August 2015 Newsletter
RAISE Texas News
Fall 2015 Economic Opportunity Policy Intern Needed
OpportunityTexas, a joint initiative of CPPP and RAISE Texas that identifies innovative solutions to increase household savings and advance financial stability in Texas, needs a fall intern. The graduate student intern will work on various tasks, and specific areas of policy work including asset building and financial education. The majority of the intern’s time will be to support the implementation and evaluation of a school-based financial education and college savings pilot that we are currently working on. Click here to view the entire job description, and feel free to share this information.
RAISE Texas Board Member Graduates from Presidential Leadership Scholars Program
We would like to congratulate Roy Lopez, a RAISE TexasBoard Member and Community Development Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, on his graduation from the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program. Lopez was one of sixty inaugural graduates from the program. The Presidential Leadership Scholars Program was established to increase social good in communities large and small through leadership development. This program utilizes resources offered in the presidential centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and takes the scholars to each center to study different approaches to leadership in an executive—style program. For more information, visit www.presidentialleadershipscholars.org.
Texas News
OCCC will soon accept grant applications for the next TFEE funding cycle
On September 1, 2015 the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC) will begin accepting grant applications for the 2016-2017 Texas Financial Education Endowment (TFEE) funding cycle. Applications will be accepted from organizations within the state of Texas that strive to increase and promote financial capability for adults and youth, and encourage personal financial education and responsibility. Click here to read an article that provides in depth information about the TFEE grant program.
Texas Ranks 9th Worst State for Kids
According to the new national KIDS COUNT® Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas remains one of the ten worst states for kids. Over the past five years, Texas kids have experienced very slow and uneven progress in key areas of well-being, and are generally still worse off than before the recession. The notable exception is in health, where Texas improved on all four key health indicators (child and teen death rate, low-birthweight babies, children without health insurance, and teens who abuse alcohol/drugs). Key findings include:
- Texas ranks 41st out of 50 states in terms of overall child well-being.
- Texas ranks 49th in children without health insurance.
- Texas ranks 46th in children living in high-poverty neighborhoods.
Click here to download the entire report.
Low-Income Families Still Use Paid Tax Preparers
Despite the number of VITA sites and other free tax preparation services, about 55 percent of Earned Income Tax Credit recipients nationwide used a paid tax preparer last year. The IRS breakdown of low-income families who used paid tax preparation services by state shows that Texas has 55 percent of EITC recipients still using paid preparers. Click here to see the entire breakdown by state.
RAISE Texas is working to expand free tax preparation services in Texas. We will be hosting a webinar this fall on free tax preparation services. Thirty-four states have lower percentages of EITC recipients using paid tax preparers. Let’s work together to reach more low-income families with free tax preparation services! Details about our webinar will be sent out next month.National News
Financial Coaching Helps Families Achieve Financial Stability
As the conversation continues nationally about the impact of financial coaching services, this article highlights just how important a financial coach can be to a family struggling to get by. “Having a trusted, well-informed financial coach can increase your odds of financial success,” stated CFPB Director Richard Cordray while discussing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new initiative to match military servicemen and women with financial coaches. Click here to read the entire article.
Second Webinar of Exploring Innovation Series on August 6
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is hosting a webinar series on Exploring Innovation in Community Development. The second webinar of this series, Innovative Financial Products and Services in Asset-Building: Treasury’s New myRA Program, is scheduled for August 6, 2015 from 2:00pm-3:15pm Central. This webinar will provide insight into myRA, the U.S. Treasury’s new retirement savings program. Registration is now open. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about myRA!
The Benefit Bank® Has a New Look
The Benefit Bank®, an online service that provides benefits eligibility screening, benefits application filing, and an IRS-certified tax assistance and filing service, launched an updated site today to improve the experience on portable devices (i.e. mobile phones and tablets). Some of the new enhancements include a modern design, web page content adapts to device size and updates to the Site Locator feature. These are the first steps of a comprehensive plan to update The Benefit Bank® over the coming year. Visit the new web site here.
