This document summarizes a presentation on providing financial education to Head Start families. It discusses defining financial literacy, assessing baseline financial behaviors of Head Start families through surveys, and implementing various modes of education - including newsletters, workshops, and financial coaching. The results of an initial financial education pilot project across 7 counties were also shared, finding some improvements in financial goal setting and capabilities among participating families. Next steps discussed expanding the program to more counties and families.

1. Cooperative Extension
State Conference
October 19, 2010
Madison, WI
Exploring
Financial Education
& Outreach
with Head Start Families

2. Presenters:
J. Michael Collins
University of Wisconsin-Madison
jmcollins@wisc.edu
608.262.0369
Peggy Olive
UW Extension Richland County
Peggy.olive@ces.uwex.edu
608.647.6148
Ruth Schriefer
UW Extension Iowa County
Ruth.schriefer@ces.uwex.edu
608.935.0391

3. Today’s Agenda
 Financial Literacy:
 What is it?
 Modes & Methods
 Head Start Financial Education
Pilot
 Surveys
 Newsletters
 Workshops
 Financial Coaching

4. Financial Literacy
 What is it?
 Not like reading literacy?
 “Capability” or “Capacity”…
 More than knowledge
 Applied knowledge and decisions
 Result: Financial Security
 Not focused on income level or
wealth

5. Core Competencies
 Budgeting
 Finding financial information
 Use of credit
 Using financial services
 Saving for special purposes
 Filing taxes
 Using benefits

6. How do we learn?
 School
 Family – Parents & siblings
 Positive & negative
 Social groups / peers
 Financial Providers
 Community-based programs
 Other?

7. Tapping into existing systems
 Tax preparation
 Home ownership
 New employees
 School-work transitions
 Pre-school?
 Working parents
 Focused on children’s future
 Goal setting

8. Modes of education
 Passive: media & social networks
 Technology: web, mobile phones
 Print: targeted publications &
newsletters
 Workshops: group education
 One-on-One
 Counseling – problem solving
 Coaching – goal achievement

9. Information Matters
 Financial Literacy Education Classes
 Can provide consumers with tools and knowledge
 Context and details matter (a lot)
 Counseling one-to-one
 Knowledge transfer versus behavior change
 Problem that needs to be solved
 Coaching
 Ongoing over time
 Non-directive (do not need to be an expert)
 One-to-one - sometimes mixed with group work

10. Money
Smart in
Head Start
UW-Extension
Financial Education
Project

11. 7 Counties:
 Crawford
 Grant
 Iowa
 Jackson
 Lafayette
 Richland
 Trempealeau
3 CAP
agencies
191 families
participating

12. Project Overview
 Baseline survey
 Educational outreach:
 Newsletters
 Workshops
 Financial Coaching
 Follow-up survey
 Purpose: measure changes in goal setting and
self-reported financial status
Support from Annie E. Casey Foundation

13. Baseline Survey (Sept 2009)
• 434 families enrolled in Head Start/Early Head Start
programs in 7 counties invited to participate
• Survey Dissemination
• Baseline survey 191 (44%) responded.
– 60% high school education or less
– 31% own their homes
– 50% married
– 23% have 1 child, 33% two, and 44% 3 or more
Source: UW Cooperative Extension SW Wisconsin Head Start Family Surveys

14. Baseline Survey (Sept 2009)
Financial behavior:
• 70% have checking accounts
• 62% have savings accounts
• 42% have a credit card
• 23% have a retirement account
• 15% have money automatically deposited
into savings/investment account
Source: UW Cooperative Extension, Head Start Family Surveys

15. Baseline Survey (Sept 2009)
Financial Planning:
• 67% do not have a budget or spending plan
• 78% do not have a written plan to save for
themselves, their children, or their family’s
future.
• 18% had gotten a copy of their credit report
in the last 3 months.
Source: UW Cooperative Extension, Head Start Family Surveys

16. Baseline Survey (Sept 2009)
Financial Distress:
• Financial stress scale (0= no stress; 10 =
overwhelming stress) = 6.6
– 14% feeling of overwhelming stress
• 87% of respondents say they worry about meeting
normal monthly living expenses.
• 67% have little to no confidence that they could find
the money for a financial emergency which costs
$1000.
• 58% responded that they had paid a late fee on a
bill in the last 6 weeks.
Source: UW Cooperative Extension, Head Start Family Surveys

17. Educational outreach:
• Newsletters
»5 and ½ counties
• Workshops
»4 counties (kind of)
• Financial Coaching
»2 counties (sort of)

18. Newsletters
 One method to reach and teach
 Raise awareness
 Provide basic information
 Reinforce educational messages

19. Newsletters Have Limitations…
 People tend to scan rather
than read
 Not the best resource for
detailed info
 Timelines & production
schedules
Newsletters

20.  Written by UW-Extension Family
Living staff
 8 Topics based on the goals for the
Head Start Financial Education
project
 Distributed monthly
Newsletters

21.  Limitations
 Findings
 Next Steps
Newsletters

22. Workshops
 Presented by UW-Extension Family
Living staff
 Topics based on the goals for the
Head Start Financial Education
project
 Saving Money
 Credit & Debt

23. Workshops
 Format – Evening vs. Daytime
 Limitations
 Findings
 Next Steps

24. Financial Coaching
 UW-Extension Family Living
Educators in Trempealeau &
Richland
 What is Coaching?

25. Working Definition of Coaching
“a collaborative solution-focused, result-oriented and systematic process in which
the coach facilitates the enhancement of life experience and goal attainment of
normal, non-clinical clients” (Grant, 2003).
Key Elements of Coaching
 a focus on long-term outcomes
 collaborative process to
change behavior
 practice new skills
 based on the client’s unique
needs and goals
Steps:
1. Goal
setting
2. Action
planning
3.Monitoring

26. Financial Coaching
 Goal setting & monitoring
 Examples of goals:
 Open bank account
 Make budget and stick to it for 2 pay periods
 Sign-up for benefits
 Fund savings accounts
 Not an ‘expert’ –goal setting and monitoring
 Accountability

27. Financial Coaching
 Format:
 2+ home visits October – May
 Monthly follow-up
 Limitations
 Findings
 Next Steps

28. • Coded surveys mailed to 191
households
• 92 surveys returned (48%)
• Incentive drawing
Follow-up Survey (May 2010)

29. Surveys
• 190 Wave 1
• 91 Wave 2
• 60 questions
• 2 waves – lessons…
– Attrition
– Questions changed

30. Generally Improving…

31. Many Unbanked

32. Younger Parents

33. Have Goals

34. Education

35. Financial Issues

36. Use of Services

37. Financial Literacy

38. Newsletters

39. 2010-2011
18 Counties
11 Head Start
Agencies
1600+ Families
invited
(399 surveys
returned so far!)
Next Steps

40. Center for Financial Security
Research on consumer financial behavior
Improving financial education and advice
Financial Literacy Research Consortium of Social
Security Administration
Financial Coaching Training
December 2, 2010 - Madison
http://www.familyfinancialsecurity.org/
Contact:
J. Michael Collins, Faculty Director
jmcollins@wisc.edu
608.262.0369