Social Work Commons^™

Policy Design For Child Development Accounts: Parents' Perceptions, Sondra Beverly, Jin Huang, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, which features of Child Development Account (CDA) policy do study participants perceive as important for increasing the number of children who earn a college degree or trade school certificate? Which features do participants view as important for encouraging parents to save for their children’s postsecondary education?

This brief presents findings from a 2020 survey of parents in the experiment, when their children were about 13 years old. Results are for 1,666 parents (those whose children received the CDA in SEED OK and those whose children did not) and for subgroups defined by household …

Home Delinquency Rates Are Lower Among Aca Marketplace Households: Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Emily A. Gallagher, Radhakrishnan Gopalon, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Stephen P. Roll, Genevieve Davison

Center for Social Development Research

This brief uses administrative income tax data coupled with survey responses from roughly 5,000 households living near the poverty line to estimate how access to the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplaces have affected households’ experiences of extreme illiquidity, which is measured by delinquencies on home payments. To estimate this relationship, we exploit a natural experiment underway in states that did not expand Medicaid and created by the eligibility rules for Marketplace subsidies. Results suggest that insured households living near the poverty line are better able to make timely rent and mortgage payments compared with similar, uninsured households. Given housing …

Financial Outcomes In Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment is a large-scale policy test of universal, automatic, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs). This fact sheet highlights selected SEED OK financial outcomes measured between 2007 and 2014. Because of SEED OK’s automatic account opening and initial deposits, the CDA has especially large impacts on OK 529 savings among disadvantaged children. Advantaged children are more likely than disadvantaged children to have individual savings in OK 529 accounts, and average individual savings are higher for advantaged children. But, the CDA increases the likelihood that disadvantaged children have OK 529 accounts opened by their …

Closing The Racial Wealth Gap: Innovative Solutions For Change, Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition

Center for Social Development Research

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap: Innovative Solutions for Change

Automatic Deposits For All At Birth: Maine's Harold Alfond College Challenge, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The first statewide Child Development Account (CDA) in the United States announced a major change in strategy to automatically enroll all newborns. Evidence from CDA research has contributed to the decision by the College Challenge to remove its original opt-in requirement—in which parents must enroll their newborns in the state’s 529 college savings plan to receive a $500 grant—in favor of universal enrollment—in which every child is enrolled automatically at birth with a $500 grant.

Building A Lifetime Of Economic Security: Mobilizing For Change, Center For Social Development

Center for Social Development Research

Building a Lifetime of Economic Security: Mobilizing for Change

Interviews With Mothers Of Young Children In The Seed For Oklahoma Kids College Savings Experiment, Karen Gray, Margaret Clancy, Margaret S. Sherraden, Kristen Wagner, Julie Miller-Cribbs

Center for Social Development Research

Interviews With Mothers of Young Children in the SEED for Oklahoma Kids College Savings Experiment

Inquiry, Innovation, & Impact: Report To The Community, Center For Social Development

Center for Social Development Research

Inquiry, Innovation, & Impact: Report to the Community

Closing The Wealth Gap: Promoting Change By Working Together, Jennifer Heffern, Aja Riley

Center for Social Development Research

Closing the Wealth Gap: Promoting Change by Working Together

Saving For College: A Policy Primer, Margaret M. Clancy, Terry Lassar, Krista Taake

Center for Social Development Research

To help address the rapidly rising cost of higher education—an obstacle to college access and completion for many low- and moderate-income families—it is increasingly important to save for college. This report highlights key policy considerations and challenges, along with specific strategies, to make 529 college savings plans more accessible to families of all incomes.

Saving For Post-Secondary Education In American Indian Communities, Amy Locklear Hertel, Mary Elizabeth Jäger

Center for Social Development Research

Saving for Post-Secondary Education in American Indian Communities

The Basics Of Progressive 529s, Center For Social Development

Center for Social Development Research

The Basics of Progressive 529s

College Savings Plan Accounts At Birth: Maine's Statewide Program, Margaret M. Clancy, Terry Lassar

Center for Social Development Research

The Harold Alfond College Challenge offers $500 to every child in the state enrolled in Maine’s NextGen college savings plan within 1 year from birth. As the first U.S. example of a statewide Child Development Account, the Alfond Challenge is a laboratory to study and learn from Maine’s experience. This CSD policy brief provides an overview of the Alfond Challenge, examines administrative and enrollment challenges, and offers recommendations and federal and state policy directions.

Asset Building In The South: Organizations And Services, Gena Gunn, Jennifer Heffern, Karen Edwards

Center for Social Development Research

Asset Building in the South: Organizations and Services

Toward More Inclusive College Savings Plans: Sample State Legislation, Terry Lassar, Margaret M. Clancy, Sarah Mcclure

Center for Social Development Research

A number of states have created inclusive 529 policy strategies to make college savings plans more accessible and easier to use for families at all income levels. These strategies include facilitating enrollment and contributions, removing saving disincentives, increasing saving incentives, and strengthening tax benefits. In this report, we examine these inclusive state policy strategies, describe their application through legislative and administrative means, and point to specific examples.A related policy brief by the same title is also available.

Toward More Inclusive College Savings Plans: Sample State Legislation, Terry Lassar, Margaret M. Clancy, Sarah Mcclure

Center for Social Development Research

A number of states have created inclusive 529 policy strategies to make college savings plans more accessible and easier to use for families at all income levels. These strategies include: facilitating enrollment and contributions, removing saving disincentives, increasing saving incentives, and strengthening tax benefits. In this brief, we highlight these inclusive state policy strategies, describes their application through legislative and administrative means, and points to specific examples. A related policy report by the same title is also available.

Streamlined Enrollment And Default Investment: Innovations In Alaska's College Savings Plan, Margaret M. Clancy, Terry Lassar, Rebekah Miller

Center for Social Development Research

As college savings plans have gained in popularity and matured over the years, states have developed a number of innovations to facilitate access to and participation in 529s. This paper examines innovations in streamlined enrollment, pre-selected investment, and default investment in Alaska’s college savings plan. These 529 innovations—intended to facilitate greater participation, especially amongst low- and middle-income families—could play a more important role in other states to encourage savings for postsecondary education.

Low-Cost State Innovations To Help Families Save For College, Mark Huelsman, Margaret M. Clancy

Center for Social Development Research

While 529 plans are defined in the federal tax code, individual states have considerable latitude to innovate and make their plans more inclusive. Some states have undertaken large-scale initiatives, such as matching contributions or establishing accounts at birth. Other states have been exploring a number of smaller, lower- cost innovations to remove disincentives and increase savings. States are often the testing ground for future federal policies, and several of these initiatives could also be enacted at the federal level.

The Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition Survey, Gena Gunn, Jennifer Heffern

Center for Social Development Research

The Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition Survey

State-Level Asset-Building Coalitions: Origins, Operations, And Achievements, Naomi Warren, Gena Gunn

Center for Social Development Research

State-Level Asset-Building Coalitions: Origins, Operations, and Achievements

Creative Partnerships Between Gear Up And State College Savings Plans: Experience And Policy Potential, Margaret M. Clancy, Rebekah Miller

Center for Social Development Research

This brief provides examples of how GEAR UP and state College Savings Plans are working together to provide information and resources to low-income and at-risk students. To illustrate experience and potential, the Center for Social Development documents and assesses four existing partnerships between College Savings Plans and GEAR UP. State-level experiences to date suggest several policy implications.

Active Partnerships: Working Together And Working For The Field, Jennifer Heffern, Gena Gun, Karen Edwards

Center for Social Development Research

The State Assets Policy Project (SAPP), an initiative of the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis, hosted its 6th asset-building policy conference November 7-9, 2007, in St. Louis, Missouri. Titled, Partnerships: Working Together and Working for the Field, the conference had three purposes: 1) to share information about current asset-building policies, and the existing or potential universality of these policies; 2) to facilitate collaboration between participating organizations; and 3) to consider the potential for universality of proposed assets policies, strategies, and systems. This document provides a summary of conference activities geared to assist conference participants …

Policy Brief: Pursuing 529 College Savings Plan Exclusion From Oklahoma Asset Limit Tests, Lisa Reyes Mason, Soda Lo, Margaret M. Clancy

Center for Social Development Research

Pursuing 529 College Savings Plan Exclusion from Oklahoma Asset Limit Tests

Asset-Building Coalitions In States: Innovative Coalition Development And Policy Advocacy Strategies Meeting, Karen Edwards, Gena Gunn Mcclendon, Jennifer Heffern

Center for Social Development Research

Asset-Building Coalitions in States: Innovative Coalition Development and Policy Advocacy Strategies Meeting

Excluding 529 College Savings Plan Accounts From Oklahoma Public Assistance Asset Limit Tests, Lisa Reyes Mason, Margaret M. Clancy, Soda Lo

Center for Social Development Research

Excluding 529 College Savings Plan Accounts From Oklahoma Public Assistance Asset Limit Tests

State 529 Matching Grant Program Summary, Margaret M. Clancy, Lisa Reyes Mason, Soda Lo

Center for Social Development Research

State 529 Matching Grant Program Summary

Coordinating Individual Development Accounts And The Workforce Investment Act To Increase Access To Postsecondary Education And Training, Mark Greenberg, Nisha Patel

Center for Social Development Research

Coordinating Individual Development Accounts and the Workforce Investment Act to Increase Access to Postsecondary Education and Training

Wealth Building In Rural America: Programs, Policies, Research, Jon Bailey, Jami Curley, Karen Edwards, Gena Gunn, Eric Henson, Njeri Kagotho, Anna Lee, Kathleen K. Miller, Luxman Nathan, Trina R. Shanks, Michael Sherraden, Margaret S. Sherraden, Jean Schumacher, Bill Schweke, Ann Ulmer

Center for Social Development Research

Wealth Building in Rural America: Programs, Policies, Research

State Policy Options For Building Assets, Leslie Parrish, Heather Mcculloch, Karen Edwards

Center for Social Development Research

State Policy Options for Building Assets

State-Level Individual Development Account (Ida) Policy: Opportunities And Challenges For Rural Areas, Karen Edwards, Jon Bailey

Center for Social Development Research

State-Level Individual Development Account (IDA) Policy: Opportunities and Challenges for Rural Areas