Influential Financial Education Network Launched to Train Social Services Professionals in Financial Literacy

The financial education industry is buzzing over the announcement of the launch of a broad network of organizations joining together to roll out an innovative partnership, in coordination with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will work to train social services professionals to provide financial education to clients with low and moderate incomes. Among the organizations comprising this venture are Catholic Charities, the Community Action Partnership, the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs, the National Association of Community Health Centers Community HealthCorps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension.

The unveiling of a new online toolkit, named “Your Money, Your Goals,” by the CFPB represented a significant development for the alliance, as it offers a comprehensive set of tools and resources for social services trainings on such topics as budgeting, managing debt, effective savings strategies, and other money management information and resources. By leveraging its relationships with organizations that are part of the network, the CFPB will now have a new, high potential channel to connect consumers to its tools and resources.

One of the major distinguishing characteristics of this program is that the focus is less about educating consumers directly, and more about educating social services professionals to enhance the financial literacy of the individuals and families affiliated with their organizations.

This “train the trainer” approach is gaining significant momentum within the financial education industry, as a growing number of case studies has established the success of such initiatives. Moreover, given the vast reach of the organizations comprising this initiative, many industry observers are watching closely and remain bullish regarding the strong prospects for its success.