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2. INCREASE INDEPENDENT LIVING

Approach for the Strategic Objective: Empower individuals with developmental disabilities to move into their own homes, increasing their personal control and participation in their community.

(Note: Objective 2 does not refer to the "Independent Living Program" for youth aging out of foster care, which is discussed under Objective 7.)

2.1 DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES (HOUSING)

The DD housing goal: "Increase the opportunities of adults with developmental disabilities to choose where and with whom they live and to have the services they need to support these choices" includes the following outcomes: "Individuals with developmental disabilities have opportunities and information needed to make choices about where to live. People with developmental disabilities have the ability to own their own homes. Living in the community is affordable, accessible, and equitable."

(See information on DD partnership process, performance goals, data, and resources under Strategic Objective 1, above.)

Program-wide Performance

The number of people with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes (measure 2.1a) significantly exceeded the FY 2000 target but fell short of previous years' performance. More reliable reporting of data accounts for the decrease in number of adults who own or rent their own homes. State Councils in 35 States and territories reported 7,308 people with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes, as a consequence of State Council intervention, which included educating mortgage lenders, training potential homeowners, and funding projects to demonstrate cutting edge practices to achieve improved outcomes. Based on the actual data reported for FY 2000, the target for FY 2001 was increased using FY 2000 data as the revised baseline.

As mentioned above, ADD will begin a review of the performance measures which may result in changes to its performance system. Targets for FY 2002 and 2003 reflect ADD's commitment to maintain the previous year's performance.

Summary Table

Performance Measures	Targets	Actual Performance	Reference (page # in printed document)
PROGRAM GOAL: Increase the opportunities of adults with developmental disabilities to choose where and with whom they live and to have the services they need to support these choices.
Objective: Increase the number of people with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes.
2.1a. Achieve the targeted number of people with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes as a result of DD program intervention.	FY 03: 8,000* FY 02: 8,000 FY 01: 7,500 FY 00: 2,132 FY 99: 2,079	FY 03: FY 02: FY 01: 3/02 FY 00: 7,308 (rev. baseline)** FY 99: 34,904 FY 98: 19,649 FY 97:  915 (21 States)	Px 69
*The FY 2003 target for measure 2.1a reflects ADD’s commitment to maintain the previous year’s performance level. In FY 2002, ADD will begin a review of the methodology, data collection system, and targets for measure 2.1a. ** Baseline for measure 2.1a is FY 2000 based on changes in data reporting by States.

 

Performance Measures for FY 2003 and Final Measures for FY 2002

PROGRAM GOAL: Increase the opportunities of adults with developmental disabilities to choose where and with whom they live and to have the services they need to support these choices.

Objective: Increase the number of people with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes.

2.1a. FY 2002: Achieve 8,000 persons with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes as a result of DD program intervention.

 FY 2003: Maintain at 8,000 persons with developmental disabilities owning or renting their own homes as a result of DD program intervention.

Data Source: DDC annual Program Performance Report (PPR)

The achievement of the performance target is affected by a number of factors, e.g. the impact of the economy on the cost of buying or renting housing, the perceived cost of making such housing accessible to people with disabilities, and the impact of social attitudes regarding the desirability and potential for people with developmental disabilities to live in the community. Additionally, the negative attitudes of businesses and banks regarding making loans, selling housing, or renting housing to persons with developmental disabilities limit the ability of social services programs to promote choice of living in a community for persons with developmental disabilities.

Technical assistance is provided by ACF to State programs to help with improving data stability and programmatic outcomes. The above issues combined with data collection and interpretation difficulties continue to create instability in performance data.

ADD funds three different approaches in the States that contribute to the accomplishment of this objective. The State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD) works to create systems change within the housing and community-based service systems. Educational efforts to improve public and business opinions on financing and housing for persons with disabilities, involving both the State Council and the Centers for Excellence/University Affiliated Programs. Protection and Advocacy Programs work to ensure that the housing and financing rights of people with developmental disabilities are protected.

2.2 ASSETS FOR INDEPENDENCE (INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNTS)

Program Description, Context, Legislative Intent and Broad Program Goals

The Assets for Independence Demonstration Program was established by the Assets for Independence Act (AFI Act), under title IV of the Community Opportunities, Accountability and Training and Educational Services Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998, P.L. 105-285 (also known as Individual Development Accounts or IDA).

The Assets for Independence Demonstration Program is a directed, matched savings/investment program for lower-income individuals and families. Participants enter into a Savings Plan Agreement with the project grantee which establishes a schedule and goal of savings from earned income, to be matched at an agreed rate which can be from one to eight dollars for each dollar saved. Matching contributions are made by the grantee at least quarterly from equal parts of Federal grant funds and non-Federal share contributions to the project. Matched savings may be expended for either (1) the purchase of a principal residence by a first-time homebuyer, (2) the capitalization of a business, or (3) the expenses of post-secondary education.

The major goals of the program are to design demonstration projects that will determine: (1) the social, civic, psychological, and economic effects of providing to individuals and families with limited means an incentive to accumulate assets by saving a portion of their earned income; (2) the extent to which an asset-based policy that promotes saving for post-secondary education, homeownership and small business capitalization may be used to enable individuals and families with limited means to increase their economic self-sufficiency; and (3) the extent to which an asset-based policy stabilizes and improves families and the community in which they live.

Eligible applicants are private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizations, or State and local governmental agencies or Tribal governments applying jointly with eligible not-for-profit organizations, Credit Unions that have been designated as Low Income Credit Unions by the National Credit Union Administration, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), so designated by the Treasury Department or the CDFI Fund. Grantees are selected competitively based on applications using the following criteria: the background and capabilities of the applicant; the description of the target population; project theory, design, and plan; the plan for providing information needed for program evaluation; additional resources available to support project participants; and the description of the results and benefits expected to result from the project. Applications must include a commitment for a cash non-Federal share equal to the amount of the Federal grant.

The Program Announcement encourages all applicants to agree to use MIS IDA software or a comparable Asset Development Information System that OCS expects to provide to grantees to track participant and account characteristics and experience. Section 412 of the AFIA requires annual reporting by grantees on the basis of these data. The statute requires that at least 2 percent of grant funds be used for data collection. Section 414 requires an annual report to the Congress based on these grantee reports, and calls for an overall evaluation of the program over the five-year duration of the AFIA and its impact on a variety of factors listed in that section, including potential financial returns to the Federal Government and other investors in IDA over a 5-year and 10-year period. Pursuant to these provisions, ACF awarded a contract to evaluate the funded IDA projects and the overall program. The evaluation plan has been approved by the agency.

Program Activities, Strategies and Resources

This program is entering its fourth year. A first round of forty (40) demonstration grants was funded in August and September 1999 for 5-year demonstration programs. In FY 2000, OCS received another $10 million appropriation with which it made twenty-five (25) new competitive grants to new applicants and seventeen (17) supplementary grants to FY 1999 grantees. These supplementary grants were made to grantees that demonstrated their ability to: raise additional non-Federal share dollars, document successful operation of their project so far, and identify unmet need that could only be met with supplemental funding.

Each of these grantees will produce yearly progress reports within 60 days of completion of the program year. The Secretary will submit interim annual progress reports to Congress using the information in these reports.

A process for developing impact measures based on the three overall goals for the program is part of the evaluation plan developed under a one-year Task Order issued by DHHS. In August 2000, the evaluation contractor submitted the evaluation plan that includes a conceptual framework along with an evaluation design. The research data collection strategies for the impact measures include an interview questionnaire for use with professional staff during on-site visits with selected grantees for the process study. The questionnaire is being modified to include questions from the Survey of Income and Program Participant (SIPP) instrument that attempt to measure economic, civic, psychological, and social effects of asset accumulation. A participant questionnaire for telephone interviews with randomly selected IDA holders will be used as a comparison with non-treatment respondents to the "Assets and Liabilities" module of the SIPP instrument administered by the U.S. Bureau of the Census in the non-experimental impact analysis component of the evaluation. The first round of on-site visits has already been carried out.

Amendments to the AFIA, which took effect December 21, 2000 made a number of changes to the original program, including:

• "Qualified Entities" which can apply for grants have been expanded to include Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) designated by the Treasury Department or the CDFI Fund, and Credit Unions designated "low-income" by the National Credit Union Administration, provided they demonstrate a collaborative relationship with a community-based organization whose activities address poverty in the community;
  
• Eligibility for participation in the program has been expanded to include households below 200 percent of the poverty income guidelines;
  
• The percentage of grant funds available for data collection, program administration and support has been increased from 9.5 percent to 15 percent; and
  
• The IDA's, including participant savings, matching contributions, and any income earned thereon, are to be disregarded in determining eligibility to receive, or the amount of, any assistance or benefit authorized under any Federal program requiring an individual's financial circumstances to be considered in determining such eligibility.

Under special "transitional" provisions in the 2000 amendments to the AFIA, each of the FY 1999 grantees must submit to the Secretary their first year program progress reports within 90 days of the effective date of the amendments, or by March 21, 2001. Using the information obtained from these progress reports, the Secretary will compile and submit the first program progress report to Congress.

This Report to Congress is the first annual report submitted pursuant to the requirements set forth by Section 414(d)(1) of the AFI statute. This report provides data for the AFI projects of the forty (40) entities that received fiscal year (FY) 1999 grants under the Assets for Independence Demonstration Program. This report includes both program and participant information and provides the following information as required by Section 412 of the AFI statute:

• The number and characteristics of individuals making a deposit into an individual development account;
  
• The amounts in the Reserve Fund established for the project;
  
• The amounts deposited in the individual development accounts;
  
• The amounts withdrawn from the individual development accounts and the purposes for which they were withdrawn;
  
• The balances remaining in the individual development accounts;
  
• The savings account characteristics (such as threshold amounts and match rates) required to stimulate participation in the demonstration project, and how such characteristics vary among different populations or communities;
  
• Which 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
  
• Such other information as the Secretary may require in the evaluation of the demonstration project.

The annual reports provide ACF with information critical to developing performance measures and targets. The matched savings/investment program requires lengthy start-up time for grantees to establish the program, identify prospective participants, and establish matched savings plan accounts. Then at least two years are required for investments to mature.

Currently ACF is considering the following areas for performance measures:

• The number of participants that opened IDA accounts
  
• The number of participants receiving financial literacy and asset-related services

Asset-specific services and resources are designed to increase the likelihood that participants will maximize their ability to leverage additional resources and make well-informed choices as they acquire the asset of their choice. Without these services, many participants would neither be able to assemble adequate resources to purchase the asset, nor plan effectively for the maintenance and accrual of the asset's value over the long term. The purchase of a major asset may be one of the most significant experiences the average person will face. Furthermore, maintaining the asset and utilizing it to create wealth may also pose a challenge for many low-income people.

The potential positive and/or negative consequences of the asset to the family can create a high level of stress and apprehension. The purchase of the asset represents probably the largest monetary commitment they have ever made. The decision will have major long-term impact on the financial security of the family; the decisions are both technically complex and unfamiliar.

Besides needing to understand investment decision-making, IDA participants often require additional resources to put the asset within their reach. While the participants' savings and the match are a good start, often they are not enough. The programs inform participants how to leverage their resources to acquire additional funds to purchase the asset.

Asset-specific services and resources related to the savings goal are critical to most participants' success in attaining the asset and having it contribute to wealth accumulation over the long term. Specialized services offered by IDA programs in this demonstration include: education and/or counseling to assist in determining affordability (short- and long-term); assistance in planning for buying and maintaining the asset; assistance in understanding the process and paperwork involved; and information about avoiding scams. Additional resources offered by IDA programs that help put the asset within reach include: other financial support such as down payment assistance; special financing arrangements; and discounts or free services related to the purchase.

Section 414 of the AFIA requires the Secretary to enter into a contract with an independent research organization to evaluate the demonstration projects conducted pursuant to the act, individually and as a group, and lists the following factors to be addressed:

• The effects of incentives and organizational or institutional support on savings behavior in the demonstration project.
  
• The savings rates of individuals in the demonstration project based on demographic characteristics including gender, age, family size, race or ethnic background, and income.
  
• The economic, civic, psychological, and social effects of asset accumulation, and how such effects vary among different populations or communities.
  
• The effects of individual development accounts on savings rates, homeownership, level of post-secondary education attained, and self-employment, and how such effects vary among different populations or communities.
  
• The potential financial returns to the Federal Government and to other public and private sector investors in individual development accounts over 5-year and 10-year periods of time.
  
• The lessons to be learned from the demonstration projects conducted under this title including whether a permanent program of individual development accounts should be established.
  
• Such other factors as may be prescribed by the Secretary.

The AFIA authorizes annual appropriations of $25 million for the program. Ten million dollars was appropriated for each of the first two years, FY 1999 and FY 2000. Congress appropriated $25 million for each year in FY 2001-2001 based on growing support for the program among practitioners, States, and the financial community. The latter felt that as the program gained experience and momentum in the field, the demand for funding would increase. At the same time, OCS devoted increased resources to technical assistance, both to existing grantees and to prospective applicants. This added assistance, along with the increased funding is expected to enlarge the scope of the evaluation and result in a larger and deeper source of data that will yield more valuable findings.

Program Coordination, Partnerships and Cross-cutting Issues

ACF continues to work in partnership with selected States and local grantees toward achieving the goals of this program. We have found that a key to successful project implementation is to develop effective, mutually supportive relationships between grantees and their partnering Financial Institutions, and OCS technical assistance efforts are focusing on strengthening these relationships. Other external variables that will continue to influence the achievement of program goals include the health of the local economy and job availability; systemic barriers to low-income employment such as availability of transportation and affordable day care; support of the banking, business, and foundation communities in providing non-Federal matching contributions; and the availability of support structures that enhance job retention and advancement of IDA program participants.

Program-Wide Performance

As of September 2001, grantees for FY 1999 and 2000 reported opening 4,037 IDAs and making a total of $1,639,035 in savings deposits. Financial and asset-related training was provided to 6,546 participants, with 4,453 participants completing their entire training program. Given the fact that the income of most account holders was below 150 percent of poverty, these savings figures represent a substantive achievement by the grantees.

In their applications for funding, the FY 1999 and 2000 grantees cumulatively projected opening 7,584 IDAs during their 5-year project periods. IDAs require extra effort by project staff to fully explain the IDA concept, market the program, recruit participants, and adapt program requirements as they face challenges during the implementation phase. Agencies administering IDA initiatives typically must revise outreach and intake strategies several times in order to find the right "marketing message" for their particular target population. This often entails conducting numerous focus groups and surveys with potential clients to assess the best way to explain to the target audience the IDA account structure, program requirements, and recruitment expectations. Although grantees began the process of opening accounts within the first several years of the project, early research indicates that successful IDA programs generally undertake a thorough planning and preparation process prior to beginning participant recruitment - a process often involving several months from initial outreach to the opening of accounts.

Data Issues

Each grantee must provide: a plan for collecting, validating and providing relevant, accurate and complete data for internal management information, statutory reporting and project evaluation purposes; and a clearly expressed commitment to cooperate with the statutorily mandated evaluation of the national Assets for Independence Demonstration Program. Under the AFI Act, as amended, project grantees are required to use at least 2%, but not more than 15%, of grant funds to provide the research organization evaluating the demonstration project with the information it requires to evaluate the demonstration project.

The Assets for Independence Act allocates a portion of the appropriated funds to evaluate the overall demonstration program, in addition to the funds grantees are required to expend on data collection. The agency requires the grantee to provide a well thought-out plan for collecting, validating and reporting the necessary data in a timely fashion. The grantee is encouraged to identify the kinds of data it believes would facilitate the management information, reporting, and evaluation purposes. The grantee agrees to cooperate with the evaluation of the national program. Grantees are urged to carry out an ongoing assessment of the data and information collected as an effective management/feedback tool in implementing their project. OCS, through its technical assistance contractor, will provide all AFIA grantees with a new Asset Development Information System that will greatly facilitate maintenance, collection, validation, and transmission of project data essential to the program evaluation.

Performance Measures for FY 2003

In FY 2003, the projects will have progressed sufficiently to provide significant number of achievements in completing IDA accounts. With the completion of IDA accounts, the clients will have sustained themselves through a rigorous savings plan including the depositing of significant amounts of savings and will be primed for moving to the next step in the process of economic self-sufficiency. Account holders will have moved closer to acquiring an appreciable asset -- a first home, a new business, or enrollment in post-secondary education. All these will have long term effects on their futures. We are beginning to have measurable data and information on clients' progress toward these interim goals in their movement out of poverty, i.e.how many clients have completed their IDA accounts and how many have translated that into the acquisition of an appreciable asset. Still, these are interim outcome measures for account holders'achievement of economic self-sufficiency.

PROGRAM GOAL: To assist families with limited means to accumulate assets through a matched savings/investment program to increase their economic self-sufficiency

Objective: Promote savings for post-secondary education, homeownership and small business capitalization

Developmental

2.2a. FY 2002: Increase the number of participants that have opened IDA accounts. FY 2003: Increase the number of participants that have opened IDA accounts.

Data Source: Program Progress Reports

2.2b. FY 2002: Increase the number of participants receiving financial literacy and asset-related services.

FY 2003: Increase the number of participants receiving financial literacy and asset-related services.

Data Source: Program Progress Reports

The pool of participants and potential number of IDA accounts will increase with each cycle of funding grantees for the 5-year period. The FY 2001 baseline includes the first two years of grantees (two years for the FY 1999 grantees and one year for the FY 2000 grantees). The FY 2002 and 2003 targets are estimates based on calculations from the FY 2001 raw baseline data.

 

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