Spotlight Story

A Year in Review: Reflections on the CSA Field in 2020

The year 2020 marked the start of a new decade and introduced new opportunities and challenges for the CSA field. It began strongly with the launches of two statewide programs, Baby Steps in Massachusetts and First Step in Colorado. Existing programs also made great strides. For example, College Kids in St. Louis strengthened its work to develop a college-going culture through its commitment to community engagement and a hands-on approach that centers families and children. In January, NYC Kids RISE celebrated reaching 10,000 students enrolled in 39 schools in western Queens and raised more than $57,000 from local businesses and community members to boost children’s savings. Read More.

Giving Tuesday Campaign Provides Nearly $200,000 for CSA Participants

Prosperity Now’s 1:1 Fund, which partners with local CSA programs to help children, especially those from low-income families, build savings for postsecondary education, held its annual Giving Tuesday campaign on December 1. Many of the 1:1 Fund’s partner CSA programs had asked their donors to contribute throughout the year so they could﷟ HYPERLINK "https://prosperitynow.org/blog/how-11-fund-helping-csa-programs-support-families-during-covid-19" address the heightened economic challenges of participating children and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their donors generously contributed again on Giving Tuesday, which helped partners take advantage of the 1:1 Fund’s match.

Fourteen CSA program partners participated in the campaign and raised close to $112,000. With the 1:1 Fund’s match and additional bonus funding, partners received nearly $200,000 to support the children and families in their programs. The 1:1 Fund’s success would not be possible without the support of individual donors, the dedication of our partners and the commitment of CSA participants and their families to building long-term savings and ensuring a bright future for children. Thank you for your continued support of the 1:1 Fund, and have a happy and safe holiday season!

In the News

2020 Election Yields Many Wins and a Few Disappointments for CSA Champions

This November, several CSA champions won their reelection bids, including:

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who introduced federal baby bonds legislation.
Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, a supporter of statewide CSA legislation.
Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read, whose office started Kinder Grad and Baby Grad.
St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones, who created the College Kids program; Jones also announced plans to run for mayor of St. Louis.

Newly elected officials include:

Daniella Levine Cava—a champion of the Future Bound Miami program—elected mayor of Miami-Dade County, FL.
Ariel Kelley—one of the founders of Kinder2College at Corazón Healdsburg—elected to the Healdsburg City Council in California.

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella, who started the Keystone Scholars program, and Stockton, CA, Mayor Michael Tubbs, who spurred development of Stockton Jr. Scholars, lost their reelection bids. CSAs did not appear to be a major factor in either election. We expect that Keystone Scholars will continue under the new Pennsylvania treasurer, Stacy Garrity, and Stockton Jr. Scholars will continue to be developed by the Reinvent Stockton Foundation.

Miami-Dade County Commission Approves the Expansion of Future Bound Miami

In October, the Miami-Dade County Commission in Florida approved a $500,000 expansion of Future Bound Miami, a CSA program operating in the Miami-Dade County Public School District. Future Bound Miami, which launched in fall 2019, establishes a CSA for kindergarten students attending 30 elementary schools that feed into the five high schools within the City of Miami. The funding will enable expansion to an additional 98 schools, with the ultimate plan of making CSAs available to all kindergarten students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools by 2023.

From the Field

GAO Releases Report on the CSA Field

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report on CSA programs and research, Children’s Savings Account Programs Can Help Families Build Savings and Envision College, which was submitted to the House and Senate subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. The report, which heavily draws on findings from Prosperity Now’s annual CSA program survey and interviews with staff, focuses on how CSA programs help children and families save for postsecondary education and research on the impacts of these programs. GAO also looked at research from and conducted interviews with Campaign for Every Kid’s Future Steering Committee members, including the Center for Social Development at Washington University and the Center on Assets, Education and Inclusion at the University of Michigan.

New Report on NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program

A new report by the Urban Institute, Upward Mobility through a Universal College and Career Asset-Building Platform, provides an overview of the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program and helps establish a framework for future evaluation. The report includes a logic model that outlines the key pillars of the community-driven economic platform NYC Kids RISE is working to establish and other measurement strategies to help the organization understand and evaluate progress toward its goals. NYC Kids Rise is also partnering with NYC Opportunity to develop a new parent/guardian survey to better understand how parents engage with the program.

The Michigan CSA Network Measures Statewide Impact

The Michigan CSA Network created statewide impact metrics to measure the overall impact of the CSA programs in the state as a way to expand statewide support for CSAs. The new metrics provide baselines to assess the field’s growth, savings activity and participant demographics. Fourteen programs participated in the survey, which showed a total enrollment of 20,791, with 47% of participants from low- and moderate-income households; 19% are children of color. Participants have $4.9 million saved in accounts, and their savings rate—the number of accounts with family contributions divided by the total number of accounts—is 30%.

Past Webinars

Understanding Financial Aid and CSAs| Prosperity Now| November 2020

Publications

Children’s Savings Account Programs Can Help Families Build Savings and Envision College| U.S. Government Accountability Office| December 2020

Upward Mobility through a Universal College and Career Asset-Building Platform| Urban Institute| October 2020