Income and Asset Development in Action
What and Why
Through our Income and Asset Development (IAD) work we partner with community- based organizations, low-income residents, public agencies and the private sector to help low and moderate income residents use income support programs and build and protect assets.
The Council is a founding member of the Alameda County Earn It Keep It Save It (EKS) Earned Income Tax Credit Campaign and the founder and coordinating agency for the Alameda County Community Asset Network (AC CAN) www.alamedacountycan.org.
In addition to our work with EKS and coordinating AC CAN, the Council is pursuing a number of strategies toward income and asset development for low-income Bay Area residents:
For more on our Income and Asset Development work see:
BENEFITS SCREENING AND APPLICATION
The Council has long been a proponent of strategies that address income support as a first step before asset building can be achieved. As a core of this strategy, our IAD work focuses on increasing the uptake rates of those eligible for public benefits programs including food stamps, Medi-CAL, general assistance, Earned Income Tax Credit and other income support programs. We are working with local and national organizations to make electronics benefits screening and enrollment tools available to our partners and communities.
FORECLOSURE INTERVENTION INITIATIVE
The Council has developed a Foreclosure Intervention Initiative to address a continuum of needs in the crisis – from prevention counseling to community stabilization to policy and advocacy. The Council produces data and maps on foreclosures, maintains listings of counseling and other resources for families facing foreclosure, produces information for consumers on foreclosure scams and is working with partners on alternative mortgage products for foreclosure intervention.
EITC & PUBLIC BENEFITS
The Earned Income Tax Credit has been shown to significantly reduce poverty and increase employment. As a co-founder of the Alameda County EKS Campaign and the manager for data collection and analysis from 2002-2007, the Council is keenly interested in increasing the 5% uptake rate of the EITC eligible population in Alameda County. By increasing funding and uptake of the EITC, the campaign, along with AC CAN, has an opportunity to greatly increase rates of participation in public benefits that can be linked to the EITC at tax time such as Food Stamps and low-cost health insurance.
EMPLOYER-BASED ASSET BUILDING
The Council is identifying and developing programs and tools for employer-based income and asset building. While a sustainable wage is the first step towards financial health, other services and products, such as financial education, have proven to be effective at employer sites, benefitting both employees in terms of increased financial health, and employers in terms of retention and productivity. The Council is partnering with East Bay Community Foundation to provide services and products, including a pre-paid debit card and matched savings accounts, to the employees of Jack London Square’s Food Pavilion. The Council is also developing an employer toolkit to help employers identify employee’s financial needs and offer effective strategies to leverage income including opt-out retirement plans, on-site tax preparation, employer-based payday loan alternatives, and financial education.
ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
The Council is using its expertise in income and asset development and strategic partnerships with organizations in alternative financial product development to provide low-cost, consumer friendly financial products to low-income people. The primary focus is a low cost Alternative Refund Anticipation Loan (ARAL) product, an alternative to the costly loans provided at for-profit tax preparers, often costing filers 10% of their tax return. The ARAL product has been demonstrated as an entry-point into financial education and banking. The Council is pursuing partnerships with local banks, credit unions and non-profit product developers to pilot the ARAL at free tax sites in Alameda County with potential Bay Area expansion.
WEALTH=HEALTH
Urban Strategies Council and Alameda County CAN are partnering with the Alameda County Public Health Department to bring tangible tools and resources that help address the connection between poverty and poor health. This includes planning a Health=Wealth Symposium for the spring of 2010 to share information and referral networks among health and financial service providers. We also provide brown-bag workshops with the Public Health Department staff, sharing Income and Asset and foreclosure prevention resources. In addition, Urban Strategies, as co-founder of the Oakland Community Land Trust (OakCLT), is developing strategies to increase health outcomes in land trust communities via benefits enrollment, access to healthy food, alternative energy to mitigate asthma, and other groundbreaking income-health-environmental initiatives.
FINANCIAL EDUCATION AND SERVICES FOR THE INCARCERATED
Our IAD and Community Safety and Justice Programs, in partnership with the National Trust for the Development of African America Men, are developing a pilot Financial Education and Services program for the Reception Center at San Quentin State Prison and Santa Rite Jail. As part of pre-release planning, inmates will receive benefits screening, financial education, and a financial action plan for their release. The partnership is also pursuing ways to connect inmates and those formerly incarcerated with low-cost, consumer friendly financial products.
For more information, call or email Lisa Forti, lisaf(at)urbanstrategies.org
