Dane County UW-Extension Financial Education Center

1. Dane County UW-Extension Financial Education Center

2. What Is The Financial Education Center? • Program of UW-Extension Dane County Family Living Area created to increase financial awareness for county residents

3. Issue • Financial Instability • Financial security, or a family’s ability to meet short-term needs and to prepare for the future, is compromised by a shift in the flow of resources • Job loss, furloughs or reduction of hours • Death of a breadwinner • Divorce • Long term illness

4. Leads To: • Families coping with poor transportation options, sub-standard housing, limited health care options • Home Foreclosures (up 39%) • Evictions (up 7%) • Plummeting Credit Scores

5. Purpose Of The FEC • Teach life-long skills • Creating and using a spending plan • Setting goals • Manage cash and credit • Avoid abusive lending practices • Build additional assets • Protect financial resources

6. History • Located in a Madison neighborhood with a high poverty rate • Created to complement a successful VITA project (since 2002)

7. History Continued… • 2004: Pat Ludeman, Family Living Educator, formed an advisory board to investigate funding opportunities and programming needs • 2005: The FEC opened for business on October 1st • Staffed by 1.5 FTE

8. FEC Today • Staffed by 2.5 FTEs and 3 AmeriCorps members • Number of individuals served through workshops and / or one on one coaching exceeded 3,000 in 2010. • Number of individuals served through our volunteer tax site in 2010 was approximately 4,000

9. Our Mission • To be a “one stop shop” community resource offering integrated financial education classes, individual coaching, and referrals to other community programs and services.

10. Our Audience • The FEC is open to anyone interested in enhancing their money management skills in Dane County

11. Total Served via education and one-on-one coaching 3,180 Female: 2,040 Male: 1,140 2010 Demographics

12. 2010 Demographics

13. Classroom money management series 6 week “Make Your Money Talk” “Get Checking” “Growing Your Green” Workshops at CBOs, employers, state offices, schools, community centers One-on-one analysis Financial Education Center Programs

14. Research About Types of Financial Education Financial Workshops Provides consumers with tools and knowledge Despite recent events and media attention, there is not much evidence that it works alone Context matters Counseling One-to-One Usually initiated from an acute problem that needs to be solved

15. Research continued… Coaching New approach Ongoing over time Non-directive (do not need to be an expert) One-to-one, sometimes mixed with group work

16. Financial Coaching Institute • Pilot project with UW Madison* • October-April • 12 coach/partner matches • Selected goals • Attended monthly workshops together • Check-ins throughout the month • Celebration and Debrief after 6 months

17. Pilot Results • All but one team finished the program • Some chose to continue to meet after the program was over • Partners showed marked improvement

18. “Caught up on bills” “Created a budget and FOLLOWED IT” “Started tracking receipts-changed my spending habits” “Improved credit score” “Started a savings account” “Now balancing my checking account-no overdrafts!” Partner Achievements

19. FEC Financial Coaching Model Workshop in a Group Setting FEC Staff One-on-one Analysis and Goal Setting client FEC Educator Connection to a Volunteer Coach Volunteer Coordinator Partner and Coach Attend Monthly Workshops and do Periodic check-ins Recruits, trains & manages volunteers Evaluation and Follow-up

20. Other Services • Volunteer Income Tax Assistance • Referrals To Other Agencies and Experts

21. VITA / TCE Program 2010 Partners: UW Extension, IRS UW Madison, WI Dept of Revenue, AARP, Dane County, City of Madison, United Way, Walmart, Second Harvest Food Bank, Local credit unions Number of Returns: 4,000 $ in Refunds: $4,800,000 EITC $: $1,800,000 Did a presentation at the Regional Summit of the National Community Tax Coalition-Detroit

22. Programming Partners • Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) • MG&E • Habitat for Humanity • Community Action Coalition • United Way • Movin’ Out • Neighborhood Law Project

23. Programming Partners • Salvation Army • Urban League of Greater Madison • Elizabeth House • Job Service • Dane County Juvenile Detention • Center For Financial Security

24. Financial Educator Network • Created and facilitated by us • Inventory of services • Increased communication and cooperation • Networking of financial educators • Discussion of Current Economic Conditions and the effect on Dane County residents

25. Money Smart Week Wisconsin • Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Reserve of Chicago • Financial Educator Network coordinated the 2010 Dane County events • Women’s Conference: October 2nd • Money Smart Kid Essay contest

26. Current Funding Partners • FINRA Foundation (through United Way) • CUNA Mutual Foundation • UW Credit Union • Summit Credit Union • MG&E • Anchor Bank

27. Friends of the Financial Education Center • Mary Rouse, President • Larry Studesville, Vice President • Jay Mouille, Treasurer • Amanda Wilson • Pat Ludeman • Michael Collins

28. Revenue • Sub-contract of space: • DCHA……$1,500 • UW Madison…….$1,500 • From programming: • Get Checking….$2,400 • Retirement Planning Class….$5,000

29. For More Information… Deb Neubauer • 608-224-3722 • Neubauer@countyofdane.com • Visit our webpage on the Dane County Extension website