FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES CITY OF LOS ANGELES

Transcription

1 s o u r c e FII MPM IIIIV I F UU 2011 P : MMI FII MPM IFI M

2 IUI In 2009 Mayor ntonio. Villaraigosa and the ity ouncil of os ngeles initiated a new integrated approach to addressing poverty in the ity of os ngeles, resulting in a redesign of the ity s delivery of social services. he Familyource enters managed by the ommunity evelopment epartment became the city-wide delivery system. taff at the ommunity evelopment epartment are aligning the programs and services offered through the 21 Familyource enters to develop an asset-building strategy for the ity of os ngeles as a way to address poverty. he Familyource enter ystem is taking shape during a challenging time of rising unemployment and poverty rates in os ngeles. Funded through a combination of ommunity evelopment lock rant (), ommunity ervices lock rant () and merican ecovery and einvestment ct () funding, the ystem operates on the onsolidated Plan Program ear (pril 1 March 31). he ystem includes 16 enters operated by non-profit organizations and 5 directly managed by ity staff. hey all focus on delivering coordinated, outcome-driven services to the most vulnerable city residents. he Familyource ystem completed a full year of implementation on March 31, ur focus during the first year has been on system-wide policy initiatives that give low-income residents access to economic advancement opportunities made available by ity partners--ne-e-pp, I, and ank on. e believe the promising practices that are emerging, coupled with our evolving strategic plan to address poverty through asset-building programs and services, will be a game changer for the ity of os ngeles and its people. s we enter the second year of the program and continue implementation of this holistic approach to addressing poverty through asset-building, the ity of os ngeles ommunity evelopment epartment is pleased to present this report to the ities for Financial mpowerment. 1

3 --PP PUI FI I ne-e-pp is a web-based system that offers a single point of entry to multiple social service programs, with the objective being to increase the number of eligible low-income residents enrolled in public benefits. ll 21 Familyource enters are currently using ne-e-pp to assist eligible customers enroll and retain the benefits they are eligible for II: otal People erved: ith the assistance of Familyource staff, over 10,000 people have been linked with one or more public benefit such as Medi-al, Food tamps (now alfresh), utility assistance programs, and others. Marketing: rganized a citywide ne-e-pp enrollment day in ovember at all 21 Familyource enters. ver 350 people applied for benefits on this day. Partnerships: is continuing to partner with the os ngeles Unified chool istrict (U) on a joint-marketing endeavor to draw attention to the availability of websites that connect to ne--pp and ultimately to our Familyource enters and the (10) U pilot sites. alfresh utreach: is continuing to work with os ngeles ounty epartment of Public ocial ervices to organize trainings focused on program eligibility and advocacy. hrough successful collaboration between and ounty P, the food stamp application is now being electronically submitted to P via ne-e-pp for enrollment verification and processing. 2

4 IM X I MPI he os ngeles arned Income ax redit (I) ampaign Partnership launched its annual tax season with a press conference on January 27, Mayor ntonio. Villaraigosa, tate ontroller John hiang, of United ay of reater os ngeles lise uik, and other special guests participated in the kick-off event to encourage low-income working families to file taxes and claim the I and other tax credits. he os ngeles I ampaign Partnership is led by the United ay of reater os ngeles and is a broad-based coalition of government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations and financial institutions. ur partners include the ity and ounty of os ngeles, I, United ay of reater os ngeles, os ngeles rea hamber of ommerce, and non-profits MPI II: ax vents: ampaign partners organized several X events throughout the city and county, many of which were hosted by elected officials. hese events engaged volunteers from Price aterhouse oopers, ertified Public ccounts (P), and other large firms to provide pro bono services to eligible residents. In addition to providing free tax preparation services, many also partnered with the local financial institution to offer free or low-cost checking accounts to interested individuals and also connected many to financial education courses. Marketing: Inserted free tax preparation/vi bus ads on 10,000 buses throughout ity and ounty. itibank also purchased air time on all M buses, which also helped fund two 30-second commercials--one in nglish and the other in panish. he commercials repeated twice a day for four hours for a total of four weeks. he ads referred bus riders to both and os ngeles I ampaign s website. utreach: ampaign partners distributed over 3,000 brochures during partner and teering ommittee meetings at community events and to local businesses. VI ite xpansion: ampaign was able to provide support to 13 additional VI sites for a total of 73 sites countrywide. utreach to ity epartments: ommunity evelopment epartment engaged other city departments to support this effort (i.e. epartment of ater & Power included I and free tax preparation information in mailers for approximately 150,000 residents). et ain: espite the diminishing ampaign budget, the ity of os ngeles Familyource enters helped increase the number of ity residents accessing free tax preparation services and as a result, contributed to the $6 million gain in total tax returns from the previous year. 3

5 IM X I MPI I F 2009 U 2010 U otal eturns 14,412 19,969 (approx. 20,000) otal efunds $17,718,861 $23,975,184 otal VI/P ites otal $3,121,345 $4,400,032 otal I $6,522,186 $8,544,882 FMIU/ I VU VI (I) I hrough our Familyource enters, the ity of os ngeles added 21 additional free tax preparation sites in the ity, increasing the total number of sites in the ity from previous years. ased on preliminary data shared by the Internal evenue ervice (I), the Familyource enters provided free tax preparation assistance to over 3,500 city residents, which translates to approximately over $4 million in tate and Federal refunds. I F 2009 U *2010 U F/VI I otal eturns 2,458 3,807 otal efunds $1,955,004 $4,133,205 otal I $837,801 $1,878,635 ur deparment s efforts helped augment the work of the reater os ngeles ampaign Partnership and increased the total tax refunds in the ity of os ngeles. 4

6 K P II Phase II of ank on os ngeles has invigorated both the financial institutions and community based organizations and groups with a vision for asset-building through matchmaking for the delivery of financial education products and access to financial products and services. Phase II was launched with a luncheon for financial institutions in ovember 2010 followed by a breakfast for community based organizations and groups in March he ity of os ngeles ommunity evelopment epartment () in collaboration with the Federal eposit Insurance orporation (FI) hosted the meetings to share the city-wide expansion of the ank on os ngeles initiative; to gain feedback from those community partners that had participated in Phase I of the initiative and to explore greater participation from bank and credit unions, ity of os ngeles Familyource, neource and orkource enter affiliates and the greater os ngeles based non-profit community. In pril 2011 the inaugural ank on os ngeles ll-partner meeting was held. he outcomes of that very successful meeting established the formation of a governance model for the initiative to ensure that the deliverables of reaching the unbanked and under-banked of os ngeles with financial education and access to financial services and products are met. he transition from Phase I to Phase II is easily understood with the identification of six distinguishing characteristic differences between Phase I and Phase II. 1. In Phase II, a II F P who will work together for the financial empowerment of the unbanked and under-banked low-to-moderate income people in os ngeles has been established. ank on os ngeles has over 100 financial institutions, community based organizations and groups, local, state and federal agencies that have entered into some kind of formal agreement in participation and support of ank on os ngeles. 5

7 K 2. he second difference is the UI. In Phase I the target audience was the unbanked. Phase II is inclusive of both the unbanked and under-banked. 3. he third distinguishing characteristic of Phase II is that the scope will be I-I. concerted effort to engage the greater os ngeles based non-profit community is a hallmark of efforts in Phase II. 4. he fourth difference between Phase I and Phase II is II V. e have adopted a coalition governance document that provides the structure for the coalition. ank on os ngeles is now a coalition of partners with a teering ommittee, three working committees and 69 community partners engaged in committee work. he teering ommittee is comprised of representatives from ; the ffice of the Mayor; the FI; the Managing irector ank on os ngeles and co-chairs from committees. serves as hair of the teering ommittee. 5. he fifth distinguishing characteristic of Phase II is there will be a concerted effort to offer financial education opportunities through ank on os ngeles financial institutions and community based organization and group partners. e have adopted the best-practice of M- MKI, pairing community based organizations with financial institutions for the delivery of financial education. a. ur financial education strategy includes developing a zip-code matrix of partner organizations, locations, capacity for hosting financial education and/or teaching one of the four pillars of the financial education efforts and languages spoken. b. Mini-grants of $300 will be offered to community based organizations and groups outside the current city system of ource enters. 6. he sixth and final distinguishing characteristic is that the ank n initiative is housed with the MMUI VPM PM of the ity of os ngeles and a representative of the ffice of the Mayor sits on the teering ommittee. PMII PI MI I P II mbassadors: ach ank on os ngeles partner has an identified K M to serve as the conduit between ank on os ngeles and their colleagues in their place of business or service. mbassadors are trained on the nuances of the ank on os ngeles initiative and will convene every 4-6 weeks to share learning experiences and promising practices from the field. 6

8 K PMII PI M I P I VPI M FU I P II he institutionalization of -UII PM into the social service system; as big as os ngeles, has quickly become a promising practice in the asset-building field. I F I UI UP K F M 2, 2011 KI VPM here is continued consideration of Jobs and usiness evelopment ommittee eport relative to the establishment of a anking evelopment istrict () ask Force to report on a variety of issues relating to the creation of anking evelopment istricts. ecommendations for ouncil action: 1. I a ask Force. 2. I the ity reasurer as the hair of the ask Force. 3. IU the ity reasurer to convene the ask Force initially comprised of the hairperson of the Jobs and usiness evelopment ommittee, representatives from the Mayor s ffice, ank on os ngeles,, and by pril IU the ask Force to report back on Phase I activities by July 31, PI K FII IIUI I he urbin mendment to the odd Frank all treet eform and onsumer Protection ct would have the Federal eserve limit interchange fees on debit transactions, the fee a bank charges to process card transactions, to 12 cents..ebit Interchange Fee tudy ct of 2011: bill introduced by enator Jon ester, Montana to study the market and appropriate regulatory structure for electronic debit card transactions, and for other purposes. 7

9 K K IFMI ank n accounts opened in Phase I from reporting financial institutions was 56,500. os ngeles has the largest unbanked populations in the nation; 400,000 plus. o date, nine financial institutions have partnered with ank on os ngeles: ank of merica; ank of the est; roadway Federal ank; hase; itibank; ity ational ank; U.. ank; Union ank and ells Fargo with several others in consideration. ver 100 financial institutions, community based organizations and groups, local, state and federal agencies that have entered into some kind of formal agreement in participation and support of ank on os ngeles. Phase II goal is to deliver consistent financial education in the ity of os ngeles June- eptember capturing data from the participant. ank on os ngeles will sponsor a Family Financial Fitness and/or Financial Planning ay in the fall. os ngeles is one of 10 markets in he lliance for conomic Inclusion (I); the FI's national initiative to establish broad-based coalitions of financial institutions, communitybased organizations and other partners in several markets across the country to bring all unbanked and underserved populations into the financial mainstream. ank on os ngeles was cited in the newly released ational eague of ities Institute for outh, ducation and Families ank on ities onnecting esidents to the Financial Mainstream, oolkit for Municipal eaders. he Federal eposit Insurance orporation has taken an active role in ank on os ngeles as the initiative falls within their scope of work in their lliance for conomic Inclusion program. ity of os ngeles Mayor ntonio. Villaraigosa will attend the United tates onference of Mayors where he will begin his term as U...M. President. 8

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