Americorps Financial Education Specialist

Position Name: “Financial Education Specialist AmeriCorps member”

Number of individual AmeriCorps members serving in this position: The Program aims to recruit 2 (two) full-time AmeriCorps members and 6 (six) half-time AmeriCorps members to serve in the Atlanta Metro area

Member Immediate Supervisor Name:

The Site Supervisor will provide day-to-day supervision and evaluate the AmeriCorps member’s performance according to the Program policies and procedures.
CASA’s Georgia Health and Human Services Manager is the on-site supervisor. She can be reached at scontreras@wearecasa.org

CASA’s Georgia State Director is the supplemental on-site supervisor.  He can be reached at lzaldivar@wearecasa.org

Position Start Date: 

The Program launch will be on September 3, 2024. If there are any position available after that day, members may start as agreed with the Program Supervisor. The real start date for each individual will be identified on the Service Agreement. 

Position End Date: August 15, 2025

Days/ Hours of Service 

Full-time AmeriCorps members’ schedules are flexible but will serve approximately 40 hours per week. 

Half-time member’ schedules are flexible but will serve approximately 20 hours per week. 

Regular service time will occur Monday through Friday, 10:30am to 6:30pm. Some evening and weekend service is required.

Individual schedule is agreed by the AC member and the Program Supervisor at the beginning of the program. The schedule may be changed upon agreement, based on program- or member’s need.

Host Sites. Locations:

Members will serve at: 

CASA Georgia: 2302 Parklake Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30345. Suite 510

Members will be asked to run activities at local schools. 

If due to COVID-19 CASA should close its offices, members will be allowed to continue service on virtual mode for the time of the closure. 

CASA’s Mission and goals.

To create a more just society by building power and improving the quality of life in working class and immigrant communities.

Project Mission and Goals:  CASA’s Georgia AmeriCorps Inclusion Program (GAIn)’s target population is working-class Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendent, Indigenous, and Immigrant high school students and parents in Clayton County, Georgia. The program focuses on financial literacy training with additional wraparound social and educational services to address the target population's economic disparities.

Community Need: Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendent, indigenous, and Immigrant communities face predatory lending practices and a myriad of structural disadvantages around financial security. As a result, many struggles with an outsized burden of high-cost debt, limited financial literacy education opportunities, exploitative banking practices, and generational cycles of poverty. These historically oppressed and under resourced communities are facing a cycle of debt that impedes their economic mobility and overall well-being. CASA seeks to increase knowledge of banking options, investment opportunities, budgeting, and more to increase their ability to build wealth and break the cycle of financial insecurity across multiple generations.

According to the Georgia K-12 Public Schools Report Card, Forest Park High School- has increasing absenteeism (over 40% chronically absent), with 91% eligible for Free and Reduced Meals—40% black and 49% Hispanic. Clayton County students, including those at Forest Park High school, are facing economic challenges and cycles of poverty, and those who are English Language Learners face additional language barriers. CASA’s innovative GAIn program will meet their needs by providing students with after-school support and financial literacy training for their entire family.

Member Position Summary:

AmeriCorps members, supervised by the Program Director (Manager of Health Navigation and Social Services), will carry out the GAIn Program. The main component of the program is a series of workshops for youth and parents addressing the following issues:

• identifying predatory lending practices, developing debt repayment strategies, negotiating with creditors
• financial planning, budgeting skills, and self-awareness about spending habits
• basic literacy on different types of accounts, credit cards, and loan options
• identifying banking red flags, understanding credit scores, and making informed banking and investment decisions
• FAFSA completion and financial assistance for post-secondary education

AmeriCorps members, with the support of the Program Manager, will conduct outreach to identify potential program clients, enroll them in workshops, step up the rooms and deliver the workshops, deliver pre- and post- surveys to participants, and conduct follow up individual sessions with participants to ensure gained knowledge is implemented, for example, opening a bank account.

Workshops are accompanied by additional activities to fully support community members fully, ensuring holistic economic support services. AmeriCorps members will also participate in and conduct community outreach to raise awareness of the program, comprehensive client intakes, assistance with financial assistance applications, budget preparation, and individual coaching. Additionally, participants are referred to CASA’s English classes, civics classes, and health navigation services. AmeriCorps members will collectible reach at least 200 individuals through financial literacy workshops and activities, and 180 youth and adults will demonstrate increased financial literacy knowledge due to the intervention. In the medium and long term, the program will profoundly impact economic opportunities and financial stability for families in Clayton County.

Required training prior to Member Placement:

CASA will provide a one-week orientation program at the beginning of the Service Year. Some trainings will also include racial equity, classroom management, and program facilitation. as well as best practices on outreach, record keeping, and other relevant issues. 

Member Impact:

Members will help youth and families to develop knowledge of the American financial system and how to navigate it. Thanks to AmeriCorps members, community members will be able to take financial opportunities to procure a full inclusion in the US, and prevent from becoming victims of scams and other financial crimes.”

Essential Functions of Position:

• Recruiting students to participate in the program;
• Facilitating the GAIN curriculum in target schools
• Conducting individual home visits and goal-setting sessions with members at the beginning of the school year;
• Delivering educational workshops and activities related to college- and career-readiness, leadership development and civic engagement, and health and financial literacy, as well as other life skills training and academic enrichment;
• Developing and leading community service activities and field trips for participants;
• Providing individual mentorship and support to program participants;
• Develop internship opportunities and connecting program participants to these opportunities;
• Facilitating multiracial safe-space conversations and other activities intended to improve school climate;
• Providing referral to other services as appropriate; and
• Administering pre- and post-tests and tracking all program participation.

Note: The AmeriCorps member will not be allowed to perform duties that violate the AmeriCorps Prohibited Activities or fall outside of the program goals. 

Required Knowledge, Skills, and abilities:

• Experience performing duties in multicultural environments.
• English writing and language skills (bilingual in Spanish, French, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, or Hindi preferred).
• Highly organized and efficient, “can-do” attitude, flexibility, teamwork, and attention to detail; high degree of initiative.
• Access to personal transportation.
• Fast learner. 
• Some knowledge of popular education preferred.

Required Academic and Experience Qualifications:

• A high school diploma or GED or agree to obtain one during the service year.
• Associates degree or higher preferred. 

Other required qualifications:

• Ability to perform all of the duties outlined above.  
• U.S. Citizen or U.S. Legal Permanent Resident (recently naturalized citizens are encouraged to apply).
• At least 17 years old.
• Pass a national service criminal history check of the national sex-offender registry, state repository check (Maryland and state of residence), and FBI fingerprint check, before starting national service.
• Express commitment to complete one full year of National Service.

Placement Type:

The position is not a reassignment from a previous Host Site/Agency.

Benefits: 

Full-time commitment (1700 hour/year): 
 Living allowance of $ 1,076 bi-weekly, health care coverage.  Member may apply for child-care allowance.  
 Member will be entitled to a $7,395 education award upon program completion. 

Half-Time commitment (900 hours/year): 
 Living allowance of $569 bi-weekly.
 Member will be entitled to a $3,697.50 education award upon program completion.  

Living allowance will be paid bi-weekly by direct deposit.
Individuals may be eligible to have the repayment of their qualified students’ loans postponed while serving. This postponement is called forbearance.  While interest may continue to accrue during your service, if you successfully complete the term of service the National Service Trust will pay all or a portion of the qualified loan's interest that accrued during your service. Most federally-guaranteed student loans are eligible for forbearance. 

CASA offers a variety of free-, high quality- training courses on Financial Education. CASA offers a variety of free-, high quality- training courses on Popular Education, and multicultural program management.

Selection Process:

To be considered for the New Americans Opportunity Project program, interested individuals must submit a current resume and cover letter in the CASA website (https://wearecasa.org/join-us/). Staff will review the application, request an interview and application (if appropriate), conduct three reference checks, and match a potential applicant with a host site. After the applicant has met with the site supervisor at the host site, the applicant will be responsible for getting a three part criminal history check. Individuals will not be allowed to start orientation or be enrolled in the program until all appropriate background check and paperwork is received by CASA. 

Contact: For more information, contact:                      

Visit www.americorps.gov for more Information on AmeriCorps programs.

CASA in Georgia

Stephanie Contreras                                                  

Program Director

scontreras@wearecasa.org 

www.wearecasa.org