ERIC Number: ED585617
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Mar-26
Pages: 196
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Building Financial Capability: A Planning Guide for Integrated Services
Bowen, Rita; Hattemer, Kori; Griffin, Kate
Administration for Children & Families
Low-income individuals and families experience a great deal of financial hardship that impacts virtually every dimension of their lives. This chronic financial instability not only imposes high degrees of day-to-day stress but may also limit the ability to save and invest, constraining prospects for a more secure future. Across the country, organizations work to help low-income families achieve economic stability and mobility through a variety of programs, such as job training, small business development services, affordable housing, energy assistance, health care, and early childhood education and care. But even with a wide array of available, high-quality social services, individuals with limited "financial capability"--defined as the capacity, based on knowledge, skills, and access, to manage financial resources effectively--struggle to succeed in such programs and to translate any progress into lasting economic change. The guide provides a roadmap for community-based organizations that wish to integrate services that build clients' financial capability within their existing programs. The guide sets forth three basic approaches an organization can pursue: (1) referring clients to another organization; (2) partnering with another organization to provide services jointly; and (3) building internal capacity to deliver the services in-house. The guide discusses the advantages and drawbacks of each. It leads the reader through a systematic process to determine which approach would work best given his or her organization's goals, the characteristics of its client population, its internal capacity, and the availability of other resources in the community. [Foreword by Jeannie Chaffin. For "Integrating Financial Capability Services into Tribal LIHEAP," see ED585750. Order No HHSP233201200674G]
Descriptors: Money Management, Community Organizations, Low Income, Social Mobility, Financial Needs, Social Services, Guides, Referral, Capacity Building, Federal Programs, Human Capital, Credit (Finance), Counseling Services, Teamwork
Administration for Children & Families. US Department of Health and Human Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade SW, Washington, DC 20447. Web site: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/
Publication Type: Guides - General
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Administration for Children and Families (DHHS); Prosperity Now
Grant or Contract Numbers: GS10F0177L