Foster Kids Save $3.1 Million

The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative released a report last week showing that their matched savings program for current and former foster children has helped those kids save a combined $3.1 Million to use for nest eggs, education, etc.  Foster children are disproportionately at risk for homelessness, pregnancy, unemployment and incarceration.  This Initiative and others like it offer kids a chance to put small amounts away and have those funds matched, often dollar-for-dollar, to ease the burdens of poverty and surviving on their own in and outside the foster care system.

Matched savings programs, most often called Individual Development Accounts, are one of those millenial anti-poverty innovations that targets individuals as an alternative to public assistance.  Typically funded by a mix of federal and private dollars (e.g., United Way, banks), the majority target adults and allow them to use the money for three things: homeownership, small business development, or education.  Although an admirable program that inculcates good financial skills, the maximum amounts saved are often too small to buy a house or fund private education, certainly in most metropolitan areas.  But I know through my CDC work that people have managed to save for a down payment or make business-related purchases like a new van to expand services.

It's great to see these programs specifically supporting foster children.  These are the success stories we so often need to hear!

(Photo by alancleaver2000)