero@idaresources.org, or call 202-207-0117.

The Aspen Institute today announced that Andrea Levere of Washington, D.C., will be in the inaugural class of its Ascend Fellowship program, one of a select group of 20 leaders from across the country who are pioneering two-generation approaches to move families beyond poverty.

Levere is the president of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), a Washington D.C.-based national nonprofit. As the president of CFED, one of the leading asset-building organizations in the country, Andrea has pioneered research, policies and products that promote expanding economic opportunity for families with low incomes. She has been on the forefront of efforts to expand matched savings for children and adults to help them save towards the purchase of a lifelong asset, such as a home, a business or tuition for college.

Ascend was launched in 2011 with support from national foundations and women philanthropists, and is a hub for breakthrough ideas and proven strategies that move parents and children—two generations—toward economic security together. Educational success is central to its work.

“Ascend Fellows are exceptional leaders from government, philanthropy, research, nonprofits, the media and private sector,” said Anne Mosle, Ascend executive director. “Each one will pursue cutting-edge work that illustrates two-generation strategies in their various fields.”

“Andrea Levere’s work on the Partnership for College Completion and child savings accounts are great examples of breakthrough thinking,” Mosle continued. “I am honored that Andrea will be a part of the Ascend network of leaders in two-generation strategies to build a legacy of educational success and economic security.”

The Ascend Fellows will work to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty through public, private, and nonprofit sector innovation and collaboration; state-of-the-art research; public engagement; and different market-based and philanthropic models.

Fellows will receive scholarships to support participation and execute action plans to pursue two-generation approaches. They will be eligible to apply for grants from an Innovation Fund that Ascend is developing to support such work.

The announcement of the fellowship program coincides with the release of an Aspen Institute report, “Two Generations, One Future.” The report makes the case for focusing on educational success for parents and their children together as a promising way to move families out of poverty.

“A two-generation approach can be a game-changer for families with low incomes,” Mosle said. “We are seeing promising results from programs and policies around the country that promote education and skills for parents and provide quality early-learning opportunities for their children. We believe a focus on education, economic supports and social capital, the core components of the two-generation approach, can lead to economic security for families.”

The full list of Ascend Fellows:

Ms. Katie Albright
San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center, Executive Director

Ms. Cara Aley
American MoJo, President and COO

Mr. Reggie Bicha
Colorado Department of Human Services, Executive Director

Ms. Mia Birdsong
Family Independence Initiative, Vice President

Dr. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale
Northwestern University, School of Education, Institute for Policy Research, Professor of Human Development & Social Policy and Social Policy Faculty Fellow

Ms. Karla Davis
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Commissioner

Mr. Steven Dow
Community Action Project, Executive Director

Dr. Chris King
University of Texas at Austin, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Ray Marshall Center, Director

Ms. Andrea Levere
CFED, President

Mr. Steve Liss
AmericanPoverty.org, Director/photographer

Dr. Meera Mani
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Children, Families and Communities Program, Director

Dr. C. Nicole Mason
NYU Wagner Women of Color Policy Network, Executive Director, Assistant Research Professor

Ms. Margaret McKenna
Lesley University, President Emeritus and Professor of Leadership

Mr. Wes Moore
Author, Host

Reverend Vivian Nixon
College & Community Fellowship, Executive Director

Dr. Eduardo Padrón
Miami Dade College, President

Ms. Gloria Perez
Jeremiah Program, President and CEO

Dr. Mario Small
University of Chicago, Chair and Professor of Sociology

Mr. Henry Wilde
Acelero Learning, Senior Vice President of Operations

Dr. Richard Wylie
Endicott College, President

###

The Aspen Institute’s Ascend program is a hub for breakthrough ideas and proven strategies that more parents, especially women, and their children beyond poverty towards educational success and economic security. For more information, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/ascend.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, D.C.; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

On January 31 CFED released the Assets & Opportunity Scorecard – the most comprehensive source of data on household financial security and policy solutions. The 2012 Scorecard assesses states across 101 outcome and policy measures in five areas to determine the ability of residents to achieve financial security. By many of those measures, Americans are struggling. It’s clear that the recession and its aftermath have left unprecedented numbers of families barely able to make ends meet.

During a webinar on January 31, speakers explained the Scorecard data and what it means. The PowerPoint from the webinar is available to download online. We’ve also created two short narrated presentations about the Scorecard:

Download the narrated PowerPoint.

According to a 2010 report in Money magazine, the cost of college tuition has gone up 439% since 1982. Another study saw the rate of tuition growth increase four times the rate of inflation and twice as much as health care since 1978. While federal aid has offset some tuition for eligible students, their inability to find jobs has put a strain on their ability to pay back student loan payments. Some columnists blame the government for interfering with the market, arguing that federal aid encourages students to take on debt they may not be able to pay back.

As a result of the stagnant economy and continued high unemployment, college graduates are being forced to take low-paying jobs, sometimes multiple jobs, to pay bills. Graduates who took artistic disciplines have relied on freelance work to help make ends meet, but this is not enough. Others have chosen to do public service; in 2009 at the height of economic malaise, AmeriCorps reported a 42% increase in applications, of which 70% were college graduates. Still, others have decided to stay in school and go to graduate school.

Regardless, the lack of opportunities for capable graduates has forced many to return to graduate programs instead of contributing their skills to society. As a result, increased enrollment in college has resulted in the cost of higher education rising. Upon graduation, 65% of students graduate with debt, with the average student owing $24,000 in 2009. Facing unsustainable borrowing costs and a lackluster economy, graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to pay back their loans. Today, the higher education bubble is bursting at the seams as 10.8% of students at public institutions defaulting on their loans within three years of graduation (default rates at for-profit schools are double!). Today, understanding the long-term costs and benefits of attending a college will be more important than ever before. Digging deep to find grants, scholarships, and using all the resources available to you will be a great way for you to ensure a debt-free future.

For more information, watch this motion graphic created by Education News.

Created By: Education News

With a passion for education and technology, Guest Contributor Peter Kim is getting involved in hopes to help innovate the way information is presented and received. Follow Peter on Twitter.

The Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 provided for a method of oversight for the HUD safety standard approval process that involves a Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee made up of industry, consumer, and general public interest representatives. It also established standards for adoption at the state level that govern manufactured home installation, installer licensing, and dispute resolution between industry, installers and consumers. Industry representatives voiced concerns that the Act has not been implemented as it was intended and that certain functions—primarily the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee—are not operating as they should.

The majority Representatives called the hearing to further investigate these issues, so the witnesses included mostly industry representatives providing testimony corroborating those concerns.

The Acting Deputy Administrator for Manufactured Housing Programs at HUD, Henry Czauski, testified on behalf of the agency. Ishbel Dickens, Executive Director of the Manufactured Home Owners Association of America (MHOAA), was the only witness representing consumers of manufactured homes. CFED submitted a statement for the record that can be found here.

While industry representatives testified about their problems with the MHIA of 2000, with HUD, and with the Consensus Committee, Ishbel Dickens testified about both the value of the MHCC and other problems facing owners of manufactured homes. She reminded the representatives of the importance of the MHCC and its function as the only public arena in which owners of manufactured homes can exercise their voices to ensure the integrity of their homes’ construction as it is codified by HUD regulations. She reminded the representatives of the perils that owners of manufactured homes in communities often face—insecure land tenure, unfair and unscrupulous landlords, economic eviction, and more. She reminded them that although manufactured homes often start out as an affordable homeownership option for millions of Americans, archaic industry systems governing sale, financing, and placement of manufactured homes can quickly turn homebuyers into “prisoners in their own homes.”

The representatives had even more questions about details regarding the MHIA of 2000’s implementation, how other existing entities like the MHCC operate and how the Act really affects innovation in the manufactured housing industry. More importantly, however, the representatives—both on the minority and majority sides—wanted to know what could be done about the unique set of problems faced by owners of manufactured homes. They want to know how these homes are financed and how a secondary market can be created to facilitate a safer financing market for manufactured homes. They had so many questions, in fact, that they suggested holding another hearing in the future to keep the conversation going.

Given the wealth of questions raised by the testimonies given at this hearing, one of the representatives mentioned that there may be sufficient need for an additional hearing to gather even more information. We would encourage future sessions to focus even more attention on topics like the health of the manufactured home lending industry and how it can be improved to better serve both homeowners and lenders.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg, Consumer Affairs Commissioner (and longtime CFED friend) Mintz, and Center for Economic Opportunity Director White announced last week that SaveUSA, an innovative program designed to help low-income individuals save for their financial futures, helped participants save nearly $1 million!

The program, based on the NYC’s $aveNYC program, was rolled out in three other cities in 2011 – Tulsa, Newark and San Antonio – as part of the City’s Social Innovation Fund project. Across the four cities, 1,662 accounts were opened. In NYC alone, residents with an average annual income of $16,000 saved about $250,000. Recognizing the importance of the tax preparation moment as a gateway to savings, the SaveUSA program offered accounts at 69 VITA sites throughout the five boroughs to workers who agreed to set aside at least $200 of their tax refunds.

This innovative program couldn’t have come to fruition at a more opportune time. According to data in our 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, New York ranks 27th overall in the financial stability of its residents. When it comes at Financial Assets & Income, which includes asset poverty measures that gauge New Yorkers’ financial security, the state earns a ‘C’. In fact, fully one in three (35.5%) in the Empire State lives in asset poverty, making the need for programs like SaveUSA more dire than ever before.

For more about NYCgov’s unique approach to encouraging saving among low-income residents, read last week’s press release here.

Thanks to a tremendous collaborative effort between CFED and leaders in the Assets & Opportunity Network, last Tuesday’s launch of the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard has raised up the concept of asset poverty in the national conversation about the financial security of American families.

More than 200 articles cited the data on the 127.5 million families who are living one crisis away from poverty. This coverage has raised awareness and is helping us make the case for why local, state and federal policies must take steps to combat asset poverty and rebuild prosperity in the United States

Coverage can be seen in:

Through our collective efforts, policymakers, opinion leaders and the general public better understand the concerns of the 43% of families who are liquid asset poor. We look forward to working with you to build on this momentum to further spread awareness about the financial security and opportunities for American families.

For the latest coverage on the Scorecard visit the newsroom.

Financial Management Doesn't Need to Strain Your Relationship

Today's Guest Contributor is Alexandra Chaikin. Alexandra is a passionate supporter of community development. She volunteers as a Money Management 101 instructor for Capital Area Asset Builders in Washington, D.C. and she writes about her thoughts and experiences here at achaikin.blogspot.com. Ms. Chaikin holds an M.B.A. from the George Washington University and a B.A. from Vassar College.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I’m taking the opportunity to discuss one of the least sexy aspects of being in a relationship: finances. Chocolate and flowers may be nice, but romance is unsustainable without some kind of mutual understanding about money.

In a recent blog post, Bill Varettoni, financial planner and founder of the financial service organization Community Ladders, espoused the many virtues of open communication about household economics. I fully support all the solutions Bill proposes, and would like to add a few reflections of my own.

First, showing affection doesn’t need to break the bank. This is seems obvious, but flies in the face of the logic used in the majority Valentine’s Day ads. Diamond commercials, in my opinion, are among the worst offenders because they show an altered reality in which buying expensive jewelry is the best (and maybe the only) way to prove your love. I’ve often found myself yelling at the hypothetical male audience: “Just do the dishes!” The key is to find a way to show your partner you love and honor them, and there are numerous ways to do this. Some are free – like doing exactly what you said you’d do – and some can just cost moderate amounts of money, like taking your significant other to a restaurant they adore or a show they’ve been wanting to see (even if it’s not your favorite).

Second, changing financial behaviors might require an adjustment period. Bill Varettoni talks in his post about specific solutions like allowing slush funds for each party and setting clear expectations about how to manage finances. As with many things, this is easier to talk about in theory than to implement. Actually cutting back on your own spending or saving more each month can be quite difficult. It’s really not too different from going on a diet; companies like Dave Ramsey’s exist precisely because sticking to the plan isn’t easy. Don’t beat yourself up if there is a little awkwardness in the early stages. Keep at it and remind yourselves of the bigger goal: a happy, honest relationship.

Small businesses need to be honest about those they employ versus those they enter into contracts with as independent contractors, and the IRS’s new program—the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP)—is designed to motivate more small business owners to do so. The VCSP allows eligible employers to voluntarily notify the IRS that they have erroneously treated their workers as nonemployees or contractors and obtain substantial relief from federal payroll taxes and penalties they would owe for having done so. Employers accepted into the program get a huge break: they will be required to pay an amount equaling nearly 1% of the wages paid to the reclassified workers for the past year, without interest or penalties.

Why does this matter? The Self-Employment Tax Initiative (SETI) is a small business development strategy that takes advantage of the tax code to help low-income, self-employed individuals formalize and grow their businesses, create jobs and access tax-based asset-building opportunities. The target population for the SETI local partners is self-employed individuals who are operating small businesses. The “self-employed” taxpayer, however, may also be an independent contractor whose income is reported on a 1099 MISC by the entity that entered into a contract with them to provide some good or service. When independent contractors earn income, they are treated as self-employed individuals for tax purposes—as such, they pay 15.3% of their income to satisfy Social Security and Medicare taxes while employees only pay 7.65%.

Each year, our local partners—community-based organizations that provide free tax assistance to low- and moderate-income self-employed taxpayers—tell us stories about the misclassified employees they serve at their tax sites. Most are actually employees dealing with unscrupulous employers who have deliberately classified their employees as independent contractors in order to avoid paying the employer share of payroll taxes. This means that when they file, they are responsible for both the employer and employee share of Social Security and Medicare taxes. These filers, when informed of their “self-employed” status, are often confused and financially unprepared to bear the full load of both employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare contributions.

Many of the partners we work with will help misclassified employees by walking them through a series of questions to determine whether they are, in fact, employees or independent contractors. These programs educate misclassified taxpayers about their tax liability going forward and inform them of their options for recourse. Although the IRS has designed a process for misclassified employees to report their employers, that’s often a risk many low- and moderate-income employees cannot take. Misclassified employees—often the most vulnerable employees—get trapped in a catch-22: they can’t bear the burden of paying the tax rate required of independent contractors, but they can’t risk losing their employment by reporting their employers.

This new IRS program, however, could become a win-win for both the unscrupulous employer and the misclassified employee in some cases. While the program is a huge win for business owners who are classifying their employees as independent contractors rather than W-2 employees and are willing to classify them properly, it may be an even bigger win for low- and moderate-income employees who get reclassified, minimize their tax liabilities and keep their jobs.

Want to Come Clean? The program is new, but it’s already accepted over 200 businesses and is ready to accept more. Frequently Asked Questions are answered on the IRS website, and program eligibility is described here. Although this program will help relieve participating small business owners’ potential federal tax liability, the program has only been adopted at the state level in Minnesota; there’s still work to be done in other states to implement similar pilots.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story ran in CFED's February Newsletter, which was sent out yesterday. If you missed the Newsletter, make sure you're signed up for our mailing list at cfed.org/signup.

There is growing interest across the country from innovative affordable housing providers in integrating asset building and other financial services into their affordable housing programs. As a pioneer and leader in asset building, CFED is being tapped to help structure financial programs and services in affordable housing programs that encourage low-income families to increase their level of financial literacy, improve their access to financial services and build assets.

CFED has long been engaged in one particular niche in the affordable housing marketplace – helping owners of manufactured housing take advantage of factory-built housing’s affordability, while also accessing the opportunity to build wealth in a way that more closely resembles the experience of owners of site-built housing. CFED began broadening its engagement in the housing field in 2011 through outreach and discussion with a number of housing organizations, including several innovative public housing authorities, a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant Awardee and the largest community development intermediary in the U.S.:

CFED believes that using housing as a platform for delivering financial security programs and systems has the power to change the trajectory of the lives of low-income families and children. We’re excited about working with such innovative partners in 2012 and are encouraged by the growing acceptance of a more holistic and integrated approach that has implications for a variety of platforms beyond housing.

To learn more about CFED's affordable housing initiatives, click here.

Today, I want to walk you through the Scorecard data on the Assets & Opportunity website. As we’ve mentioned, the data has been collected for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and measures state performance across 101 measures in five different issue areas. That’s a lot of data, but luckily the Policy and Research teams have been hard at work to deliver this data in the most easy-to-use format possible.

When you first navigate to scorecard.cfed.org, you’ll see a map of the United States (above). Each state (and let’s not forget DC) is shaded, with darker orange colors indicating residents doing well in terms of financial security and grey colors indicating high levels of work needing to be done to combat asset poverty. You can click on any of these states to retrieve data. Since it’s Groundhog Day, let’s pick Pennsylvania as an example to honor Punxsutawney Phil.

When you click on PA, you’ll see their grade in each of the five major areas. So, you can see that the Keystone State earns an ‘A’ in health care, a ‘C’ in education and so forth. From there, you can also click on ‘View All State Data.’ That will take you to a screen that looks like this:

At the top of the page, you’ll notice some policy recommendations that the State of Pennsylvania should consider to help improve their scores across the five major issue areas. Most of these are relatively low-cost, both financially and politically, but would make a significant difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians. Then, below those recommendations, you’ll find six different tabs. The first five are for state-level data and the different measures within each; this is the highly specific information that helps paint a robust picture of how well PA is fighting asset poverty. Each of those measures is also clickable. So, if you click on ‘Asset Poverty by Gender,’ for example, you can see how Pennsylvania compares to the other states.

Finally, clicking on the right-hand tab on the page above will take you to a screen where you can create a customized PDF of the data found on the Scorecard website. Let’s imagine you had to testify in front of the state legislature in support of microenterprise development. You could select the data you want and create a handout that could accompany your testimony. There are literally thousands of different data combinations you can create with this tool, so I hope you’ll use it to promote the assets agenda in your community.

In all, we’ve put a lot of time into making the Scorecard data as useful as possible to maximize its impact in the assets and opportunity field. So, I hope you’ll play around with it when you’ve got the chance and use the Comments below to leave your feedback.

Yesterday we unveiled the brand-new Assets & Opportunity Initiative website, including the online home for comprehensive 2012 Scorecard data and the newly-established Assets & Opportunity Network. Both of these can be accessed by visiting www.assetsandopportunity.org.

On the Scorecard side of the website, you’ll find comprehensive data for over 100 measures of how well states are protecting their residents’ finances and fighting rising rates of asset poverty. These measures are broken down according to five issue areas – including Financial Assets & Income, Businesses & Jobs, Housing & Homeownership, Health Care and Education – within which each state and the District of Columbia are rated and ranked. Tomorrow, we’ll examine some of this data in more depth.

On the Network side of the website, you’ll find the perfect way to interact with the 51 state and local members of the Assets & Opportunity Network, a movement-oriented group of advocates working to expand the reach and deepen the impact of asset-based strategies. You’ll find updates from the Lead State & Local Organizations, links to download resources including policy briefs and resource guides, and the ability to search for a coalition member in your area.

The resources located at www.assetsandopportunity.org have been developed with the aim of helping advocates make asset poverty a thing of the past. I hope you’ll find them to be helpful in your efforts.

Oh, and in case you missed it…

…the Scorecard was all over the news yesterday! Here are just a few of the stories that ran yesterday and this morning:

For more coverage of the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard data, visit the Scorecard Newsroom!

Each of these will be explored today from noon to 1 pm (Eastern) in a webinar, which you can sign up for here. Speakers during the webinar will include President Andrea Levere, State & Local Policy Director Jennifer Brooks, and Senior Program Manager for Applied Research Kasey Wiedrich.

Looking for More Information?

Follow along with the latest Scorecard news on Twitter using #cfedscorecard.

Because roughly one in five taxpayers who qualify for EITC doesn’t claim it, the National Community Tax Coalition (NCTC) organized EITC Awareness Day for last Friday, January 27. This national grassroots effort spotlighted the transformative power of the tax credit. NCTC believes that with the right tools, 100% of EITC-eligible individuals will claim the tax credit and boost their own financial security.

In conjunction with EITC Awareness Day, CFED joined about a dozen national partners to host a policy briefing on Capitol Hill. Held on Thursday, the briefing brought together several key speakers who recognize the importance of tax time in helping low- and moderate-income families save. One statistic that really stuck out to me during the briefing was that in 2010, the EITC kept 6.6 million people out of poverty, half of whom are children. According to the IRS, last year over 26 million workers received nearly $59 billion from EITC refunds – which helped with paying the rent, buying groceries, covering utility bills, and handling other pressing needs.

Given how successful the EITC has been in helping keep families out of poverty since its inception in 1975, I can only imagine how many more families would benefit were the program to be expanded and if all eligible families took advantage of this important tax credit.

CFED will release the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard in a national webinar on January 31 at noon EST (11 a.m. CST / 10 a.m. MST / 9 a.m. PST). The webinar, The 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard: How Financially Secure are Families?, will highlight key national and state findings, including the latest asset poverty rates and other measures of financial security and opportunity. Register today to find out how your state fares in helping its residents achieve financial security.

By any measure, poverty in the United States is increasing. In 2011, the country saw the poverty rate rise to 15.1%, the highest level in nearly two decades. However, the official poverty rate released annually by the Census Bureau highlights just one aspect of household finances, namely the percentage of people with insufficient income to cover their day-to-day expenses. It does not account for the resources a family has to meet emergencies or longer-term needs. The Scorecard will offer critical new data on the growing number of Americans who are “asset poor,” meaning they lack the savings or other assets to cover basic expenses for just three months if a layoff or other emergency leads to loss of income. The latest findings will show significant increases in “asset poverty” since the release of the previous Assets & Opportunity Scorecard in 2009.

The webinar will feature three speakers:

The Assets & Opportunity Scorecard offers the most comprehensive look available at Americans’ financial security today and their opportunities to create a more prosperous future. The Scorecard explores how well residents are faring in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and assesses policies that are helping residents build and protect assets along five issue areas: Financial Assets & Income, Businesses & Jobs, Housing & Homeownership, Health Care and Education. The 2012 Scorecard assesses states across 100 outcome and policy measures in these five areas to determine the ability of residents to achieve financial security.

The Center for Financial Security (CFS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently launched its Financial Security Index, which uses a self-reporting survey to measure a person’s relative financial security. Users are asked a series of questions across three categories: knowledge, behavior and attitudes.

The Index is designed to help respondents identify their financial management strengths, along with areas where they may be able to improve. Respondents receive an individualized score and can see how their score breaks down across the three categories. Respondents can also enter some personal information (no personally identifiable information is collected) to see how their scores compare to others like them and revisit the tool to compare scores overtime.

The Index is a quick, concise way for individuals to get a “snap-shot” of their financial health and knowledge. This tool could also serve as a simple baseline assessment for participants in programs that need to track an individual’s financial security and financial capability.

Go ahead and take the quiz yourself! Are you financially secure?

For more information on the Index and other money tools, visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison Your Money website.

Foundation Communities has been a creative, high-performing Self-Employment Tax Initiative local partner since 2008, when they first participated in the SETI Demonstration. In 2011 alone, Foundation Communities’ Community Tax Centers helped over 18,000 filers recover $29.8 million in refunds into the local economy; nearly 1,800 of those filers were self-employed taxpayers. Today, Foundation Communities remains closely engaged with SETI as one of sixteen pilot sites participating in the Schedule C VITA Pilot and as contributors of countless materials to the SETI Resource Bank.

As longtime partners, we’re excited to share news of their continued success: in January, the City of Austin announced that it would triple the $10,000 OpportunityTexas investment in Foundation Communities’ work to promote savings through their Savings Bond Incentive Project by providing an additional $20,000 investment to increase the number of families that save at tax time. OpportunityTexas is a joint project of the Center for Public Policy Priorities and RAISE Texas working to expand economic opportunity through education and asset building. This Savings Bond Incentive initiative employs a variety of incentives to increase the number of tax center clients allocating a portion of their refund to the purchase of a savings bond. Incentives ranged from $10 and $20 supermarket gift cards to tote bags to $50 savings bonds and varied from day to day so that Foundation Communities and OpportunityTexas could monitor differences in take-up and identify which incentives were most effective.

Before the 2011 tax season, Austin City Councilmember Bill Spelman said that “the City of Austin wants to see more saving in our community and to learn more about what motivates people to save a portion of their tax refund.” So, in 2011, the City funded a $10,000 matching challenge grant as a first step toward that goal. In its first year, 243 clients purchased a total of $40,950 in savings bonds, ranging in value from $50 to $500, and 167 of those claimed one the of the incentives offered by the Savings Bond Incentive Pilot Project. For the 2012 tax season, they have expanded their outreach to motivate more savers in additional communities. For more information about last years’ Savings Bond Incentive Pilot Project and to see what they identified as best practices, check out the Foundation Communities final report here. Or, take a look at this broader report on savings promotion at both United Ways’ and Foundation Communities’ tax sites last year—Texas Saves at Tax Time 2011: Best Practices to Operating a Tax-Time Savings Project.

Interested in promoting savings at your own tax site this year? Take a look at the SETI Resource Bank to see how other SETI partners have worked to promote savings at tax time. Better yet, check out this awesome Financial Education Guide for VITA Programs created by CFED’s Savings and Financial Security Team to help taxpayers make tough decisions about spending and saving for the future.

These days, job creation seems to be the topic of conversation nearly everywhere we go. Everyone has ideas – some good, some bad – for how best to battle the unemployment crisis facing our nation.

Less prominent in conversations about how to sustain America’s economic future is the topic of business creation. To identify a truly sustainable job creation strategy, we need to keep in mind three principles:

Given these principles, CFED advocates recognition of the importance of leveraging the federal tax code to propel the self-employed to sustainability and job creation. Each year, more than 20 million self-employed businesses file a Schedule C tax return, 2 million of them for the first time. We should recognize the job creation potential of new businesses and the self-employed by making the tax system self-employment friendly. This includes using free tax preparation sites to help low-income entrepreneurs file Schedule C returns and capture benefits due, reducing the taxation of new businesses, and encouraging the savings that enable business start-up and growth.

Such an approach to business growth and job creation would not only entail minimal costs, but could be covered by local, state or foundation funding. Based on earlier programs, the cost per filer is at most a couple hundred dollars in tax preparation expenses (often covered by volunteer labor). Even without new Federal or state policy, local VITA and tax preparation sites can provide tax prep and help new firms claim existing credits. Federal and state employment training funds can and should be used to support self-employment training and support programs.

New business job creation is down to its lowest level in 30 years – 2.2 million new jobs per year. To get it up toward its 30 year highs of 3.6 million will require several changes: recognition of where new jobs come from – new businesses started by entrepreneurs of all incomes, including middle and low-income people; reduction of payroll taxes on new businesses; making the Saver’s Credit refundable and usable for business start-up; extension of Schedule C tax prep; reduction and elimination of asset penalties.

What other strategies might we undertake to promote new job creation via small businesses?

To commemorate Friday's EITC Awareness Day, our partners at the National Community Tax Coalition (NCTC) are excited to host you and your colleagues this Thursday for “Promoting the Security of America’s Working Families: A Review of the EITC’s Value and Discussion of 2012 Policy Implications.” The briefing, co-hosted by CFED and other partners, will take place in the Cannon House Office Building (First & Independence SW, Washington, DC) in Room 121.

Thursday’s discussion will explore how the EITC and similar tax credits encourage the work of low-income entrepreneurs and provide a boost to local communities. The event will also feature a new report highlighting the success of EITC, which draws on recent research and provides policy recommendations to ensure the strength of EITC for 2012 and beyond.

Speakers for this event will include Jana Barresi (Manager of Federal Governmental Relations, Walmart), Jackie Lynn Coleman (Executive Director, NCTC), Sara Johnson (Director, Baltimore CASH Campaign), Verlinda Paul (Director, IRS EITC Program) and David Rothstein (Research Fellow, New America Foundation).

The event is free, but you must RSVP. To do so, contact Gail Parson (gparson@tax-coalition.org; 312.346.6282 x297) or Jennifer Thall (jthall@tax-coalition.org; 312.346.6282 x270). We hope to see you there!

Suze Orman, the financial advice guru, has been in the news recently for offering a branded prepaid card: The Approved Card.

Suze is not the only celebrity to endorse a prepaid card. Russell Simmons has the Rush Card and the Kardashian sisters briefly offered a Kardashian Kard, which was loaded with so many fees that it came under investigation and was quickly taken off the market.

Prepaid cards are not an inherently predatory product, and can actually be a great option for un- and underbanked consumers who are using alternative financial services, like expensive check cashing and payday loans. Prepaid cards are usually a little more expensive than a basic checking account. But underserved consumers often prefer prepaid cards to bank accounts because the fees on prepaid cards are more transparent, you can’t overdraft, and the cards are more accessible and convenient (you can often buy and load them in CVS, 7-11, and other retail locations). Some prepaid cards, like the Mango Card, even offer a linked high-yield savings account.

As far as prepaid cards go, Suze Orman’s card is relatively cheap. It costs $3 to purchase the card and there is a $3 monthly fee. Point-of-sale transactions at any retailer that accepts MasterCard are free. Perhaps the most unique feature of Orman’s card is that it will collect information about consumers’ spending habits and report it to TransUnion, one of the big three credit bureaus, although it’s not clear if and how much this data will affect credit scores. This is still a big innovation since many underserved consumers are often locked out of the mainstream credit system. See this great article from the blog Get Rich Slowly for more details about the credit aspects of the card.

All this recent media around celebrity-endorsed cards got me speculating about the next set of high-profile prepaid cards. Without further ado, here are my predictions for the next prepaid cards to hit the market:

“Swagger” – The Blue Ivy/Beyoncé Knowles/Jay-Z Family Prepaid Card

The world has been swooning since the birth of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s new baby, Blue Ivy. With Jay-Z’s genes in the mix, it’s not clear how good-looking the baby will be when she grows up. Regardless, the entertainment world agrees that Blue Ivy will definitely have “swagger.”

The fine print: This prepaid card is targeted at high net worth children ages zero to two years old. It has a minimum balance requirement of $1 million and can only be used to purchase baby items priced over $10,000 (think diamond-encrusted baby bottles, gold-plated cribs, and ruby baby microphones).

“Gridlock” – The U.S. Congress Prepaid Card

Congress is quickly gaining a reputation for not getting anything done. But that doesn't mean they aren't going to offer a branded prepaid card to American consumers, most likely with a number of restrictions.

The fine print: Cardholders must get approval from Congress on any purchase over $25 – a process that takes between 10 and 36 weeks. The card also comes equipped with a fully-functional camera, in case you want to take any pictures, then text them to friends or post them on Twitter.

“Adultery” – The Herman Cain Prepaid Card

Even though Herman Cain dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination race, he has said he still intends to be involved in politics. Maybe this is a sign that a prepaid card is in his future?

The fine print: This card has great remittance features for cardholders interested in sending cash to “special friends” across the country. It also has no maximum balance limits, meaning it can be used to pay pricey lawyer fees and settlements on harassment cases. The card’s tagline is “Every kiss begins with Cain.”

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is seeking a dynamic professional to lead a community organizing and planning effort to develop a comprehensive community plan to address family financial stability and asset development. Work will include analyzing existing resources in Dallas and around the country, developing a plan for strengthening and scaling successful programs, and identifying effective programs in other communities and developing a plan to import them. The successful candidate will have expertise and a proven track record in community organizing and planning, excellent verbal and written communication and facilitation skills, and strong working knowledge of financial stability and asset building programs and services.

This position is comes with a competitive salary and benefits package. Interested applicants should forward their resume and cover letter to Susan Hoff, Senior Vice President for Community Impact, at shoff@unitedwaydallas.org.

The folks at Insight Center for Community Economic Development will host a webinar on Tuesday, January 31 at 1 pm EST titled “Why Communities of Color Should Care about Social Security Reform.” This webinar looks like it will be incredibly helpful for those working to help aging Americans, those with disabilities and the dependent survivors of those who die young.

According to the webinar announcement, this hour-long discussion will explore how Social Security reform has unique implications for African-American, Native American, Asian American and Latino communities. Furthermore, panelists will examine how the current political climate influences Social Security reform possibilities and provide recommendations for strengthening Social Security in a targeted, equitable way.

To register for this webinar, visit https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/664463670 and if you have any questions, email Anand Subramanian at anands@insightcced.org.

Using data from the Family Life Project (FLP), a prospective longitudinal study of child development in a rural section of the United States, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sought to explore whether liquid (savings, investments), and non-liquid (home ownership, car ownership) assets would be associated with very young children’s cognitive and social development above and beyond variation in outcomes that could be explained by income poverty and hardship.

The researchers found that material hardship and non-liquid assets explain unique variation in very young children’s social and cognitive development beyond the effects of poverty. Moreover, the researchers concluded that models that estimate the relation between poverty and child outcomes without including measures of hardship and assets could be “underspecified.” In other words, if we want to understand the optimal development of young people, assets must be part of the equation.

The research is in press and will be available in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Family and Economic Issues. Look for the article soon, and then use the Comments below to share your thoughts.

Kirsten Kainz is Deputy Director at the SERP Institute (Strategic Education Research Partnership). Carl Rist is CFED's Vice President for Programs.

In addition to exploring six key elements of an effective Outreach Campaign, the Kit contains full-color posters, flyers, fact sheets, a full stock of outreach strategies and examples of where they are being used successfully, and a guide to finding even more information on the CBPP Tax Credit Outreach Campaign website.

You can request a free copy of the Kit at www.eitcoutreach.org/eitc-mailing-kit. If you have questions about the Kit or about CFED’s SETI strategies for helping entrepreneurs at tax time, leave a comment below.

The essential insight from Sharraden’s work was that assets can matter economically, socially and psychologically in ways that income alone does not. More recent research has reinforced this insight: that income –by itself – is necessary, but not sufficient, to allow families to escape poverty, achieve financial stability and move up the economic ladder.

CFED’s Policy & Research team created a short fact sheet that provides an overview of research on assets and their effect on financial stability and economic opportunity. Many research studies have shown that:

The asset-building field is constantly expanding. To keep up to date on everything that’s happening, CFED posts the latest research papers and reports in our Assets Research Library. Resources are organized across four topics: Savings & Financial Security, Affordable Housing & Homeownership, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.

Some examples of recent additions to the Assets Research Library:

Can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2012!

The Campus Microfinance Alliance (CMA), an alliance of 12 university and college campus-based microfinance institutions, has created a pipeline program to develop young leaders in the field of microfinance field. CMA’s new internship program Lend for America helps proven young leaders start campus-based microfinance institutions (MFIs) that create new businesses and new jobs.

After a competitive application process, extraordinary young leaders will take part in an intensive 9-week summer program and receive year-round support that will prepare them to launch their own community organizations. Participants first gain experience working over the summer with one of three leading campus MFIs – Capital Good Fund, Community Empowerment Fund and The Intersect Fund. Their work will include hands-on experience with designing and delivering financial products and building mentor relationships with student peers. Specifically, participants will work full-time toward learning objectives, such as how to fundraise the first $1,500, build a management information system, recruit student staff, and build credibility in the local community. Lend for America participants will also conduct site visits to established MFIs for a deeper look into the operations of larger scale microfinance organizations.

“Our mission is to empower the next generation of social entrepreneurs to build strong businesses and communities through innovative microfinance,” says Vanessa Carter, Director of CMA. “We offer resources and tools to students to create nonprofit organizations in the communities outside their university. These are student-powered organizations that offer equitable financial products to local community members such as microloans, savings accounts, and training and coaching services.”

The 2012 summer program will kick off with a launch training co-hosted by the Aspen Institute. This three-day meeting is an opportunity for students to meet each other and complete a crash course in U.S. microfinance. Prior to the launch, selected students are required to read the Alliance Start Up Kit, a free online resource with a robust curriculum and resources to start an MFI. All travel expenses are covered and students receive a stipend of $2,500 for the summer.

Early selection applications are due January 30 and regular selection applications are due February 28. For more information, join the virtual information session on Friday, January 20 at 2:00 pm EST. The information session provides an opportunity to ask questions about the program and hear from students who have started Campus MFIs. Click here to sign up for the session.

Lend for America is administered in partnership with FIELD (Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination) at the Aspen Institute and is financially supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

ALC Participants on Capitol Hill

First, let’s talk logistics. The 2012 ALC will take place once again at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel here in our nation’s capital. The dates for the Conference are September 19-21 and the Conference website, along with information on how to register, will be available soon.

Now, let’s chat about what you’d like see at the ALC this year. The Conference theme, Ideas Into Action, is designed to get at the heart of the ALC’s mission – to advance innovative yet proven products, services, systems and policies that make financial security a reality for millions of Americans. With this in mind, what topics would you like to discuss with us in September? What features would you bring to the ALC if you were in charge of planning it? If you’ve been in the past, what elements of the Conference could be made even better in 2012?

We’re hoping that this will be our most engaging event yet, but we don’t want to wait until September for that engagement to take shape. So, use the Comments below and start a discussion about your ideal ALC!

You may have noticed that things have been quiet around The Inclusive Economy. Last week, our offices were closed so we could rest up for what we hope will be CFED’s best year yet. This week, we’ve been getting back into the swing of things, and next week, we’re going full throttle.

As you reset your routines, I hope you’ll consider adding blogging for The Inclusive Economy to your to-do list. It’s a great way to get informed about what’s going on in the field, provide a valuable service to others in the community and get visibility for yourself or for your organization. If you’re interested, shoot us an email.

In the coming days, you can look forward to a recap of some important state policy changes that took place over the course of 2011; the release of our newest resource, “Why Assets Matter;” and the latest about CFED’s 2012 Assets Learning Conference. In the meantime, here’s what you may have missed while you were (hopefully) over-indulging during the holiday season:

Check out those blog posts now. Then, use the Comments below to let us know what you want to see discussed on The Inclusive Economy in 2012!

Please join us from 1 -2 pm EST on January 17 for a discussion of the Borrow Less Tomorrow (BoLT) Program, a behavioral approach to helping low- and middle-income individuals and families pay down expensive debt. Using principles of behavioral economics, the BoLT Program helps consumers devise a repayment schedule and incorporates the use of peer support and reminders so that consumers both successfully pay down their debt and improve their credit scores. Developed by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), the BoLT Program has been implemented through several organizations including Encore Capital Group. Presenters will discuss the implementation and results of the program.

Presenters include:

This webinar will be moderated by Genevieve Melford, Director of Research, CFED. Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

Click here to register now!

Did you know you can listen through your computer? Connect your speakers or a headset to your computer.

For more information, contact Lauren Stebbins.

About NeighborWorks America
NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated $20 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation’s leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.

The Interim NSC, which met throughout 2011 to shape the overall structure for the Network, identified six dimensions where “balance” among committee members was important.

The process the Interim Committee developed aimed to be fair, transparent and result in a diverse and well-balanced NSC. It included nominations and voting by all Lead State and Lead Local Organizations, and a supplementary process whereby CFED identified gaps in diversity and filled a limited number of seats.

All Network Lead State and Lead Local Organizations were eligible to nominate themselves or others as candidates. Nineteen individuals indicated their interest in helping guide the direction of the Network and threw their hats in the ring.

Each Lead Organization was given one vote, which they could cast for their top 10 choices. To address the concern that some candidates would not be known to their peers, descriptions of candidates experience were shared with the ballot.

CFED tallied the votes and assessed the group for diversity. The top eight vote-getters were automatically selected as members. CFED identified four others to achieve balance.

The result is a 12-member Assets & Opportunity Network Steering Committee that reflects the diversity of experience, expertise and focus of the assets field.

Congratulations to the permanent Network Steering Committee members!

1. Christina Barsky (Rural Dynamics, Inc., Montana)
2. Brent Dillabaugh (Hawai`i Alliance for Community Based Economic Development)
3. Tamika S. Edwards (Southern Good Faith Fund, Arkansas)
4. Lisa Forti (Urban Strategies Council / Alameda County Community Asset Network, California)
5. Lucy Gorham (MDC, North Carolina)
6. Margaret Miley (The Midas Collaborative, Massachusetts)
7. Lucy Mullany (Illinois Asset Building Group)
8. Victor Ramirez (Center for Asset Building Opportunities/Citi Community Development, Los Angeles, California)
9. Kate Richey (Oklahoma Policy Institute)
10. David Rothstein (Policy Matters Ohio)
11. Diana Stone (Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative, Washington)
12. Kaye Schmitz (Florida Prosperity Partnership)

When people picture the North Pole, they think about elves, Santa Claus, reindeer and toy workshops. What they don’t think about is access to convenient, appropriately-priced financial products that help families save, build assets and climb the economic ladder. We want to change that.

And so, in one of the most anticipated moves of the year, CFED released the unbanked and underbanked rates for the North Pole yesterday.

The data show that 5.5% of households in North Pole, Alaska are unbanked and 17.0% of households are underbanked. Unbanked households do not have a checking or savings account, while underbanked households may have an account but primarily rely on alternative financial services. These numbers compare favorably to the national findings from the 2009 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households.

Although there is a tremendous amount of work being done across the country to help families access safe and affordable financial services, people often forget small, rural places like the North Pole. And unlike the North Pole, many of those small, rural areas – like Holmes County, MS – have some of the highest unbanked rates in the country. In fact, all of the top 100 unbanked cities/towns in the country have less than 4,000 households.

We don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that this new data will completely change how people think about financial access in the North Pole, and it’s absolutely just the beginning.

Building on the powerful momentum of this new data, CFED plans to introduce a groundbreaking new financial product next year. CFED Vice President Ida Rademacher said, “I don’t want to give anything away, but I’ll say this: elf savings accounts.”

Happy holidays from all of us at CFED!

Spend Some, Save Some: Making the Most of Your Tax Refund

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the nation’s largest anti-poverty programs. The EITC reduces the tax burden on workers, supplements wages, helps low-income families build assets and reduces income inequality. Annually, the EITC helps 6.6 million Americans move out of poverty; half of these are children. In 2010, over 26 million workers received nearly $59 billion in EITC. The average credit was $2,100, but can be as much as $5,751, depending on the worker’s income, marital status and whether they have children.

Awareness is critical. Only four out of every five eligible taxpayers claim and receive the EITC. Ideally, all eligible taxpayers would claim their EITC. The IRS, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and countless other nonprofit and community-based organizations have mounted campaigns to make sure that eligible taxpayers know they can claim this credit.

También está disponible en español.

Making sure that affordable tax assistance is available to these families is equally important. The IRS, numerous foundations and community organizations also support programs that provide free tax assistance to low- and moderate-income families. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs, for instance, offer a valuable service to working Americans by helping them keep more of their hard earned money, especially if they quality for the EITC.

An important element of many successful EITC campaigns is connecting workers to asset-building opportunities. Financial education, asset-building tools, safe financial products, credit repair resources, and more can help families use their returns to build assets.

To that end, CFED has partnered with Bank of the West to create a new Financial Education Guide for taxpayers receiving assistance at VITA programs. This, free, easy-to-read guide (available in English and Spanish) walks clients through some important things to consider when they receive their refunds to helps them make the most of the money they expect to receive. This guide and the included Savings Plan Worksheet can help taxpayers:

Click here to download the Financial Education Guide to print and share with taxpayers at your VITA sites!

For more information, please contact Stephanie Halligan or Leigh Tivol.

The choices state policymakers are forced to make are undeniably painful – and in some cases, shortsighted. State policymakers should take a balanced approach to closing state budget gaps that includes raising revenue by eliminating ineffective tax expenditures, as well as careful spending cuts.

It is critical that existing programs and policies that provide financial security and opportunity for vulnerable families be protected. At the same time, policymakers can and should be laying the groundwork for future state economic prosperity. While there is clearly no appetite for new state spending in this environment, states’ hands are not tied. There are a host of cost-neutral policies that expand economic opportunity and that are also political winners.

Last month, CFED released a new report that identifies two dozen approaches states can take to help people achieve financial security without putting additional strain on states’ bottom lines.

These “stroke of a pen” ideas, as we call them, are more often a matter of shifts in approach or tweaks in existing programs, rather than large-scale policy changes. But, taken together, they can make an important difference for families struggling to stay afloat and save for a more prosperous future.

In developing the list of 24 stroke-of-a-pen policy ideas, we considered whether each policy was meaningful, moveable and manageable:

Example: Prize-Linked Savings

One example of a stroke-of-a-pen policy that has gained a lot of attention recently is prize-linked savings.

Prize-linked savings (PLS) programs give savings accountholders the opportunity to win prizes when they make deposits. In these programs, financial institutions offer consumers a savings product with a low minimum balance requirement; accountholders make monthly deposits, which qualify them for monthly and/or annual drawings. The possibility of a prize encourages greater savings. Unlike gambling, however, no one loses from participation in a PLS program. Prize-linked savings programs focus on the entertainment value and fun of winning prizes, but without risking any principle and with the knowledge that one is building an asset. Not everyone “wins” one of the prizes, but everyone comes out ahead with increased savings.

To make PLS programs possible, states need to ensure that banking and gaming regulations don’t prevent financial institutions from holding private lotteries. Ten states currently allow financial institutions to offer PLS programs. Four others – Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi and New Mexico -- introduced legislation in 2011. This is definitely one stroke-of-a-pen idea to watch!

Click here to download the report.

A young person’s success in going to and graduating from college depends, at least in part, on the wealth of their family. This information has long been known, and for years has served as the rationale behind CFED’s Asset Building for Children (ABC) work.

Yet the full extent to which family wealth influences educational attainment is something the assets field continues to grapple with. While a good deal of research is out there to support these claims, emerging evidence suggests that we have yet to understand just how intimately linked educational attainment and family wealth really are.

This is the main contention put forth in a recent report released by Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project. The report, Housing Wealth and Higher Education, reveals just how important assets can be in propelling the children of low- and moderate-income parents toward a college diploma.

While I can’t do justice to 40 pages of robust research findings in a few short paragraphs, I’ll at least share a few important (and chilling) data points from the report:

Unfortunately, a great deal of opposition to CSAs has punctuated the federal policy landscape. But, that can be changed if we all have the right tools needed to craft an eloquent defense. Reports like this one are just what we need in our toolkits, and we are immensely thankful to the Economic Mobility Project for sharing this tool with us.

I’m hopeful the Occupy moment will evolve into a less grungy, more strategic political movement to lessen economic disparities in the United States. A more realistic vision is that it could unite the 99% to work together on solutions that don’t require negotiation with the 1%, or even Congress.

I’ve got a suggestion that doesn’t cost much, doesn’t need a government agency to run it, and could help reinvigorate our cities: hire teenagers.

Nationally, youth unemployment hovers around 20 percent. In neighborhoods where low-income African-American and Latino youth are the majority, unemployment approaches 40 percent for people under 24 years of age.

I teach at Game Theory Academy, a nonprofit I founded to make economic education more relevant, and accessible to marginalized youth. In our classroom conversations, we discuss topics such as how the economy works, how students can act in their own best interest, and the opportunity costs of doing nothing, rather than working or pursuing education. Students often ask me, “Hey, Trish, can you find me a job?”

Among students at Game Theory Academy, a shocking 63 percent report not having any kind of part-time job. When I was 15, I got a job at a local real-estate office answering phones. I worked at a copy shop the summer before college. But it’s not the 90s anymore, and businesses don’t hire teens the way they used to.

The receptionist answering the phones at the local real estate office is easily twice the age I was when I did that job. I've never seen a teen at the register at the copy shop near my office. Adults need those jobs too, but could they use some support from an eager teen?

The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that small businesses generated 64 percent of all jobs created in the last 15 years. If they are the engine for growth, then small businesses are in the best position to take the lead on ending youth unemployment.

Back of the envelope: if a local, small business hires one teenager for ten hours per week at ten bucks an hour, the cost is about $100 per week, plus some supervision expenses. Assuming 50 weeks of work in the year, that costs $5,000 and change.

Oakland, where I am based, is home to 25,000 youth ages 15 to 19, and at least 10,000 small businesses. If each of those businesses hired one job-seeking teenager, we could make a huge dent in that 40 percent youth unemployment number. Do the math in any city, and it’ll add up.

What impact will this have?

Youth are local spenders. They ride the bus. They buy snacks and go to movies. If our young workforce spends in Oakland and nearby cities, that’s estimated to be close to $500 in annual sales tax revenue per youth – or $6 million total. Imagine the effect if cities in every state joined this call to action.

A majority of juvenile crimes are property crimes. Teens who earn money have less incentive to steal and deal drugs. A paycheck shifts the risk-reward ratio. They are too busy. They have money in their pockets and a sense of opportunity.

Teens who work are more likely to find and sustain jobs as they age into adulthood. Studies show that unemployment as a youth leads to a lifetime of lower wages. It also lowers life expectancy. Give youth jobs now, and they will have higher lifetime earning potential - and the habit of employment and better health. Once you’ve had a job, you want another one.

Dust off an apron or a clipboard and invest $5,000 in our nation’s youth, and in your own business. They might surprise you with the value they add.

Patricia Johnson is the founder of Game Theory Academy. The Inclusive Economy thanks her for sending us this recent op-ed.

The opinion piece, written by Roberto Quercia, Director of the UNC CCC, argues that responsible lending – clearly absent on Wall Street leading up to the foreclosure crisis – need to be a keystone of responsible mortgage lending practices. “It is not complicated,” Quercia suggests. “It takes only the right mortgage product, appropriately underwritten, originated and serviced, backed by a well-functioning secondary market and responsible oversight. Is that too much to ask?”

Too much to ask? We would say no. That simple? Well, probably not. Certainly, with all of those pieces of the puzzle in place, homeowners would feel much more certain about their financial futures. The question, then, becomes how we manage to identify the organizations and develop the products needed to implement such a strategy. That, I believe, is a much more difficult task than Quercia makes it seem.

Nevertheless, Quercia’s piece is thought-provoking and raises a point that I think we can all agree with – that this most recent wave of foreclosures should spur all of us to action. And, regardless of how simple the solution is, a solution is certainly necessary. So, check out Quercia’s opinion piece and share your ideas for how we can ‘turn foreclosure frustration into action.’

Twenty years ago, Michael Sherraden’s seminal work, Assets and the Poor: A New American Welfare Policy, appeared. It changed my life, and more importantly, the lives of tens of thousands, soon to be millions or tens of millions, of low-income people and their advocates, around the world.

Actually, I had met Michael a few months before. Rona Feit, who lead CFED’s Self-Employment Investment Demonstration (SEID), which proved that some welfare moms could escape poverty and dependency through self-employment, came into my office and said, “There’s someone here you should meet.” And so she introduced me to Michael Sherraden and his ideas. Michael told me that the work we had been doing on self-employment that first decade of CFED’s existence, was in fact, asset building. I never thought of it that way, though as soon as he said that, I was reminded of the SEID participant in Iowa, who established two more video rental businesses in addition to her first one so that she could sell them to finance her son’s education.

As Michael left, he gave me the final three (policy) chapters of Assets and the Poor, to read. But I was already sold. In truth, I was looking for other avenues to economic independence beyond self-employment, as well as a simple, powerful, practical tool to that end. I had spent most of the 80’s writing The Safety Net as Ladder: Transfer Payments and Economic Development. I had convinced myself that the income maintenance system could also serve as a ladder – if the disincentives to work, saving, education and self-employment were removed and the payments made available for economic independence. But I also realized that reforming an incomplete, complex, insufficient safety net transformed would be rickety ladder. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), seemed to me to be exactly the simple, flexible, powerful idea I had been looking for.

It has been my and CFED’s great honor to work with Michael and the Center for Social Development, and all the individuals and institutions who found inspiration and education in Michael’s ideas, throughout the last two decades. First we worked together to popularize the idea; I will never forget Jack Kemp, then HUD Secretary, carrying around his earmarked copy of Assets and the Poor and waving it around during his speeches in the early 90s. We worried that it would all be talk and no action. So, together, and with the support of a dozen leading foundations, we created the American Dream Demonstration, which proved, with more than 2,300 poor Americans, that, given a savings match and financial education, low-income and even very poor people, would save, go to college, buy homes, start businesses and move toward economic independence. In fact, participants at half the poverty line – less than $10,000 for a family of 4 – saved about as much and at 2-3 times the rate as folks at twice the poverty line, because, as they explained to us, this was the price of stability and hope. At the beginning of ADD, there were three nascent IDA programs in the country; by the end there were hundreds, as well as Federal and state legislation.

Michael did chide me that he had never intended IDAs as a time-limited intervention (as the demonstration required) and reminded me he had recommended that IDAs begin “as early as birth.” Together, and along with other national organizations like New America, Aspen Institute’s Initiative on Financial Security, Kansas’ School for Social Welfare, and the backing of another dozen national foundations, we launched the Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Downpayments (SEED) Initiative, which would prove that low-income and poor children of all ages, given the opportunity, would save for their futures.

Now too, we see savings and matched savings programs spreading throughout the world, to developed and developing countries alike, building on rich historical foundations. Groups like Child and Youth Savings International and Financial Assets at Birth, are proposing child accounts for every child of the world.

In the US, the next three years are the time to take the revolution that Michael Sherraden started with Assets and the Poor, and turn it into the foundation for the Save and Invest Economy that President Obama has called for, and that we will need to turn this time of debt and economic decay into a time of opportunity and prosperity.

Thank you, Michael, for inspiring and leading us.

The impact of Assets and the Poor from Michael Sherraden, courtsey of the Washington University in St. Louis.

Click here to see more information about the unbanked and underbanked rates in these cities.

An estimated 9 million American households are unbanked, meaning they do not have a checking or savings account. An additional 21 million households are underbanked, meaning they may have an account but instead rely on alternative financial services.

In November, CFED and partners released new data on the number of unbanked and underbanked households in every census tract, city/place, and county in the country. This is the first time data of this nature has ever been released. Click here to see a fact sheet on the most unbanked places in America.

The rate of unbanked and underbanked households varies significantly by location. In many cities – like Los Altos, CA – virtually every household has and fully uses a checking or savings account. However, in other cities – like East St. Louis, IL – more than half of households are either unbanked or underbanked.

The rate of being unbanked and underbanked varies by factors like income, race and ethnicity, educational attainment, age and citizenship. So it’s not surprising that there are so few unbanked and underbanked households in Los Altos, where more than three quarters of households have an income above $75,000 and more than 80% have college degrees. Compare this to the highly-unbanked East St. Louis, where the vast majority of households have incomes below $30,000, only about 10% have a college degree and 97.3% of households are Black or African-American. Black, Hispanic and Native American households are at much greater risk of being unbanked than White or Asian households.

Where are the all-time most unbanked places in America? Many of them are very small and rural towns. Of the top 100 unbanked “places” (cities, towns, or census designated places with more than 250 households), 36 are in Texas, 17 are in Mississippi and 10 are in Arizona. All of these places have less than 4,000 households. According to our estimates, Starr County, TX is the most unbanked county in the country -- 32.7% of households are unbanked and 28.2% of households are underbanked. Starr County is a small county of less than 15,000 households located on the U.S.–Mexico border.

Click here to see more information about the unbanked and underbanked rates in these cities.

The top 10 counties with the highest rates of unbanked households are all in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and South Dakota. Of counties with more than 100,000 households, Hidalgo County, TX has the highest proportion of unbanked households (21.6%), closely followed by Bronx County, NY (20.8%). Miami-Dade County, FL (14.4%) and Philadelphia County, PA (14.3%) also made the top 10 list.

Of large cities with more than 100,000 households, Miami and Detroit have the highest rates of unbanked households in the country – approximately 1 in 5 households are unbanked. In Miami, an additional 21.3% of households are underbanked and in Detroit, an additional 29.3% of households are underbanked. Five of the top 10 most unbanked large cities are in the south.

Of mid-sized cities with 50,000 to 100,000 households, Laredo, TX and Newark, NJ have the highest unbanked rates – 21.8% and 21.1%, respectively.

The most unbanked census tract in the country is located in Savannah, GA. More than three-quarters of households are either unbanked or underbanked.

Although many of the most unbanked “places” in America are small and rural towns, the most unbanked census tracts are urban. Of 63,900 census tracts in the country, the tract with the highest unbanked rate is located in Savannah, GA; 42.4% of households in this tract are unbanked and 35.3% are underbanked. Compare this to the city of Savannah where 13.1% are unbanked and the Savannah metro area where 8.3% are unbanked. The second most unbanked tract in the U.S. is located in Cleveland, OH at 42.3% unbanked. Of the top 100 most unbanked census tracts in the country, 7 are in El Paso, TX, 6 are in Cleveland, OH and 5 are in Los Angeles, CA.

When you use the joinbankon.org interactive map to drill down to the census tract level within cities, much more detailed patterns begin to emerge. Looking at the Chicago metropolitan area, you can see that most of the neighborhoods downtown and on the north side are a lighter purple, indicating lower rates of unbanked. However, the south and west sides of Chicago, which have much higher poverty rates, are also much more unbanked, as indicated by the darker purple.

Even within neighborhoods unbanked rates can vary greatly from block to block. For example, the image below shows a detailed map of a neighborhood on the near north side of Chicago. Only 0.5% of households are unbanked and 7.4% of households are underbanked in the “gold coast” neighborhood, one of the wealthiest areas in the country. Just a few blocks away, near the former infamous Cabrini-Green housing projects, 21.2% of households are unbanked and 28.2% of households are underbanked.

Even within neighborhoods unbanked rates can vary significantly. In one neighborhood on the near north side of Chicago, the unbanked rate jumps from 0.5% to 21.2% in just a few blocks.

The takeaway is that there are a significant number of households across the country that don’t use checking or savings accounts. These households would substantially benefit from accounts or other responsible financial products that meet their needs. A bank or credit union account can be the first step in saving, planning for the future, building credit and climbing the economic ladder.

Unfortunately, many financial institutions have turned their backs on low-income consumers, assuming there is no profit to be made. The growing number of Bank On programs across the country are helping to reach out to financially underserved consumers through locally-led coalitions. Prepaid cards and other financial products have also started to gain traction among the underbanked.

Hopefully this new in-depth data will help financial institutions, community organizations, government agencies, policymakers and other stakeholders better serve the unbanked and underbanked population.

Click here to access the unbanked data tool.

NCTC Online University is a free web-based volunteer training platform that simplifies and standardizes training curriculum for the community tax preparation and asset building field. The Online University offers volunteers the option to take the 60- to 90-minute training courses on their own time. Self-paced courses provide a more thorough and individualized learning experience. For the upcoming tax season, the NCTC Online University will offer 6 volunteer training courses, including:

The Online University eases the training burden on your organization by requiring fewer in-person trainings and less physical space. Volunteers receive a certificate of completion and come to your organization’s orientations and in-person trainings with the foundational knowledge to hit the ground running.

ALL courses are available on the NCTC website! If you have any questions about using the Online University, please contact Rebecca Riha at rriha@tax-coalition.org or (312) 252-0280 ext. 266.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Dan Fair at NCTC for passing this information along!

Have questions or feedback for Andrea? Use the comments section below and I’ll send ‘em her way!