The Self-Sufficiency Standard and Calculator A Path to Economic Security

Page No. 2 Training Overview: Who We Are: The CFES Project The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard Ins & Outs of the Online Calculator Using the Calculator with Clients Using the Calculator to Track Progress out of Poverty

Page No. 3 Californians for Economic Security (CFES) is: A project of The Insight Center for Community Economic Development; CFES is made up of: CA Family Economic Security Initiative (CA FESI) and CA Elder Economic Security Initiative (Cal-EESI) CFES is a statewide advocacy coalition made up of human services, job training, economic/workforce development, educational, women’s and welfare rights organizations and agencies; CFES is a resource for its members on welfare reform, funding sources & self-sufficiency best practices. FESI listserv: EESI listserv: The CFES Project

Page No. 4 CFES’ priorities include… Maintaining a strong and diverse statewide network of organizations concerned with economic self-sufficiency issues; Investment in higher education and high-wage job training for low- income people; Adoption of more realistic cost-of-living measures for families and seniors: the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard and the Elder Economic Security Standard Use of the Family and Elder Standards to inform policy decisions and measure the impact of programs for California families and seniors The CFES Project

Page No. 5 The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard is… a measure of the amount of income needed for 156 different family types to adequately meet basic needs in each county in California without public or private assistance. The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard

Page No. 6 The Family Standard is calculated by Dr. Diana Pearce, PhD at the University of Washington. The Family Standard has been calculated for over 36 states. The California Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard is calculated for each of the state’s 58 counties. The Family Standard is distributed nationally by Wider Opportunities for Women ( and in California by The Insight Center for Community Economic Development ( The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard

Page No. 7 The numbers in the Family Standard use publicly available data sources, including: CHILD CARE: California Dept. of Education FOOD: USDA Low-Cost Food Plan HEALTH INSURANCE: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey HOUSING: HUD Fair Market Rents for Section 8 TRANSPORTATION: U.S. Census, National Association of Insurance Commissioners The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard

Page No. 8 How much does it cost to work & raise a family in California? Roughly 1/3 of California households have incomes too low to pay for basic needs. A single parent raising two children would need to hold down THREE minimum wage jobs in the Bay Area just to make ends meet. THE RESULT: low-wage workers get stuck between poverty & self-sufficiency. The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard

Page No. 9 ItemActual Monthly Cost Housing$1775 Child Care$1340 Food$411 Transportation$45 Health Care$212 Misc.$378 Taxes/credits+ $710 TOTAL Monthly$4,872/month Hourly Wage Needed$27.68/hour San Francisco County Self- Sufficiency Standard: single adult + preschooler & schoolage child

Page No. 10 The Federal Poverty Line: -based on cost of food -no tax credits -“one size fits all” in every county and state of U.S. -describes poverty Self-Sufficiency Standard -all basic costs -EITC, child/care credits -varies by county -varies by family size -varies by age of children -describes self-sufficiency

Page No. 11 The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard Getting to economic self-sufficiency: Increase wages: Job training, Higher education Decrease costs: Work supports These strategies can work together to help families move out of poverty.

Page No. 12 The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard

Page No. 13 The Self-Sufficiency Standard can be used… As a counseling tool for clients and students; Chabot Community College (Hayward) and Berkeley City College use the Calculator with students who are receiving CalWORKs to help them find the benefits for which they are eligible As a benchmarking tool for client progress toward self-sufficiency; Riverside Community Action Partnership and their local faith-based organization partners use the Calculator to help families with short-term and long-term financial planning and budgeting As priority-setting criteria for funding streams and program agendas; United Way of the Bay Area has adopted the Self-Sufficiency Standard as a tool to prioritize and measure the effectiveness of funding strategies. One group of grantees was asked to track client progress toward self-sufficiency. As eligibility criteria for services Workforce Investment Boards in Long Beach, Pasadena, and San Bernardino have adopted a self- sufficiency measure for service eligibility, which enables more low-wage workers to access training. The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard

Page No. 14 The California Self-Sufficiency Calculator OVERVIEW

Page No. 15 What does the Self-Sufficiency Calculator do? It is an anonymous, online tool for 14 counties around the state; Allows users to learn which of 14 different work supports & tax credits they are eligible for; Uses the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard to show progress out of poverty; California Self-Sufficiency Calculator

Page No. 16 What else does the Self-Sufficiency Calculator do? Provides information about each benefit, what documents to bring, and where the offices are; Provides information about other ways to move out of poverty: asset building, getting education while on CalWORKs, etc; Provides referral information for other basic needs and legal aid. California Self-Sufficiency Calculator

Page No. 17 How is this Calculator different from other benefit calculators? The Self-Sufficiency Calculator is the only tool that uses the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard to measure true progress out of poverty; It is a localized, living tool: The Insight Center regularly updates the county office, benefit eligibility, and referral information. California Self-Sufficiency Calculator

Page No. 18 The California Self-Sufficiency Calculator DEMONSTRATION

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Page No. 31 The Standard as a Counseling Tool… Provide clients in workforce system with a realistic goal for achieving economic self-sufficiency. Help bridge the gap between wages and basic needs by identifying the work supports for which a family is eligible. Create short-term and long-term income packages and educational and career goals Benchmark individual achievements based on improvement of wage adequacy.

Page No. 32 The Standard as a Benchmarking Tool… Assess client’s wage adequacy at intake: income/expenses AND income/Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard Measure a client’s movement towards the Family Economic Self- Sufficiency Standard at periodic intervals (their improved wage adequacy) Use that rate of improvement to determine success for individuals and programs.

Page No. 33 Movement towards self-sufficiency is the goal… If you set “movement towards self-sufficiency” as an individual goal for your clients, how could you communicate this goal to them? What are some other “milestones” that indicate movement towards economic self-sufficiency?

Page No. 34 FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSIGHT CENTER AND OUR PROGRAMS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE: For more information about CFES, the Family and Elder Standards, and the Self-Sufficiency Calculator, contact Jenny Chung at or