Taking the First Step: Six Ways to Start Building Financial Security and Opportunity at the Local Level

Posted by on January 28, 2013

A new report by CFED and NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute) highlights no-cost or low-cost ideas for how city officials can get started in helping more families in their community achieve financial stability.  The report, Taking the First Step: Six Ways to Start Building Financial Security and Opportunity at the Local Level, describes six points of entry for municipal leadership:

• Raising awareness about available services and consumer protections.
• Increasing access to financial education through provider networks.
• Connecting residents to safe and affordable financial products.
• Mitigating foreclosures by coordinating services and leveraging resources.
• Preventing predatory lending through local ordinances.
• Modeling a strong role for employers through benefit structures and human resource policies.

The strategies described in this step-by-step guide serve as “low-hanging fruit” for cities that have just begun to focus on ways to promote family economic success.

http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/institute-for-youth-education-and-families/family-economic-success/taking-the-first-step-six-ways-to-start-building-financial-security-and-opportunity-at-the-local-level