Healthy Families New York: Strategies for Approaching First Conversations with Families About Finances

Authors

Center for Human Services Research, University at Albany

Document Type

Research Brief

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

Enhancing family self-sufficiency is one of the major goals of Healthy Families New York: we hope that, over the course of participation in home visiting, families will be able to increase their available income, receive more of the benefits available to them, more efficiently use their resources, or set and meet their own financial goals. Inadequate income is one of the major eligibility criteria for family participation in HFNY; indeed, nearly three-quarters of families were recorded as having inadequate or insufficient income as of program enrollment, meaning that they did not feel they had enough money or benefits to meet their and their families’ needs, and many report it to be one of their largest sources of stress, demonstrating significant and widespread financial needs and current difficulties.

But while HFNY has seen great success in other domains, changes in family self-sufficiency have been more difficult to observe. And similarly, most HFNY staff have reported that while they feel comfortable generally discussing financial issues with families, only about half agree that they have the necessary skills to do so; many also noted that they did not understand the reason for HFNY to gather information such as available monthly income since there is not a specific threshold for eligibility. In combination, these factors result in specific information about family income being missing in the data system, particularly at program enrollment. Since income information will be required for 2023 HFAST reporting, it is crucial that staff develop the skills to talk about financial needs in more detail from the start of family involvement in HFNY.

In response to this gap, the Center for Human Services Research hosted a webinar with HFNY direct service staff in the fall of 2022 to discuss the need for and use of family financial information and to collectively brainstorm strategies and approaches to asking better questions about families’ financial needs to connect them with the most appropriate resources.

Recommended Citation

Center for Human Services Research, University at Albany, "Healthy Families New York: Strategies for Approaching First Conversations with Families About Finances" (2023). Children, Family & Elder Services Reports and Research Briefs. 29.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/chsr-cfes-reports-and-briefs/29