A Newsletter from the Center for Social Development
at Washington University in St. Louis

The Center for Social Development (CSD) has a multi-purpose agenda encompassing social theory, research, policy, practice and teaching. It is guided by a commitment to development for impoverished families and commun ities. CSD collaborates with a wide range of scholars, and organizations involved in research and policy.

Evaluation of American Dream Demonstration (ADD) Begins at Thirteen Sites

A national Individual Development Account demonstration, called the American Dream Demonstration (ADD), was initiated at a "kick-off" meeting in September.

The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), in Washington, DC, is coordinating the project, which is being funded by the Joyce, C.S. Mott, Ford, Fannie Mae, Levi Strauss, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, and Kaufmann Foundations, and the Mori ah Fund. CFED sent out RFPs early in 1997 to over a thousand community-based organizations. Over two hundred letters of intent were received from forty-four states. From that group, ninety-nine proposals were received, out of which thirteen sites were c hosen.

The purpose of the demonstration is to test the efficacy of IDAs as an anti-poverty strategy in order to inform policy change. CSD will conduct a thorough evaluation of the project over six years (1997-2003). Michael Sherraden, CSD Director, says, "Th is may be the largest policy demonstration and evaluation, other than 'welfare reform,' in the country. We are excited to have an opportunity to thoroughly test the theory and program design for IDAs." The ADD evaluation will include multiple research me thods. These include case studies of imple- mentation; an experimental design survey, using both quantitative and qualitative interview data; an assessment of community impacts; a benefit-cost analysis; and program monitoring of all thirteen sites. Monito ring will be conducted using a management information system developed by CSD for each site to collect participant and program data. Lissa John-son, ADD Study Coordinator, led the team that developed the MIS software.

Chosen ADD sites span the contiguous United States. Sites are located in the following states: California, Indiana, Illinois (two sites), Kansas, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington DC.

Other faculty members involved in ADD include Shanta Pandey and Shirley Porterfield at GWB, and Deborah Page-Adams at the University of Kansas. Doctoral students include Sandy Beverly, Esther Cho, Margie DeWeese-Boyd, Shirley Emerson, Jim Hinterlong, a nd Ed Scanlon.

For more information about the ADD evaluation contact Lissa Johnson at 314-935-8062.

Justine Petersen Housing and Reinvestment Corporation to Implement Family Development Accounts

CSD is assisting the Justine Petersen Housing and Reinvestment Corporation (JPHRC) in creating a Family Development Account (FDA) program for low-income homebuyers in St. Louis.

JPHRC, which CSD helped create and support, has closed over 150 home loans in St. Louis City and County since January 1997, making it the most effective home ownership program for low income families in the St.. Louis area. When JPHRC closes a loan, the homebuyer deposits $1000 in a special savings account and adds $25 per month from their house payment. These accounts are intended to be used for emergency home repairs or other approved emergencies. This innovative and highly successful savings accou nt was pioneered by the late Justine Petersen.

In November 1997, Mercantile Bank of St. Louis announced a $1 billion commitment in home loans to low and moderate income families using the special savings account already in use by JPHRC for all home loans.

For qualifying families, these accounts will become FDAs. Participation in the FDA program will be offered to homebuying families with a household income at 50% or less of the area median income, whose deposits will be matched at a 1:1 ratio for five y ears. If the participating family does not need to access the FDA for a home repair, they will have $5000 in the account at the end of five years. At that time the FDA can be used for home improvements, to capitalize a small business, or for educational expenses.

St. Louis appraisors have contributed part of the matching funds. More funding will be sought from foundations, corporations, local businesses, and private sources.

JPHRC is a St. Louis based non-profit organization that offers internships to GWB students. In fall term 1997, GWB students Margaret Clancy, Harlen Hodge, Amy Klinke, Fred Ssewamala, and Heather Wakefield worked at JPHRC. For further information about FDAs or other JPHRC programs, call 664-5051 and talk to Rob Boyle, executive director, or Judy Notestine, loan counselor.

Analysis of Self Employment Learning Project (SELP) Data

CSD is now in the analysis phase of its work on the Self Employment Learning Project (SELP), a longitudinal study of micro-entrepreneurs. The Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., has contracted with CSD to undertake qualitative interviews and report findings on the poorest sub-sample of SELP respondents. The quantitative and qualitative data together will be the best data set on microenterprise as an anti-poverty strategy that has been collected.

The lead researcher on the project is Margaret Sherraden of the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Two doctoral students are working on the project. Cindy Sanders is a key member of the project team, and Jami Curley is assisting.

St. Louis Academy of Finance

Karen Edwards, Project Co-ordinator at CSD, is on the Advisory Board for the Academy of Finance in St. Louis, which is currently being implemented at Beaumont High School in North St. Louis City. Academies of Finan ce have been operating successfully in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, New York, and other cities.

The St. Louis program will offer low-income minority students the opportunity to learn all facets of the financial field. A four year curriculum has been planned that includes one and a half years of paid internships at local financial institutions. < /P>

CSD is working with the planning committee toward incorporating IDAs into the program, to help participating students save for post-secondary educational expenses. Future plans include setting up a community bank in the school to facilitate savings an d investments by local families. The program director and teachers are interested in having student interns from Washington University assist in Academy operations. Anyone interested in a volunteer or internship position with the Academy of Finance, con tact Karen Edwards, CSD Project Coordinator, at 935-7433.

Preliminary Data From CLASS Project

CSD is home base for Choices of Life for Adolescent Success, or CLASS Project. This project seeks to understand the normative non-problematic development of African American youth.

The project focuses on factors that influence youth decisions to stay in school. Attitudes, social norms, barriers, and racial self-esteem are among the factors being studied.

Funding for this project is provided by the National Institute for Health. The principal investigators are Prof. Larry Davis of George Warren Brown School of Social Work, and Prof. Michael Strube of the Department of Psychology at Washington University . Prof. James Herbert Williams and doctoral students Julie Miller-Cribbs (social work), Sharon Johnson (social work), and Stephanie Cronen (psychology) complete the research team.

The project is now in the fourth and final year of data collection. Some of the preliminary findings were presented at CSWE in March 1997, by Larry Davis and Julie Miller-Cribbs. The presentation was entitled "Reducing School Drop-out: Lessons for Scho ol Social Workers."

For more information about the project, contact Julie Miller-Cribbs at 314-935-4226.

"Work, Families, and Public Policy" Seminar Series

CSD co-sponsors a biweekly seminar series on topics related to labor, households, health care, law, and social welfare. Other sponsors include the Olin School of Business, GWB School of Social Work, Dept. of Economi cs, Graduate Arts and Sciences, and the Committee on Social Thought and Analysis.

Fall 1997 lecturers included: September 8: Donna Gunther, Department of Economics, Washington University: "Sex Discrimination in Faculty Salaries in the Humanities."

September 22: Shelly Lundberg, Department of Economics, University of Washington: "Race, Information, and Segregation."

October 6: Charles F. Manski, Department of Economics, Northwestern University: "Perceptions of Economics Insecurity."

October 20: Pauline Kim, School of Law, Washington University: "Norms, Learning, and Law: Exploring the Influences on Workers' Legal Knowledge."

November 3: Shirley Porterfield, GWB School of Social Work, Washington University: "Welfare to Work: The Labor Supply Impacts of Welfare Reform."

November 17: Anne Winkler, Department of Economics, University of Missouri, St. Louis: "Dual-Earner Families, Career Hierarchy, and Wage Outcomes."

December 1: Kathryn Edin, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania: "Making Ends Meet."

Faculty members and doctoral students from Washington University, the University of Missouri, St. Louis, and other area universities, are invited to participate.

The lectures take place at Eliot Hall, room 300, on the Wash-ington University campus, from Noon to 1:00 p.m., with discussion extending to 1:30 for those interested. Coffee and soft drinks are provided.

Urban Family and Community Development Program

The George Warren Brown School of Social Work and seven other departments and schools from Washington University, St. Louis University, and the University of Missouri - St. Louis, have been planning and developing o ver the past year an interdisciplinary graduate program in Urban Family and Community Development (UFCD).

The twenty-seven hour interdisciplinary program is designed to pro-vide graduate training for people who currently work in pre-dominantly low- income urban neighborhoods. The program aims to strengthen the skills of practitioners who serve children , youth, and families by focusing on development strategies rather than crisis intervention, integrating services, and preparing participants to advance in their careers and assume leadership positions in the community.

 The Urban Family and Community Development Program is to combine core and applied courses with urban seminars and field projects. Courses are co-taught by a team of instructors from various fields to ensure an interdisciplinary perspective . Disciplines include architecture, business, criminology, education, law, public health, public policy, and social work. Administrative costs associated with implementing the UFCD Program are to be funded in part by the Danforth Foundation . The Missouri Department of Social Services is considering a proposal for tuition reimbursement for the first three cohorts who are employees with the St. Louis Caring Communities Programs. Program implementation for students in cohort one is anticipated for May 1998.

Funding for the planning period of the program was provided by the Danforth Foundation. The planning phase has been co-directed by Michael Sherraden, CSD Director, and James Wertsch, Chair, Department of Education at Washington University. Professors J ames Herber Williams of GWB, Garrett Duncan in Education, and Clark Cunningham in the Law School served on the executive planning committee.

For more information about the program, contact Deborah Paulsrud, UFDC Planning Coordinator, at 314-935-7263, or email debp@gwbssw.wustl.edu.

Missouri FDAs

Representative Russell Gunn (D - St. L) will sponsor a Family Development Account (FDA) bill in the Missouri House in the coming legislative session, and Senator Joe Maxwell (D) will support a companion bill in the Missouri Senate. Heather Wakefield, an MSW student at GWB, is working to gain bipartisan support for the bill in the House and Senate. To date, additional legislators supporting the bill are Reps. Bill Boucher (D), Emmy McClelland (R), Rita Days (D), and Senator Betty Sims (R). MASW is actively supporting the bill, making it a legislative priority for this session.

The FDA bill would create matched savings accounts for low-income Missourians, at 200% or less of the federal poverty level. These accounts would be used for home ownership, small business capitalization, and education. The bill would allow 50% tax cre dits, up to $50,000 per year for contributions of matching funds. $4 million in tax credits will be set aside for this purpose. A small percentage of the contributions for matching funds can be used for program administration.

States Move Forward on IDAs

As of August 1997, 24 states had chosen to include IDAs in welfare reform plans, including Missouri and Illinois. If they choose, these states can use TANF funds to create IDA programs. Nine states have passed IDA l egislation for programs that also includes non-welfare low-income families, including Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Indiana and Pennsylvania's programs in- clude appropriated funds for program administrati on and matching dollars. Several other states (including Missouri - see pre- vious article) have intro- duced similar IDA legislation. It is estimated that over 200 community-based IDA programs are currently in progress or in planning across the country.

Alternatives to Social Security

James Midgley, Dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, and Michael Sherraden, of CSD have co-edited Alternatives to Social Security: An International Inquiry. (New York : Auburn House, 1997).

This book looks at Social Security innovations in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Chile, Britain, and Kenya, and draws conclusions regarding policy changes that might be ahead for the United States and other nations.

In the foreward, U.S. Senator John Breaux (D-LA) says, "I believe that the answers to Social Security's woes must go far beyond the 'solutions' currently presented by some of our political leaders this book is essential reading for anyone serious about addressing the inevitable problems that will face the U.S. Social Security system."

CSD Publications

Beverly, S. & Sherraden, M. (1995). Investment in human development as a social development strategy. Working Paper No. 95-1.

Yadama, G. & Sherraden, M. (1995). Effects of assets on attitudes and behaviors: Advance test of a social policy proposal. Working Paper No. 95-2.

Sherraden, M., et al. (1995). IDA Evaluation Handbook. IDA Program tool for evaluation planning. Currently available only on the web site. A new version will be available in the Spring of 1998.

Page-Adams, D. & Sherraden, M. (1996). What we know about effects of asset holding: Implications for research on asset-based anti-poverty initiatives. Working Paper No. 96-1.

Scanlon, E. (1996). Homeownership and its impacts: Implications for policy for low-income families. Working Paper No. 96-2.

Cheng, L. & Page-Adams, D. (1996). Education, assets, and intergenerational well-being. Working Paper No. 96-3.

Sherraden, M. (1996). Social security in the 21^st century. Perspective Series. *

Edwards, K. (1997). Individual development accounts: Creative savings for families and individuals. Policy Report.

Scanlon, E. & Emerson, S. (1997). Home mortgage lending in St. Louis City: An analysis of 1992 and 1994 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Working Paper No. 97-1.

Beverly, S. & Sherraden, M. (1997). Human capital and social work. Working Paper No. 97-2.

Beverly, S. (1997). How can the poor save? Theory and evidence on saving in low-income households. Working Paper No. 97-3.

Sanders, C. K., Scanlon, E., & Emerson, S. (1997). Mortgage lending: Is gender a factor? Working Paper No. 97-4.

Page-Adams, D. & Vosler, N. (1997). Homeownership and well-being among blue-collar workers. Working Paper No. 97-5.

Curley, J., & Sherraden, M. (1998). The history and status of children's allowances: Back-ground for children's savings accounts. Working Paper No. 98-1.

Zahn, M., & Sherraden, M. (1998). Landholding and household development: What do we know? Working Paper No. 98-2.

You may obtain CSD publica- tions by visiting CSD's website at: http://www.gwbssw.wustl.edu/~csd where CSD papers are included in their entirety.

You may also fax a request for publications to (314)935-8661, or call (314)935-7433.

There is no charge for CSD publications. Please cite CSD if you use any portion of the paper(s) in publications or presentations.