2008 Family Economic Success Task Force

Introduction & Conference Overview

The Family Economic Success Task Force convened June 26-27, 2008, in Pinehurst, North Carolina, to promote awareness about the growing number of low-income families and their struggles; and to discuss the role of state legislators in implementing changes in order to provide these families with help and support. The critical areas covered at the Task Force included predatory lending, the mortgage foreclosure crisis, financial literacy, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

It is clear that the children in greatest trouble in America today are those whose parents lack the earnings, assets, services, or social support systems required to consistently meet their families’ needs. A family can be financially successful through securing adequate incomes stabilizing their finances, accumulating savings and living in vibrant, economically viable neighborhoods through a combination of approaches known as building family economic success. The steps that should be taken in order to ensure family economic success (FES) include: asset building, developing strategies to help build wealth and save for the future; creating family economic supports to help establish credit, reduce debt, and increase financial security; and workforce development, helping workers gain the skills and education necessary to succeed financially and establish careers.

States can enact policies which aid low-income families in building their assets to provide stability for their children. State policymakers can enhance work and earning opportunities through financial literacy programs, job training and access to higher education, affordable housing, and tax and benefit rules that allow families to retain their earnings as they work their way out of poverty. These strategies will improve our state economies and positively impact our families. The Family Economic Success Task Force included expert presentations and the development of policy recommendations. The recommendations were approved at a Women In Government Board of Directors’ meeting.

We proudly partnered with Center for Law and Social Policy, Action for Children North Carolina, Institute for Socio-Financial Studies, Center for Responsible Lending, Office of Governor Michael Easley (NC), Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the EITC Carolinas Initiative at MDC.

Participants

Legislators

  • Representative Terri Austin (D), Indiana State Legislature
  • Representative Patricia Bellock (R), Illinois State Legislature
  • Representative Lois DeBerry (D), House Speaker Pro Tempore, Tennessee State Legislature
  • Senator Katie G. Dorsett (D), North Carolina State Legislature
  • Senator Sue Errington (D), Indiana State Legislature
  • Representative Laura Hall (D), Alabama State Legislature
  • Representative Kathy Hawken (R), Member of Women In Government Board of Directors, North Dakota State Legislature
  • Representative Janet Johnson, Arkansas State Legislature
  • Representative MarySue McClurkin (R), Member of Women In Government Board of Directors, Alabama State Legislature
  • Representative Karen Morgan (D), Chair of Women In Government Board of Directors, Utah State Legislature
  • Senator Nan Orrock (D), Member of Women In Government Board of Directors, Georgia State Legislature
  • Representative Wilhelmina Lewellen (D), Arkansas State Legislature
  • Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo, Kentucky State Legislature
  • Representative Betty Pickett, Arkansas State Legislature
  • Representative Karen B. Ray (R), North Carolina State Legislature
  • Representative Sandra Williams, Ohio State Legislature

Speakers

  • Laura Beavers, MPA, National KIDS COUNT Coordinator, The Annie E Casey Foundation
  • Barbara Bradley, MRCP, President & CEO, Action for Children North Carolina
  • Jennifer Epperson, Policy Advisor to Governor Michael Easley
  • Jodie Levin-Epstein, Deputy Director, Center for Law and Social Policy
  • Lucy Gorham, Senior Program Director, EITC Carolinas Initiative at MDC
  • Elizabeth Hudgins, MPP, Senior Policy Analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  • Ellen Schloemer, Executive Vice President, Center for Responsible Learning
  • Lois Vitt, PhD, Founding Director, Institute for Socio-Financial Studies (ISFS) 

Policy Recommendations

Read the 2008 Family Economic Success Task Force Policy Recommendations>
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