Building Wealth and Health Network: A Microfinance/TANF Demonstration Project

Summary

The goals of the The Building Wealth and Health Network (The Network) are to develop and rigorously test an asset building model that will build financial, social and human capital through asset building, financial education and trauma-informed peer support. Program components include: 1) Matched savings accounts; 2) Financial literacy classes; and 3) Peer support groups using the Sanctuary ® trauma-informed approach to social services. This program is offered in partnership with the Department of Public Welfare of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The program elements will fulfill work requirements for the program called temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

The hypothesis is that the program's combination of services will result in improved economic security through boosting income, increasing assets, and building a supportive social network, that then translates to better health outcomes.

Conditions

• Hunger
• Child Development
• Social Isolation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Self Empowerment Groups

The Self Empowerment Groups (SEG) curriculum draws key components from the S.E.L.F. tool within Sanctuary, focusing the four domains: creating personal, emotional, moral and physical safety (S), processing and managing emotions (E), recognizing loss and letting go (L), and developing goals for a sense of future (F). S.E.L.F. establishes a common language that all people who have experienced adversity can use to organize their lives and work towards building stable foundations to support their goals and invest in their potential.

BEHAVIORAL

Financial Empowerment

The Financial Empowerment curriculum developed for this study consisted of interactive exercises, worksheets, and journal assignments that fostered understanding and practice of banking, building credit and debt management, making the most of one's money, and setting financial goals for oneself and one's family. Content focused on identifying and harnessing the internal and external resources that participants can leverage to begin taking steps towards financial self-sufficiency.

BEHAVIORAL

Matched Savings

Participants were assisted with opening a savings accounts at a local non-profit federal credit union (with 1:1 matches of up to twenty dollars per month) over the course of 12 months.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Center for Hunger-Free Communities

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH · Drexel University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-06-16

Primary Completion

2015-12-31

Completion

2015-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations