Authored by Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and City Councilmember Evan Nolan
It is a sad reality, in Cincinnati and communities across the country, that life opportunities are heavily impacted by a set of key determinants like your skin color and ZIP code. And one of our core missions, both inside city hall and throughout our partner organizations, has been to deliberately and thoughtfully target systems-level barriers driving those inequities that impact economic mobility.
Financial Freedom Blueprint
In 2023, in coordination with the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund and support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the City of Cincinnati completed its Financial Freedom Blueprint, a research-driven policy roadmap aimed at closing the economic disparities present in the city. Our blueprint was the product of a yearlong process of local engagement and national research to understand the barriers holding residents back from financial empowerment, as well as what interventions could be most impactful from local government and partners. What came out of that process was a set of recommendations for direct, equity-driven investments in the residents of Cincinnati.
Educational opportunity has been a foundational area of focus in our community. The findings from the Financial Freedom Blueprint highlighted some of the strategies for us to pursue. Nearly a decade ago, Cincinnati took a leap forward with a program called Preschool Promise, dramatically expanding access to early education by providing resources for providers, families, and teachers to serve students who otherwise would have been left out of the early education system. Today, the program includes more than 1,000 three- and four-year-old children whose families are below 300% of the federal poverty line.
The blueprint development process also included a survey of residents to assess their financial needs. The survey found that 26% of Black residents, a significantly higher proportion than the rest of the population, indicated that saving for their child’s education was one of their top priorities. From this need began a journey to study, find partners, build out and implement the city’s first children’s savings account (CSA) program.
That landscape provided Cincinnati with a strong launching point for a savings account program, one where wrap-around services can align and make the most positive impact possible. Subsequently, Cincinnati’s Director of Human Services Deanna White got to work. She engaged the National League of Cities, Prosperity Now and municipalities across the country to understand the landscape and how Cincinnati could best implement a CSA program. The importance of a program like this immediately became clear: “Research shows that children with even $50 in a college savings plan are three times more likely to pursue education beyond high school than their peers,” says White.
Partnerships
Nearly any time a program of this scale is truly effective, it’s because of a strong public-private partnership, which is particularly true for a CSA program that requires the right financial partners. The City of Cincinnati decided to tap into Ohio’s existing tax-free 529 Plan as the account holder, an unprecedented move in the State’s history. One of the primary benefits of this partnership is that Fifth Third Bank, local to Cincinnati, has provided two investment options into the Ohio 529 plan: a savings account and certificates of deposit of various terms for up to 20 years. If participants select a Fifth Third investment option, caregivers can walk right into one of the 95 local branches to make a deposit or talk to a professional about their child’s account.
Through a partnership with Preschool Promise, Fifth Third and United Way of Greater Cincinnati, this year alone we will provide a goal of 150 preschool children with up to $553 towards their savings account, helping their families begin to plan for a two-year, four-year or vocational education after high school. The initial savings accounts will include a $100 deposit from the city, as well as $53 from Fifth Third Bank, with opportunities over the year for participating families to earn a maximum of $400 dollars in incentives. This structure is not just about getting a one-time payment that doesn’t pay the full cost of education into the hands of families. With our incentives, the 529 Plan and the included financial education, our goal is to support families in growing their accounts over time, and building a sustainable plan for future education.
Planning for the Future
As with our other recent Financial Freedom initiatives — including erasing Medical Debt for more than 50,000 residents and providing free legal counsel and rental assistance to some families in need — a new pilot model like the CSA program will require time and careful measuring to understand its impact. However, if we as a city are committed to building a more equitable future, it is critical that we put our money where our mouth is. Our investments in the Financial Freedom Blueprint showcase our potential and power to lean into innovation, to study and iterate and create new, better, lasting systems for the generations to come. It is our sincere hope and our active goal to build the kind of long-term program that can serve as a model of success.
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