 | Immigrant Financial Services Study Research Brief
The Study is one of the first field research initiatives in New York City to look specifically at the financial needs and practices of recent immigrants. It examines not only assumptions about the needs and behaviors of three distinct first-generation immigrant groups in New York City—Chinese, Ecuadorian, Mexican—but also supply and demand to identify areas where the financial services marketplace could improve to help these communities move forward financially.
 Download Study in:
English Español (Spanish) 中文 (Chinese)
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 | Municipal Financial Empowerment: A Supervitamin for Public Programs
Third Report Focuses on Integrating Safe and Affordable Bank Accounts
The Report details DCA’s efforts to increase access to mainstream banking for the City’s more than 825,000 unbanked adults, including the availability of on-site direct deposit enrollment.
Read the press release
Download the report
Download the Compilation (Reports #1, #2, #3)
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 | Municipal Financial Empowerment: A Supervitamin for Public Programs
Second Report Focuses on Professionalizing the Field of Financial Education and Counseling
DCA’s efforts to provide high quality, consistent and demonstrably effective financial counseling at scale and professionalize the field itself are highlighted in Report #2. The Report also details DCA's partnerships with The City University of New York and Columbia University School of Social Work to create comprehensive financial counselor trainings that can serve as models for national accreditation. Other efforts toward professionalization include standardizing the approach to financial counseling as well as outcomes measurements, and developing a network of practitioners.
Read the press release
Download the report
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 | SaveUSA Program Implementation: Insights from the Field
Offered nationally for the first time in 2011, SaveUSA is a tax time matched savings program designed to encourage short-term savings among tax filers with low to moderate incomes. This brief documents Year 1 of the program, with a focus on key implementation lessons for policymakers, advocates, and funders to highlight tax time savings in their work and provide a framework for further replication.
Download the brief
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 | Municipal Financial Empowerment: A Supervitamin for Public Programs
Initial Report of Series Details "Supervitamin Effect" of Improved Social Service Outcomes When Integrating Professional Financial Counseling
This first report documents DCA's work embedding one-on-one professional financial counseling within several City services, including homeless prevention, workforce development, domestic violence interventions, and the promising results. The series builds the case that fully integrating financial empowerment and asset building strategies into public programs will lead to more effective service delivery, improving outcomes while potentially saving money.
Read the press release
Download the report
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 | Financial Empowerment (FE) Brief
The February 2011 FE Brief summarizes research findings from the Citywide Financial Services Study.
Download February 2011 FE Brief
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 | Financial Empowerment (FE) Brief
The June 2010 FE Brief highlights OFE’s efforts to expand access to high-quality free financial education and counseling.
Download June 2010 FE Brief
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 | Citywide Financial Services Study
Commissioned by OFE, the Citywide Financial Services Study quantified for the first time the number of unbanked adults in New York City (825,000).
Read the press release
Download Findings from the Citywide Financial Services Study
Download complete New York Financial Environment presentation
Download Banking Profiles for each Community District
Download Credit and Debt Profiles for each Community District
Download detailed methodology
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 | Report on the Office of Financial Empowerment’s First Three Years
Evaluates Progress of First Program Funded by the Center for Economic Opportunity
Launched by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in December 2006, DCA’s OFE has connected approximately 32,000 New Yorkers to financial classes and counseling, helped 226,000 New Yorkers access free or low-cost tax preparation, facilitated more than $450,000 in savings in households with low incomes through its $aveNYC Account program, advocated for stronger consumer protections in the financial services sector, and more. The report describes the multitude of financial empowerment innovations, strategies, and approaches OFE has implemented thus far—and the national implications for its work, which include building the new field of municipal financial empowerment and founding the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Coalition.
Read the report (in PDF)
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 | $aveNYC Account: Innovation in Asset Building
Building on the 2009 Research Brief, OFE’s Research Update presents highlights from the first three years of the $aveNYC Account program which has successfully encouraged New Yorkers with low incomes to build savings at tax time.
 Download the Research Update (December 2010)
Download the Research Brief (August 2009)
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 | Neighborhood Financial Services Study
The Neighborhood Financial Services Study examines residents' attitudes and behaviors related to basic banking services, savings, and credit, and the role of financial education in two New York City neighborhoods: Jamaica, Queens and Melrose, Bronx. The purpose of the study is to understand better the banking dynamics in low-income neighborhoods to identify public and private opportunities for long-term, high-impact financial empowerment initiatives.
Download Executive Summary (in PDF)
Download Full Report (in PDF)
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