Please click below to read about how IDAs and other asset development programs were most recently in the news:
Assets for Independence awards more than $8 million for Individual Development Account Project. The Office of Community Services (OCS) recently awarded 34 Assets for Independence (AFI) grants totaling more than $8 million to community-based organizations and government agencies. The AFI program is demonstrating the effectiveness of IDAs and related services for helping individuals and families to become more financially secure. The projects provide information and data for the ongoing research on the impacts of IDAs. Please click here for a list of grant recipients.
CFED launches new blog, the The Inclusive Economy: an online home for everything related to our efforts to expand economic opportunity for all Americans through the promotion of lifelong savings, affordable homeownership, small business ownership and access to affordable, quality education. We will be sharing with you news about upcoming events, updates from our partners in the field, educational resources for practitioners working across the nation, alerts about key policy agenda items and so much more.
New website details State-by-State tax credits and offers resources on the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and the Property Tax Circuit Breaker. The site also provides extensive information and tools on how community-based organizations and elected officials can raise awareness of these important tax credits and how they can help working families:
www.taxcreditsforworkingfamilies.org
IRS announces 2011 VITA Grant Recipients. Under the VITA Grant program, the IRS awarded matching grants to 177 organizations that will offer free tax preparation services in all 50 states. Click below for more info:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=231340,00.html
Upwards of 300 representatives of AFI grantees, subgrantees, funders, and project partners are planning to attend the AFI 2010 Grantee Conference, in Washington, DC on July 27-28. For more information on this important event, please click here
IDA business accounts are featured in the Wall Street Journal (June 2, 2010):
IDAs offer Small Boost to Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Creator of IDAs Named to TIME Magazine’s TIME 100
Michael Sherraden, creator of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and a pioneer in the work on asset building for low-income individuals and families, was named to the TIME 100. TIME 100 is TIME magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. This list recognizes achievement, innovation and activism. To read the 2010 TIME 100, visit: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1984685,00.html.
The Administration for Children and Families recently awarded 5 agencies in Michigan with federal money to continue to grow the IDA programs in their regions. With these dollars, another 250 people will graduate from an IDA program:
IDA award announcement in Michigan (April 2010, pdf)
CFED’s Weathering the Storm study reports on the foreclosure rates of IDA homebuyer graduates, compared to non-IDA homebuyers. The results are very reflective of how much the training components of the program do prepare an individual for the home-purchase process:
Weathering Storm – IDA 4-1-10 (April 2010, pdf)
Woodstock Institute discuss Chicago’s SEED children’s ability to put money aside, and how these savings accounts for children meet a need across the country:
Pilot Savings program show potential of universal, statewide children’s savings plan (April 2010)
