For a week in June 2021, the Center for Financial Security (CFS)—in collaboration with Howard University’s Center on Race and Wealth—held the annual summer workshop of Junior Scholar Intensive Training (JSIT) program. JSTI is an intensive training program for emerging researchers, and made possible with funding from the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium of the Social Security Administration (SSA).

This year’s JSIT workshop was virtual, allowing participation from Minnesota to Mississippi, and California to Cambridge (England!). Scholars are first-generation and/or are economically disadvantaged and/or are from historically underrepresented populations.

“I’ve participated in a lot of junior scholar workshops, but none were as beneficial as JSIT. JSIT provided the opportunity to develop and get feedback through “hands on,” iterative activities. I’m still amazed at how much I developed in just one week!”

Mila Turner, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida A&M University was part of this year’s JSIT cohort.

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U.S. Social Security Administration approves 13 major research projects, investigating a range of social insurance topics, including the Child Tax Credit, the geography of long-term care, the effects of COVID-19 on older adults, and improving trust among those targeted by scams and frauds.

The University of Wisconsin—Madison’s Center for Financial Security (CFS), as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC), has been awarded a fourth year of funding for $2.2 million from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). One of just four RDRC centers in the country supported by SSA, the UW-Madison center has a particular focus on the financial well-being of economically vulnerable families, older people, people with disabilities, low-wealth households, and children. 

“The pandemic has really highlighted the financial vulnerability of many families, and how important safety net programs are to keep people financially stable,” says CFS Faculty Director Dr. J. Michael Collins, Fetzer Family Chair in Consumer and Personal Finance in the School of Human Ecology and Professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. “We are grateful for the Social Security RDRC to be able to support this research, including work related to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 for disability, retirement and social insurance programs.”  

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The Center for Financial Security has partnered with the Asset Funders Network (AFN) to explore how financial capability service delivery has evolved in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey will provide valuable insights into the equity and effectiveness of financial capability and asset building services during the pandemic and how to support and improve services going forward. CFS has launched this national survey to hear from financial practitioners and program leaders who can shed light on how clients have engaged with their services, how these shifts will impact their services going forward, and the role that funders can play in supporting virtual service delivery.

The survey will be open until Monday, November 12th. Upon completion of the survey, respondents will have the opportunity to enter a free drawing for a chance to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards and an invitation to a preview of survey findings prior to public release in an online webinar presentation.