Executive Summary

This Report to Congress is the first annual report submitted pursuant to the requirements set forth by Section 414(d)(1) of TITLE IV-- the Assets for Independence Act (42 USC 604 note) of the Community Opportunities, Accountability, and Training and Educational Services Act of 1998 (Pub.L. 105-285), as amended.

This report provides data for the projects of the 40 entities that received fiscal year (FY) 1999 grants under the Assets for Independence Demonstration (IDA) Program. This report includes both program and participant information and provides the following information as required by Section 412 of the IDA authorizing legislation:

1. The number and characteristics of individuals making deposits into Individual Development Accounts;
2. The amounts in the Reserve Fund held by grantees;
3. The amounts deposited into the Individual Development Accounts by program account holders;
4. The amounts withdrawn from the Individual Development Accounts and the purposes for which such amounts were withdrawn;
5. The balances in the Individual Development Accounts;
6. The savings account characteristics (such as threshold amounts and match rates) required to stimulate participation in the demonstration project, and how such characteristics may vary among different populations or communities;
7. What service configurations of the qualified entity (such as configurations relating to peer support, structured planning exercises, mentoring, and case management) increased the rate and consistency of participation in the demonstration project and how such configurations varied among different populations or communities; and,
8. Such other information as the Secretary may require to evaluate the demonstration project.

The Annual Report reveals that a total of 2,153 accounts had been opened during this initial project year representing around 29% of the projected total number of accounts to be opened during the 5-year life of all the projects. It also reports that by the end of the first project year, 43 Individual Development Account holders purchased a qualified asset using their savings and the match to those savings.

The report points out that the average amount of savings for each account holder was almost $250 per account. Because many of the account holders did not have an opportunity to save for a full year, the annualized amount will prove to be almost double that amount. (Many of the account holders in this first year did not have a full year to save due to the date the projects started, or they began to participate.)

Eligibility for this project was no more than EITC income eligibility guidelines, or less than 100% of poverty. For a three-person household with one child this is an annual household income of less than $28,000.

The report reveals that once implemented, a number of projects sought significant supplements to their existing programs. These cohorts of the first project year requested supplements amounting to almost 30% of the original total amount requested. This means that although this program requires a 100% non-Federal cash match, the first-year grantees were able to expand their program by almost a third.

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