Clark Atlanta University has launched an internship program for MSW students built on the Center for Social Development’s pioneering work in Financial Capability and Asset Building (FCAB).
The program, using the FCAB curriculum, will give students experience in financial coaching. It also will help On the Rise Financial Center serve more unbanked and underbanked residents in Atlanta’s Westside community, where 44 percent of adults live below the poverty line, according to a press release announcing the partnership.
Clark Atlanta’s Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work is the oldest accredited social work program at a Historically Black College/University.
“This partnership provides our students with real-world application of social work practice and its impact on the economic well-being of individuals and families,” Jenny Jones, dean of Clark Atlanta’s Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work, said in the press release.
“In financial development for low-income communities, On the Rise Financial Center in Atlanta and the School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University are breaking new ground,” Margaret and Michael Sherraden said in a joint statement. Margaret Sherraden is faculty director of the FCAB initiative at the Center for Social Development (CSD), and Michael Sherraden is CSD’s founding director.
“Families now have a place to turn for practical and effective financial guidance as they build more secure and rewarding futures,” they said. “At the same time, social workers are being trained in basic financial capability practice.”
Inclusiv, formerly the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, launched On the Rise Financial Center in 2017. The center is possible through the support of Equifax, the Arthur M. Blank Foundation and Invest Atlanta.
Equifax recently provided funding for CSD’s ongoing work in Financial Capability and Asset Building, including activities with the Inclusiv and Clark Atlanta University partnership. Funding will also support FCAB curriculum expansion in Singapore and China. This work contributes to the national Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative, addressing the grand challenge to “build financial capability and assets for all.”