INTEGRATING FINANCIAL CAPABILITY STRATEGIES WITHIN WORKFORCE PROGRAMS

INTEGRATING FINANCIAL CAPABILITY STRATEGIES WITHIN WORKFORCE PROGRAMS

Today s Moderator Elizabeth Jennings Director of Training & Technical Assistance National Disability Institute

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Special Thank You To Our Sponsors National Disability Institute recognizes and thanks our sponsors:

National Disability Institute A national research and development organization with the mission to promote income preservation and asset development for persons with disabilities and to build a better economic future for Americans with disabilities.

NDI s Real Economic Impact Network An alliance of organizations & individuals dedicated to advancing the economic empowerment of people with disabilities. Consists of more than 900 partners in more than 100 cities in US. Includes non-profits, community tax coalitions, asset development organizations, financial education initiatives, corporations & private-sector businesses, federal/state/local governments & agencies, and individuals & families with disabilities. All partners join forces to embrace, promote & pursue access to & inclusion of people with disabilities in the economic mainstream.

Today s Agenda Implications of the new Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) for service provision Practical application of customer financial assessment within American Job Centers through the Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) Florida Impact of financial assessment and referral from the customers perspective Review of financial assessment tool currently being piloted with NY DEI in collaboration with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Questions and Answers 11

Webinar Outcomes Attendees have a better understanding of: The guidance WIOA offers to integrate financial empowerment services for customers with and without disabilities Practical applications of financial assessment tools that impact customer outcomes Current pilots underway within the Disability Employment Initiative that utilize financial assessment products 12

Overview of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act President Barack Obama signed WIOA into law on July 22, 2014. Passed by Congress with wide bipartisan majority (The Senate voted 93-5 and the House of Representatives voted 415-6). Reaffirms ongoing role of American Job Centers. Promotes program coordination and alignment of key employment, education, and training programs at the Federal, State, local, and regional levels. Builds on proven practices such as sector strategies, career pathways, regional economic approaches, work-based training. 13

Highlights of Reforms to the Public Workforce System under the Act Requires states to strategically align workforce development programs to support job seekers and employers. Streamlines and strengthens the strategic roles of workforce development boards. Improves services to employers and promotes work-based training. Provides access to high quality training. Enhances workforce services for the unemployed and other job seekers. Improves services to individuals with disabilities. Makes key investments in serving disconnected youth and other vulnerable populations, including Native Americans and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers. Increases the performance and quality of the Job Corps program. Reinforces connections with Registered Apprenticeship. 14

Provision Focus Community Input WIOA provides a venue for community input and expertise to fortify planning and service provision at multiple levels. State and Local Workforce Development Boards may include representatives of community-based organizations with expertise in addressing the employment, training, and/or education needs of individuals with barriers to employment. Committee to advise the Secretary of Labor on strategies to increase competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities.» Includes ODEP, ETA, Wage and Hour Division, AIDD, CMS, SSA, RSA, and Private sector representatives.» Federal Register announcement: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/09/12/2014-21834/advisorycommittee-on-increasing-competitive-integrated-employment-forindividuals-with-disabilities 15

Provision Focus - Access WIOA increases individuals with disabilities access to high quality workforce services and prepares them for competitive integrated employment. One-Stop career centers will provide physical and programmatic accessibility to employment and training services for individuals with disabilities and implement new Section 188 (non-discrimination) requirements related to:» functions of the local boards.» local plan content.» certification, at least every three years, of the One-Stop career centers to include an assessment of physical and programmatic accessibility in accordance with Secton188. 16

Provision Focus - Coordination WIOA improves coordination between workforce services through the creation of a unified state plan. The unified state plan must include all the core programs, including Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and Adult Education. Among the requirements for the unified state plan is to:» describe cooperative agreements in the VR State Plan to enhance provision of services to individuals with disabilities.» describe how the one-stop delivery system will comply with Section 188 (non-discrimination) regarding physical and programmatic accessibility of facilities, programs, services, technology, and materials for individuals with disabilities. 17

Provision Focus - Youth WIOA ensures youth with disabilities will receive extensive pre-employment transition services so they can successfully obtain competitive integrated employment. Supports disconnected youth, of which youth with disabilities comprise a high percent, by:» Requiring local areas to increase percentage of youth formula funds used to serve out of-school youth to 75% (30% under WIA).» Requiring local areas to spend at lest 20% of youth formula funds on work experience activities.» Providing additional allowable activities including financial literacy education and entrepreneurial training. State vocational rehabilitation agencies will set aside at least 15% of funding to provide transition services to youth with disabilities. 18

Provision Focus Financial Education WIOA provides guidance on the use of state funds to provide services that build customer s financial education and financial capability. As a program element for youth and allowable service for adults to support financial literacy, including an individual s ability to:» create household budgets, initiate savings plans, and make informed financial decisions about education, retirement, home ownership, wealth building, or other savings goals;» manage spending, credit, and debt, including credit card debt, effectively;» Understand the availability and significance of credit reports and credit scores in obtaining credit, including determining their accuracy (and how to correct inaccuracies in the reports and scores), and their effect on credit terms; and» understand, evaluate, and compare financial products, services, and opportunities Supports activities that address the particular financial literacy needs of non-english speakers.

WIOA Technical Assistance Tools and Resources Department of Labor WIOA Resource Page - www.doleta.gov/wioa WIOA Dedicated Email - DOL.WIOA@dol.gov Department of Education Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education s WIOA Resource Page - http://www.ed.gov/aefla Rehabilitation Services Administration s WIOA Resource Page - http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/rsa/wioareauthorization.html NDI s LEAD Center Stay up to date - www.leadcenter.org 20

Integration of Financial Assessment and Connections to Local Resources Melanie Magill Florida DEI Ft. Lauderdale

Incorporating Financial Assessment into Job Centers NDI Asset Development Training in 2013 provided new context We realized this was an important service we were not providing, and needed to make some changes:» Incorporated 2 questions on financial health in our intake form» Created a Financial Intake Worksheet» Weekly Expense Tracker» When Opening a Bank Account Questionnaire» Trained all front-line staff on Asset Development» Added Money Smart as an allowable Welfare Transition Program (WTP) work registration component

Financial Intake Worksheet

Financial Intake Worksheet Financial worksheets like this can help all customers and staff

Weekly Expense Tracker Getting back to the basics is often needed as a baseline

Banking Information

Incorporating Financial Assessment into Customer Flow After NDI Asset Development Training in 2014 we felt we had to do more: Added a whole section on Finances to our DEI / Ticket to Work intake form Why did we do this?

DEI/TTW Intake Form Embedding financial assessment questions has occurred in various forms we now use in our Job Center

Incorporating Financial Assessment into Customer Flow To start the dialogue It is not always easy for customers, even staff to discuss finances because it is so personal, maybe even more personal than discussing disability This was a way for staff to get information to start the dialogue with our customers

Financial Capability Resources All our Resource Room computers have Money Smart Referrals to the Work Incentives Planning & Assistance Program Referrals to agencies in the County (e.g., United Way) Refer to VITA sites

Albert s Story Albert was unemployed, seeking supports from the Job Center He used AJC resources such as: resume workshop, social networking workshop, and onsite recruitment events After about 7 months, Albert found a job Additional resources were needed after job placement: transportation was an issue Albert had a goal, to have his own reliable transportation Albert was referred to a Success Coach, where additional resources were considered With assistance, Albert was connected with Ways to Work, and eventually secured a loan for a car which he uses today Albert is now working toward his next goal: home ownership

Financial Empowerment Another Job Task? Asset Development can easily be incorporated into your current programs We want all our customers to be self-sufficient, incorporating financial stability will increase their chance of reaching that goal Without some sort of discussion regarding your customers financial future we are not providing a holistic service setting them up for failure

Kevin Nickerson Manager, Financial Empowerment & Employment National Disability Institute

Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) DEI builds upon previous projects within our public workforce system to enhance services and supports for job seekers with disabilities The goal of the DEI is to improve the education, training, and employment opportunities and outcomes of youth and adults with disabilities who are unemployed, underemployed, and/or receiving Social Security disability benefits A number of DEI state projects are focusing efforts on Asset Development Strategies

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Financial Assessment Tool Pilot Over the last year, the NY DEI state project and CFPB have been working together to develop a financial assessment tool as a primer This tool was modified to meet the needs of the NY DEI project, and comes from a CFPB toolkit called Your Money, Your Goals, found here: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/your-money-your-goals/ The Motivation DEI projects can choose a number of strategic service delivery methods to include in their state projects, one of which is Asset Development

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Financial Assessment Tool Pilot The goal: Develop a very concise financial assessment tool that American Job Center (AJC) staff could use, with Disability Resource Coordinators (DRCs) modeling it s use in our centers Why? This tool is simply a primer Goals: Begin this important dialogue with customers Expand use to all State DEI projects Provides a baseline for Asset Development implementation Increases knowledge of local resources that will assist customers in increasing financial capability

Customer Goal and Financial Situation Assessment Tool This question sets the stage to speak to customers about the goals and dreams that motivate them

Customer Goal and Financial Situation Assessment Tool Many of the questions asked help us point customers to additional resources and services (i.e. Work Incentive advisement)

Value added Service The Customer Goal and Financial Situation Assessment Tool has been tested with assistance from the NY DEI State project Testing this with a small sampling of customers provided us useful information along with feedback from the DRC State Lead in NY, Geri Walsh Geri also provided us an overview from one customers perspective

Kay s Story & Lessons Learned A person needs to be ready to share this information, but offering the opportunity is the only you ll find out if that s the case. Offer the opportunity to review finances with customers more than one time, it may be that someone will be ready at a later date. And finally, it s easy to come to the table with our own preconceived notions about people and finances, having a formalized tool keeps us from overlooking questions we might not ask.

Questions & Answers

Join us for our next webinar: Wrap-Up & Thank You Financial Capability of Adults with Disabilities: Findings from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation 2012 National Financial Capability Study Wednesday, November 5 th at 3pm ET Check out future webinars and archived webinars (such as today s recording), www.realeconomicimpact.org

Special Thank You To Our Sponsors National Disability Institute recognizes and thanks our sponsors:

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