Neighborhood Allies recently launched our second Bank On integration in partnership with Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services, providing account access to young adults eligible for the Cash Assistance for Allegheny Young Adults program.
Through the Cash Assistance for Allegheny Young Adults program, Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services is offering financial support to 18-22-year-olds that have been in CYF placement (Children, Youth, & Family services), are currently involved in the homeless system in Allegheny County, or are a parent with an open case with CYF in Allegheny County. (For a full list of eligibility, visit https://www.youthpgh.org/). Eligible young adults may receive $4,000 cash assistance and can double the cash assistance if they are eligible for and complete the Opportunity Passport program – a series of financial education classes.
Payments from the program are being made preferably via direct deposit, and young adults are being encouraged to open a bank account if they don’t already have one. Neighborhood Allies was asked to assist in this facet of the program by offering Bank On certified accounts. We worked with DHS and Auberle’s 412 Youth Zone to plan the logistics of providing account opening assistance. Two options are being offered to young adults looking to open an account. Applicants can call or email Neighborhood Allies and receive assistance in opening a Bank On certified account. Alternatively, on-site account opening events were offered for Youth Zone participants. 49 young adults opened a Bank On certified account offered by KeyBank across three on-site account opening events. With Neighborhood Allies providing direct assistance with 59 additional account openings, more than 100 accounts have been opened so far for the program. Because of Neighborhood Allies’ connection with the Pittsburgh Financial Empowerment Center, participants are being introduced to the FEC and are offered a one-on-one session with a financial counselor at the same time as account opening.
With the select Bank On accounts being promoted for this integration, participants opening a new account will have one featuring no overdraft fees and no maintenance fees, along with all the other features of a Bank On certified account. Additional benefits of having a bank account include being less likely to use costly alternative financial services such as check cashers and payday lenders, and having deposits federally insured – a benefit often not provided by popular fintech apps.
This Bank On integration is the second which Neighborhood Allies has implemented, following the launch of our Youth Financial Capability integration, which continues to work to provide sole-ownership accounts for teenagers ages 14 and up. If you are interested in learning more about our Bank On Allegheny initiative, please reach out to Javier Janik, Program Manager for Economic Opportunity and Investment, at javier@neighborhoodallies.org. We would also like to thank Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund for their continued support, expertise, and leadership of the national Bank On initiative.
Written by Javier Janik, Program Manager of Economic Opportunity and Investment.
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