CFPB: “Many people feel overwhelmed by their financial situations, and they may not know where to go for help. For many low-income Americans, frontline staff of nonprofit and public social services programs are in a unique position to provide that help. Their clients already know and trust them, and in many cases, they’re already sharing financial information with them. Social workers and case managers know, however, that the financial stresses clients face may interfere with their progress toward other goals, like finding and keeping secure housing, staying in school, or even landing a job. As they make progress toward those goals, financial missteps can often erase their hard-fought gains. That’s why social services programs across the country are taking steps to integrate financial empowerment into the work they do each day with their clients. To support their efforts, we’ve developed and field-tested a toolkit for financial services programs called Your Money, Your Goals. The toolkit helps frontline staff understand when and how to introduce clients to financial empowerment concepts. It equips them to help consumers when it comes to:

• Making spending decisions that help them reach their goals
• Avoiding tricks and traps as they choose financial products
• Ordering and fixing credit reports
• Making decisions about repaying debts and taking on new debt
• Keeping track of their income and bills
• Deciding if they need a checking account and understanding what they need to open one”