Social Work Commons^™

Financial Outcomes In A Child Development Account Experiment: Full Inclusion, Success Regardless Of Race Or Income, And Investment Growth For All, Margaret Clancy

Center for Social Development Research

This research summary presents SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment financial outcomes—Oklahoma College Savings Plan 529 (OK 529) account holding and savings—as of December 31, 2019. Wave 3 of SEED OK occurred when children were about 12 years old, nearing the age when they and their families make decisions about high school curricula and, not long after, postsecondary education.

This summary shows that all children can have an asset-building account with resources that grow over time. In particular, the CDA greatly increases the likelihood that disadvantaged children have assets accumulating for their future education. In addition, the CDA in …

A Long-Term Experiment On Child Development Accounts: Update And Impacts Of Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Jin Huang, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

How does a Child Development Account (CDA), opened for an infant at the time of birth, shape that child’s trajectory as he or she grows? For 12-year-old children and their families, the CDA in SEED for Oklahoma Kids had very large positive impacts on financial outcomes and some positive impacts on nonfinancial outcomes, even though the experiment had little intervention over the past 9 years.

This report presents findings from the long-running SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, a randomized Child Development Account experiment. Launched in 2007 with a representative sample of newborns, the experiment provided CDAs with substantial …

Mi-Seed Investment Funds And Account Growth: Implications For Achieving Higher Rates Of Return In Cda Programs, Trina R. Shanks, Patrick Meehan

Center for Social Development Research

In 2004, the Michigan Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Down Payment initiative (MI-SEED) recruited 430 families through 14 Head Start centers, enrolling 497 children in Child Development Accounts (CDAs). Designed to begin to address wealth disparities between low- and high-income families, the MI-SEED CDA used the state 529 college savings plan as the investment instrument. This brief presents results on MI-SEED savings and withdrawals through 2019. The results suggest that investment strategy greatly influences account growth, and the authors offer recommendations for ensuring acceptable growth in CDAs.

Toward Finance As A Public Good, Jin Huang, Margaret S. Sherraden, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Financial inclusion is a prerequisite for the financial stability of families and for successful economies, but common conceptualizations of it have not adequately accounted for the financialization of modern life or for the influence of social policy, which increasingly delivers public benefits through financial services. This study proposes a broader conceptualization of financial inclusion, finding support for this new understanding in results from analyses of data from the 2016 National Financial Well-Being Survey and from a case study of Child Development Accounts.

Support for this publication comes from the Kauffman Foundation (Grant No. 201806-4478).

Two Extraordinary Days For Race And Electoral Democracy In America, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In this Perspective, Michael Sherraden draws optimism from participation in the January 5, 2021, special election in Georgia, as well as the national repudiation of the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Together, these events create an opportunity to shape a better future.

In The Community: Over 25 Years Of Inquiry, Innovation, And Impact, Center For Social Development, Washington University In St. Louis

Center for Social Development Research

This report marks over 25 years of innovative applied research and the effects of those efforts in society. Founded in 1994, the Center for Social Development continues to generate pathbreaking innovations that broaden opportunity, especially for the marginalized. The report also looks ahead, discussing emerging engagements and potential lines for new inquiry.

Asset-Building Policy In Korea: Innovation For Social Development, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This Perspective is adapted from Michael Sherraden’s keynote address given during the “Ceremony Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Self- Sufficiency & Welfare Policy and 10th Anniversary of Asset- Building Policy” in Korea. The Perspective is presented through a partnership between the Center for Social Development, the Korean Ministry of Health & Welfare, and the Korea Development Institute for Self-Sufficiency & Welfare.

Financial Capability And Asset Building In Social And Economic Development: Advancing The Sustainable Development Goals, David Ansong, Moses Okumu, Jin Huang`, Margaret S. Sherraden, Lissa Johnson, Li Zou

Center for Social Development Research

The concern for economic well-being undergirds most of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This Perspective articulates an agenda for advancing those goals in resource-constrained countries by leveraging financial capability and asset-building (FCAB) strategies. It also specifies a role for financial technology (commonly called “FinTech”) in this work. The authors conclude with a call for better integrating FCAB and FinTech into plans for advancing the SDGs.

Insights From State Treasurers: Developing And Implementing Statewide Child Development Account Policies, Chris Leiker, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In 2018 and 2019, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Illinois, and California enacted laws creating automatic, universal, at-birth CDA policies, and in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic halted the progress of CDA bills in Missouri. Several states previously adopted CDA policies by administrative rule. This Policy Summary presents insights from four state treasurers based on their direct experience developing statewide CDA policy through legislation.

On July 16, 2020, the treasurers and other professionals gathered virtually for “All Children Can Reach Their Potential: A CDA Conference.” In a panel discussion moderated by Missouri State Treasurer Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella, …

Cash Transfers And Health, Sicong Sun, Jin Huang, Darrell Hudson, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Financial resources are known to affect health outcomes. Many types of social policies and programs, including social assistance and social insurance, have been implemented around the world to increase financial resources. As an overall term, we refer to these as cash transfers. In this article, we discuss whether, how, for whom, and to what extent purposeful cash transfers may improve health, both theoretically and empirically. The overall finding is that cash transfers are very positive, but as usual, there are many complexities and variations. Continuing research and policy innovation—for example, universal basic income and universal Child Development Accounts—are likely to …

Child Development Accounts Improve Parenting Practices, Particularly For Financially Vulnerable Families, Jin Huang

Center for Social Development Research

Parenting practices, such as parental involvement and discipline, define parent–child interactions and influence child functioning. Child Development Accounts may have positive impacts on parenting practices by increasing parents’ perceived levels of economic safety, enhancing their optimism regarding the long-term development of their child, and improving parents’ mental health. This research brief synthesizes findings of the CDA effects on parenting practices from three research studies in the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment.

Findings show that the SEED OK CDA has significantly reduced mothers’ punitive parenting practices, and also increased positive parenting practices among mothers in financially vulnerable families. The size of …

Accountable Policing: Policies To Advance The Personal Safety Of Black Boys And Young Men, Robert Motley

Center for Social Development Research

The policies and practices that perpetuate the continual, unjust murder of Black males by the nation’s law-enforcement professionals have gone unchanged for far too long. This Brief Report from HomeGrown StL provides local, state, and federal policymakers with concrete, evidence-based policy recommendations for building an equitable, transparent, and accountable public-safety approach that will serve and protect all.

Social Work And The Future Of Policing: Key Points For Changes In Policy And Practice, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

High-profile police violence and killings have prompted struggles to reconceptualize public order, safety and justice. As reform proposals emerge, this brief proposes key elements for new approach to public safety: an expanded professional partnership between police and social workers.

Child Development Accounts In The Covid-19 Crisis: Lessons From The Great Recession, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an economic downturn that will likely be worse than the Great Recession, especially for financially vulnerable households. Child Development Accounts (CDAs) were rigorously tested in the 2008-09 recession and produced positive financial and family results. Likewise, CDAs can be expected to have positive impacts on children in financially vulnerable households during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

To confront this health and economic crisis, this research and policy report examines how CDA research from the previous recession can inform a new kind of social policy to address the current one. The report draws from in-person interviews …

A Framework For Explaining Black–White Inequality In Homeownership Sustainability, Chunhui Ren

Center for Social Development Research

Why do housing outcomes differ by race?

To understand Black–White disparities in homeownership sustainability, this study proposes a conceptual framework that emphasizes Black homeowners’ socioeconomic challenges, challenges that go beyond the mortgage market, and focuses on the mediating role of liquid assets. Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) enable a test of the framework through an examination of racial differences in the exit rates of homeowners during the recent housing crisis. The findings suggest that liquid assets played a significant role in such disparities.

This is a pre-print of an article published in Demography. The final …

Chıld Development Accounts: A Policy Design And Opportunity For Azerbaijan, Aytakin Huseynli, Michael Sherraden, Daniel Gottlieb

Center for Social Development Research

In Azerbaijan, recent economic growth and sizable oil revenues offer a path for improving the well-being of the nation’s children. This brief makes the case for a national CDA policy in Azerbaijan and suggests viable paths to implementation of such a policy.

Son zamanlar Azərbaycanda baş verən iqtisadi inkişaf və neft gəlirlərinin artamsı, uşaqların rifahının yaxşılaşdırılamsı sahəsində dayanıqlı proqramlar tətbiq etməyə imkan yaradır. Sənəd, Azərbaycanda hər bir uşağa qənaet hesabları olan- Uşaq İnkişaf Hesablarının-açılması üçün yazılan siyasi sənədin qısa xülasəsidir.

The Financial Capability And Financial Well-Being Of Low-Income Entrepreneurs, Jin Huang, Baorong Guo

Center for Social Development Research

Entrepreneurship can offer a path out of poverty, but do low-income entrepreneurs have the knowledge and resources they need to succeed?

Reporting on analyses of data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2016 National Financial Well-Being Survey, this brief suggests that many would-be entrepreneurs turn to alternative financial products in lieu of mainstream options and could benefit from comprehensive financial guidance designed to bolster financial capability.

Essential Policy Design Elements For Statewide Child Development Accounts, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden, Sondra G. Beverly

Center for Social Development Research

This Fact Sheet defines 10 essential and well-established design elements of state CDA legislation. Several states have adopted CDA policies, some by legislation and others by administrative rule, all using their 529 plans as the financial platform. Those interested in creating a statewide policy can view a full discussion and documentation of sample legislation in full in the Policy Summary from which this work is adapted.

Child Development Accounts At Scale: Sample State Legislation, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden, Sondra G. Beverly

Center for Social Development Research

Statewide Child Development Accounts (CDAs) provide assets and encourage saving for postsecondary education through deposits into investment accounts. Several states have adopted CDA policies, some by legislation and others by administrative rule, all using their 529 plans as the financial platform. This Policy Summary is intended to inform states interested in enacting universal, automatic, statewide CDA legislation.

It presents select examples of legislative from state CDA policies in Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Illinois, and California. Delivering CDAs at scale—to all newborns in families across the full socioeconomic and geographic (rural and urban) spectrum—and in a financially sustainable way requires a sound policy …

Statewide Child Development Accounts And Local Partnerships: A Scalable Model That Can Include All Families, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden, Jim Huang, Sondra G. Beverly, Youngmi Kim

Center for Social Development Research

This brief presents a policy model for partnering statewide Child Development Accounts (CDAs) with other federal, state, city, and community services for financially vulnerable families. Statewide CDAs use 529 plans as the financial platform.

The brief first outlines the different strengths of local municipalities, social service organizations, and statewide CDAs, and then illustrates the benefits of a combined policy model. The model is designed to increase the positive impacts at scale and ensure that statewide CDAs complement but do not replace efforts by local organizations and governments. With partnerships formed and common challenges met, statewide CDAs, local municipalities and …

Lessons And Policy Implications From The Flint Water Crisis, Amy Krings, Dana Kornberg, Shawna Lee

Center for Social Development Research

The results of the Flint water crisis were disastrous. Permanent damage has been done to Flint’s most vulnerable residents, the city’s water system, and residents’ trust in government institutions.

This policy brief describes the shortcomings of Michigan’s emergency management (EM) system and informs policymakers on potential improvements for its eventual replacement. It frames the EM system within the logic and practice of urban austerity politics and demonstrates how emergency manager policies are not race-neutral approaches to solving urban financial crises. It considers what the Flint water crisis suggests about policy mechanisms that might prevent future environmental health crises, outlining the …

Financially Vulnerable Families Reap Multiple Benefits From Child Development Accounts, Jin Huang, Sondra G. Beverly, Youngmi Kim, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Financially vulnerable families face numerous challenges that can adversely affect their children’s development. This brief reports on the effects of Child Development Accounts (CDAs), a financial capability intervention, in families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Head Start. The results show that CDAs positively shape several financial and nonfinancial outcomes for these families.

Will I Be Able To Cast My Ballot? Race, Income, And Voting Access On Election Day, Gena Gunn Mcclendon, Kyle A. Pitzer, Michael Sherraden, Aura Aguilar

Center for Social Development Research

A multimethod study of electoral process and access among registered voters in St. Louis City and County.

This quantitative and qualitative study examines differences in electoral process and access, and how these differences may affect the participation of registered voters, with particular attention to race and income. Disparities in the voting process and access are understood as a form of voter suppression, whether intended or not. The research is community grounded, building on strong researcher–community relationships. Data were collected at a sample of polling locations during the November 2018 elections in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. The analysis …

Healing Policies For Black Boys And Young Men In St. Louis: Priorities In 2019, Sean Joe, Robert Motley, Alexandra Ivory, Alyssa Finner, Janet Frederick

Center for Social Development Research

What policy reforms are needed to remove the structural barriers that make it difficult for Black boys and young men to thrive in St. Louis?

Presenting findings from research with social service providers, this Brief Report from the Race and Opportunity Lab’s HomeGrown STL project seeks to inform policy decisions, advocacy efforts, and collective impact strategies in order to improve outcomes for Black boys and young men in the St. Louis region.

Race, Income, And Voting Access On Election Day, Aura Aguilar, Gena Gunn Mcclendon, Michael Sherraden, Kyle A. Pitzer

Center for Social Development Research

This Fact Sheet summarizes findings and recommendations from Will I Be Able to Cast My Ballot? Race, Income, and Voting Access on Election Day, a Research Report from the Voter Access and Engagement initiative’s multimethod study of electoral process and access among registered voters in St. Louis City and County.

Who Will Help Children? Building Brain Regimes, William F. Tate Iv

Center for Social Development Research

“Why can’t we organize public–private partnerships to protect and to nurture the brains of our children?”

In this Perspective, William Tate IV makes the case for constructing brain regimes—public–private partnerships designed to nurture and support the healthy development of children. Illuminating the ways in which communities and schools shape individual outcomes in Missouri, he offers seven evidence-based recommendations for fostering brain development and positive outcomes.

Who Will Help Children? Building Regional Brain Regimes is based in part on “Beyond Education Triage: Building Brain Regimes in Metropolitan America,” Chapter 11 in Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society …

Volunteering And Measures Of Human Development, Benjamin J. Lough Phd

Center for Social Development Research

Through volunteering, millions of people actively participate in the work of overcoming challenges to human development. But how do differences in income, gender, access to education, labor-force participation, and other factors influence people’s participation in volunteering? Created as part of a global research agenda to inform connections between volunteering and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, this brief reports results on correlations between national rates of volunteering (both formal and informal) and key indicators of human development. The findings suggest that differences in levels of human development, standards of living, and other key indicators play roles in whether a nation’s …

Segregation And A Path Forward To Inclusion In St. Louis, Henry S. Webber

Center for Social Development Research

Segregation and a Path Forward to Inclusion in St. Louis is adapted from an address given during Facing Segregation: Building Strategies in Every Neighborhood, the 2019 annual conference of the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council, on April 12, 2019, at Central Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri. This Perspective is presented here through a partnership between the Center for Social Development and the council.

A Time Of Opportunity, Angela Glover Blackwell

Center for Social Development Research

A Time of Opportunity is adapted from the keynote address given during Race at the Forefront: Sharpening a Focus on Race in Applied Research, the inaugural conference of the Collaboration on Race, Inequality, and Social Mobility in America, at Washington University on March 28, 2019.

Seed For Oklahoma Kids Wave 3: Extending Rigorous Research And A Successful Policy Model, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden, Sondra G. Beverly

Center for Social Development Research

With support from philanthropists, the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis (CSD) is conducting a third wave of research in the SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment. A research study of exceptional quality, SEED OK represents an opportunity to assess the long-term potential of Child Development Accounts (CDAS)—a national system of asset-building accounts for children and youth.1 Wave 3, taking place in 2019 and 2020, expands the original CDA in SEED OK with an automatic progressive deposit, and extends the longitudinal research to examine the impacts of the CDA when the children are in middle …