The year 2020 marked the start of a new decade and introduced new opportunities and challenges for the CSA field. It began strongly with the launches of two statewide programs, Baby Steps in Massachusetts and First Step in Colorado. Existing programs also made great strides. For example, College Kids in St. Louis strengthened its work to develop a college-going culture through its commitment to community engagement and a hands-on approach that centers families and children. In January, NYC Kids RISE celebrated reaching 10,000 students enrolled in 39 schools in western Queens and raised more than $57,000 from local businesses and community members to boost children’s savings.

But the COVID-19 pandemic presented new obstacles for CSA programs and the communities they serve. CSA programs adapted their operations and engagement strategies to meet these challenges in several ways, including:

• Changing outreach and engagement to virtual and contactless methods.
  • San Francisco Kindergarten to College (K2C) sent text messages to participating families for the first time; it also expanded its social media reach with the addition of a new Instagram account and a Spanish-language Facebook page to share information and resources available to those impacted by COVID-19.
  • CollegeBound Saint Paul held a drive-through baby shower in which expectant parents drove to a local community center and were provided with information about the program and program swag for their new babies, all without getting out of their cars.
• Providing emergency assistance to families.
  • NYC Kids RISE randomly selected 1,500 Save for College Program participating families to receive $150 emergency cash disaster relief gift cards.
  • Santa Cruz SEEDS focused on providing support to undocumented workers who were unemployed and may be ineligible for some government supports, such as the federal stimulus payments.  
• Adapting activities and incentives for children and families to participate remotely.  
  • Oakland Promise held its annual campus visit, Cal Day, virtually, with teachers sharing links to activities families could do at home with their kids. 
  • Fund My Future Pittsburgh, which normally requires participants to make savings deposits to win its prize-linked savings raffle, counted alternate at-home activities that reinforced the message of the program as entries. 

A year of transition and new challenges was capped off by the bi-annual CSA Pre-Conference in October, which preceded the Prosperity Now Summit. More than 80 CSA practitioners, policymakers, researchers and funders gathered virtually to discuss how the CSA field can play a role in closing the racial wealth divide and how to integrate CSAs into a more holistic set of services. The discussion generated calls for bolder, more transformative CSA programs and stressed the need to meet families where they are by helping to address current economic challenges while implementing long-term solutions. Work on these fronts will continue in 2021.

The CSA field will continue to adapt to new challenges while strengthening its commitment to building a brighter future for children.  All of us on Prosperity Now’s Children’s Savings Team wish you a happy, healthy and safe new year, and we look forward to continuing to support your efforts to expand CSAs to more children in 2021!