Published:
02/03/2011 02:56pm
California Foundation Fund is turning Financial Literacy Upside Down
California Foundation Fund (CAFF) San Diego CA
www.cafoundationfund.org
The independent non-profit corporation is creating financial literacy curriculum from the bottom up with the input of local community members. Under the directive of CAFF, studies are under way to determine how specific communities learn and engage in financial literacy topics. The goal of this effort is to ensure future financial literacy initiatives are audience specific and shows progress is helping underserved communities break the cycle of poverty.
It is through this study that financial literacy curriculum will be designed to address improvements in audience participation and benefit those that need it the most. Participants will be studied to determine lesson effectiveness, interests, presentation preferences, and environmental needs. This outreach initiative is intended to support the California Financial Curriculum Council revise and update lesson plans, objectives, anticipated outcomes, instructional resources, and benchmarks for financial literacy programs.
Participants' money management progress will be gauged to a national set of benchmarks and standards. Unlike generic curriculum development, this work takes in both academic and cultural inputs to address the aim to teach money management skills.
According to recent census results, the fastest growth in poverty rates in California is within single mothers. Other large underserved communities in California include, Latinos, immigrants, and discharged military members. CAFF intends to study these communities to determine the best methods to help educators present financial literacy topics and track participants results. The findings and audience specific curriculum modules will be made available for educational institutions to use by April 2011.
About California Foundation Fund
CAFF's mission is to break the cycle of poverty and the financial stresses that devastate our State’s low-income population. Through technical support services, CAFF provides financial educators the tools and benchmarks required to deliver successful personal and small business initiatives. CAFF's directive is to help improve the methods in which financial education is developed and implemented. CAFF foster collaborative relationships between communities and financial education institutions to improve participants financial lives.
CAFF has a team of executives in educational management, behavioral science, research, and financial industries who develop, execute and evaluate a narrow set of high impact and replicable programs within culturally similar communities.
CAFF programs helps organizations create, determine, gauge, and regulate successful implementation of:
Financial Literacy
Basic financial education
Asset building services
Credit management education
Home ownership counseling
Tax consulting
Small business mentorship
Small business support services
Personal micro-lending development
These programs often assist residents of lower-income neighborhoods to build wealth and participate in the American financial system. Implemented successfully, these steps help break the cycle of generational poverty. At the same time, financial literacy enable institutions to extend the reach of their products and services to low-income persons and to unbanked and underbanked markets.
For more information contact: Jorge Olson 888-330-8638
