Assets For Independence:
First Interim Report to Congress FY1999
IV. |
Grantee and Project Characteristics |
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| Grantee Characteristics | |||
| Project Characteristics | |||
OCS views IDAs as one important component within a larger context of programs and services, and not as a stand-alone program. The program places significant emphasis on the importance of viewing IDAs as a tool in the work in which grantee organizations already engage – one tool of perhaps many designed to assist their clients in moving toward a more secure economic future. Anecdotal evidence indicates that this view of the role of IDAs is becoming widely shared in the IDA field generally.
IDA projects consist of several different components: the Reserve Fund, the IDA accounts, the basic money management education courses, asset-specific counseling and training, and additional supportive services. Administering an IDA initiative requires competency in several different areas, including:
- Social work (case management);
- Financial services (banking);
- Adult education methods generally, as well as specific competency
in the subject areas of:
- general economic and financial literacy
- homebuyer education and counseling
- small business development
- post-secondary education counseling (career counseling);
- Marketing and outreach (client recruitment); and,
- General project management.
While it is possible that all of these competencies exist within the grantee agency itself, it is much more likely that this wide range of expertise is best found in collaborating community partnerships, such as:
- Non-profit social service agencies;
- Community economic development agencies;
- Community action agencies;
- State, county, or local government agencies (e.g., state Cooperative Extension Service; Small Business Administration; or the agency responsible for administering TANF); and,
- Local branches of national organizations specializing in one or more of the above listed areas (common examples are Consumer Credit Counseling Services of America, Neighborhood Housing Services).
Regardless of whether all of the project functions are carried out by the grantee agency alone or in partnership with other local entities, it is clear that operating a full-service IDA project requires the ability to coordinate and facilitate many different areas of service to participating individuals.
Grantee Characteristics
Types and Size of Grantee Agencies
The 38 competitively funded grantees include a variety of agency
types, including 12 CSBG-funded non-profit Community Action Agencies
(CAAs); 12 non-profit Community Development Corporations (CDCs);
10 Other Community-Based Organizations (CBOs); 3 associations;
and 1 state agency working in conjunction with non-profit agencies.
Geographic Distribution of Grantees
The following table shows the geographic distribution of grantees
among the ten DHHS regions:
| DHHS Region # | # of FY1999 Grantees | Distribution within DHHS Region |
|---|---|---|
| I | 5 | CT (1), MA (1), ME (2), VT (1) |
| II | 2 | NY (2) |
| III | 4 | DC (1), MD (1), PA (1), VA (1) |
| IV | 3 | KY (2), NC (1) |
| V | 7 | IL (1), MI (2), MN (1), OH (1), WI (2) |
| VI | 2 | OK (1), TX (1) |
| VII | 3 | IA (1), KS (1), MO (1) |
| VIII | 1 | CO (1) |
| IX | 10 | CA (6), HI (2), NV (2) |
| X | 1 | OR (1) |
| Total | 38 |
Project Characteristics
IDA Project Staffing
The 38 competitive grantees reported employing 91 full-time employees,
130 part-time employees, and 30 Americorps volunteers, for a total
of 251 funded employees (see Appendix A.3). In addition to funded
employees, grantees were utilizing an additional 65 (non-Americorps)
volunteers, for total combined staffing resources (funded plus
volunteer) of 316 individuals devoted to the projects.
Amount and Sources of Project Funding
The 38 competitive grantees were awarded $7,554,037 in Federal
Grants. Grantees must provide a 100 percent non-federal cash match
for every $1 awarded by the federal grant. Thus, the total federal
grant plus non-federal match equals $15,108,074. In addition,
grantees quantified the total of all additional resources (above
the federal grant and required 100 percent non-federal cash match)
available to support their AFI demonstration projects. They proposed
$6,615,710 in in-kind contributions, and $214,000 in cash funds.
Thus, the total value of resources available to support the FY
99 grantees’ AFI projects came to $25,443,784 (See Appendix
A.4) for the first group of IDA grantees.
The statutory limitations on use of funds dictate that of the combined federal grant and non-federal match available to FY 99 grantees ($18,828,074 total), at least 90.5% or $17,039,407 must be used to match participant IDA deposits; the remainder of 9.5% (no more than $1,788,667) is available for project administration and participant skills-building (at least $376,561 of which must be expended for providing data to the independent evaluator).
Proposed Number of IDAs and Participant Matching Funds Available
In their original applications for AFI funding submitted in the spring and summer of 1999, the 38 grantees that were awarded competitive AFI Demonstration grants proposed to open a total of 7,584 individual development accounts (IDAs). If it is assumed that all the grantees were to use the minimum of 90.5 percent of federal and non-federal share funds for matching account holders deposits, the average proposed match amounts to $1,802 ($901 federal and $901 non-federal. See Appendices A.3 – A.6). The proposed average of $901 in federal match funds per IDA is significantly less than the $2,000 maximum federal match per IDA allowed under the AFI statute.
Among the grantees, four (11%) proposed to use less than $500 in federal funds to match IDA savings accounts; ten others (26%) proposed to use between $501 and $1,000 in federal funds to match the IDA account holders savings; another twelve (32%) proposed to set aside between $1,001 and $1,500 in federal funds per IDA account; an additional four (11%) proposed to use between $1,501 and $1,900; and a final group of eight (21%) proposed to use between $1,901 and $2,000.
An interesting trend among the 1999 AFI grantees was the tendency to propose lower average matches the more accounts were proposed. For example, the 14 (37%) grantees that propose to use less than $1,000 on average in federal money to match the IDA accounts were expected to open approximately 62 percent of the total IDAs. These variations may be expected in a demonstration project that within broad guidelines encourages experimentation.
