NJCAEF Accomplishments and Highlights — 2003
NJCAEF was originally called the Citizen Policy & Education Fund of NJ (CPEF) until May 2004, when the name was legally changed, but our mission and programs remain the same.
Overview
In 2003, NJCAEF led a major fight for fair taxes, informed thousands of families and seniors about the impact of changes to Medicare, helped shape the policy debate about lead poisoning prevention and predatory lending, assisted nearly 1,000 families become first-time homebuyers, and registered, educated and mobilized 5,000 voters in non-partisan grassroots issue campaigns. NJCAEF also taught tens of thousands of consumers about quality health care, lead poisoning prevention, energy and telecommunication choices and financial literacy. We provided important research and analysis about access to health care, equitable tax policies, responsible lending, healthy communities, and campaign finance reform. These efforts will strengthen families' self-sufficiency and enhance political power in communities around New Jersey.
Fair Taxes for All
In 2003, NJCAEF helped found the Fairness Alliance, a statewide network dedicated to making the state tax system more progressive and restore much-needed revenue to the fiscally strapped state government. With the NJ Education Association, Communication Workers of America, NJ Policy Perspective and ACORN, NJCAEF worked to build the Alliance to include 116 organizations from all aspects of New Jersey's political spectrum and geographic regions. The Alliance received tremendous media coverage when we announced our plan to "Recapture the Windfall" from federal tax cuts going to New Jersey's wealthiest residents, as well as strong editorial support.
The Alliance plan calls for increased marginal rates on income taxes for the top NJ earners and reduced income taxes on nearly 10% of the lowest-income residents. We collected more than 10,000 postcards from state residents and coordinated three earned media events to highlight the profound grassroots support we found for the Alliance proposal. Although the plan was not adopted in 2003, we expect that the Governor and Legislature will enact significant reform in 2004 that will restore tax fairness to New Jersey.
NJCAEF released the Institute for America's Future's report on how President Bush's Tax Cut Plan will impact New Jersey's economy. The report showed us that the President's plan will worsen NJ's budget crisis by $117 million and will cut future job growth. Representatives from United Senior Alliance, Communications Workers of America, Housing & Community Development Network of NJ, Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministries of NJ, People for the American Way, Older Women's League and NJ Fair Tax Campaign. NJCAEF leafleted post offices on April 15th, Tax Day, to inform taxpayers about how much New Jerseyans stood to lose from the Bush Tax Cut Plan, which cut taxes $1.85 trillion over the next ten years.
As we are now seeing, these cuts have led to historic budget deficits that threaten health care, education, housing, retirement and countless other programs that most people care about. NJCAEF brought busloads of senior citizens and people with disabilities to the national Millionaire's March in Washington DC to oppose President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and raise awareness about the need for a Medicare prescription drug plan to provide affordable, quality coverage the traditional program.
Quality Health Care for All
Medical Malpractice
NJCAEF educated policymakers and the public about patient safety concerns and encourage them to take a preventative approach to medical errors rather than limiting victims' rights to adequate awards. Working with other consumer groups, NJCAEF released a report that showed strong insurance regulation, not arbitrary caps on individual patient recovery, had stabilized medical malpractice rates in California. Our staff and Board leaders were featured in more than a half dozen policy forums and panel discussions in hospitals around the state about the malpractice crisis. NJCAEF remains a leading voice for reforming insurance practices and quality of care standards in health facilities, to reduce the number of medical mistakes.
Additionally, NJCAEF alerted the media and voters about the impact of a proposed legislative change to use charitable assets that might be created by a for-profit conversion by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield to provide financial assistance to doctors paying high medical malpractice fees. For more than five years, NJCAEF has fought to ensure the assets of a Horizon conversion are endowed into a foundation that will invest funding in health care programs and services that address needs of a community or region. The use of these assets, especially when Horizon had not yet announced a plan to convert to a for-profit, would be a violation of the spirit and the law governing conversions, which our allies worked so hard to pass.
Health Insurance and FamilyCare
As a member of the Anti-Poverty Network, NJCAEF helped organize a 500-person rally to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid and FamilyCare, the state low-income health insurance program. NJCAEF mobilized affected individuals to tell their personal stories about the impact the cuts would have on their lives, including increased out of pocket expenses for and reduced benefits. We also coordinated two earned media events to draw public attention to the crisis facing FamilyCare participants. The first highlighted testimonials from primary care physicians, exposing how proposed changes threatened patients' access to preventative care, especially those in areas with a low number of Federal Qualified Health Centers. The second, outside of an independent pharmacy, featured individuals who faced significantly increased out of pocket expenses for prescription drugs, due to proposed changes to Medicaid and Pharmaceutical Assistance for the Aged and Disabled (PAAD).
Affordable Prescription Drug Coverage
NJCAEF analyzed Congressional proposals to add a prescription drug benefit to the program and assessed their impact on consumers, including those patients enrolled in other prescription drug plans as well as those who lack any prescription coverage. From our research, we determined that thousands of New Jerseyans would lose existing coverage if Medicare were privatized as proposed. We educated more than 50 senior citizen and disability groups about these findings and released the USAction Education Fund's study Paying More for Less. This report showed that Medicare beneficiaries will pay more for prescriptions, doctor's visits, therapy treatments, home health care and lab visits under the Congressional Prescription Drug Plan than they currently do.
Working with NJCA, the Education Fund mobilized 50 activists for a "Medicare Privatization is a Stinky Deal" protest at a New Jersey fundraiser held by Vice-President Dick Cheney, which included an appearance by a "skunk." NJCAEF coordinated a forum with the Senior Legislative Issues Coalition of Union County and AARP, where more than 300 senior citizens heard from U.S. Senator Jon Corzine about the Medicare proposal. Along with representatives from the Monday Morning Network, United Senior Alliance, HPAE Council of Retirees, NJCA, the State Federation of Teachers, and Alliance for Retired Americans, organized a press conference to release Congress' Prescription Deal Costs People from New Jersey More and Undermines the Entire Medicare System, a report by the Institute for America's Future and USAction.
Senior leaders from allied organizations used NJCAEF's analysis of the Medicare proposal to counter the AARP's decision to support the proposal. Citing the data provided by NJCAEF, dozens of seniors shredded their AARP cards and marched to U.S. Senators Corzine and Lautenberg's offices with the message "that AARP was not representing their members' voices." NJCAEF Health Care Committee members Nate Segal and Mildred Fruhling spoke at a press conference in Paramus to a crowd of 100 Medicare recipients, detailing why this bill will do more harm than good for senior citizens and people with disabilities in NJ.
Campaign Finance Reform and Voting Rights
Fair and Clean Elections
NJCAEF educated key policymakers about the need for comprehensive campaign finance reform, including full public financing in a series of one-on-one meetings. We conducted informational sessions to more than 25 groups, showing Public Campaign's 13-minute video, "The Road to Clean Elections," and explaining the successes in other states. We dramatically increased our public education effort, developing a talker's network of Clean Elections advocates who worked with members of the media to include our concerns about enormous campaign contributions and expenditures. NJCAEF leaders and staff were quoted extensively on the 2003 Legislative elections, the most expensive in state history, allowing us earned media opportunities to educate the press and the public about our proposal for real reform in New Jersey.
NJCAEF also released The Drug Company Habit: A Study of Pharmaceutical Industry Campaign Contributions and Policy Influence, a report that documented the addiction between state politics and the drug industry in New Jersey. It details campaign contributions to New Jersey elected officials, candidates and party organizations, during the last two legislative cycles (1999 through 2003). NJCAEF organized a press event where five NJCAEF members who lack prescription drug coverage, those enrolled in Medicaid and other State programs concerned with potential budget cuts, and retirees who may lose their coverage shared their stories and struggle to pay for medical needs.
The report generated significant press coverage about the need for comprehensive campaign finance reform, and heightened the level of interest from the media and decision makers at the state level. NJCAEF increased our presence in the press, commenting on the slew of pay-to-play scandals and other ethics controversies that have rocked the State House for the last ten months. Since June 2003, we have worked strategically to put Clean Elections into the public debate and are proud that this effort has led to the exciting development of a Clean Elections Pilot Program in 2004.
Help America Vote Act
NJCAEF worked with other voting rights organizations to analyze and respond to the State of New Jersey's plan to implement the Help America Vote Act. NJCAEF raised specific concerns about the way in which HAVA could disenfranchise people with disabilities, domestic violence victims and first-time voters. We presented these concerns to the State Commission on Implementing HAVA as well as disseminated them to our coalition partners, policymakers and the media.
Transit Vote NJ
NJCAEF continued to organize the Transit Vote Coalition, comprised of more than 50 organizations working to increase mass transit riders' voting participation. In 2003, we coordinated another successful voter registration effort, bringing 3,000 new voters on to the rolls, in addition to the 2,000 new voters registered through NJCAEF's outreach and education programs. On two days, 75 volunteers worked at 27 different transit locations contacting hard-to-reach voters in these critical areas. Members of the Transit Vote coalition also engaged these new voters in non-partisan issue education and mobilized them to vote on Election Day. Additionally, NJCAEF worked with NJCA, four county Monday Morning Networks and allied disability organizations to asses polling place accessibility. As a recipient of the NJ Developmental Disability Council Election Challenge Grant, we organized surveys of a total of 70 polling places in Essex, Bergen, Hudson and Middlesex County. NJCAEF followed up the surveys with suggestions for improvements that were forwarded to each county. We continue to monitor these areas for change.
Issue-based Voter Education and Mobilization
NJCAEF used non-partisan voter education and get out the vote efforts to encourage these newly registered voters to go to the polls on Election Day. We surveyed and researched candidates' position on a host of economic and social issues of concern to consumers, and published these results in non-partisan voter guides on our website, and provided guides electronically to our allies to distribute as well. Additionally, we sent our Transit Vote and NJCAEF-registered voters a non-partisan education piece about important social issues and another urging them to vote on Election Day. They also got two phone calls urging them to vote on Election Day. The week before Election Day, volunteers placed a live call to each voter, confirming that the voter had received a sample ballot, making sure the voter knew his/her polling place location and securing transportation, if needed. On the weekend before Election Day, each household registered by NJCAEF received additional phone call from us to make sure they remembered to vote. On the night before Election Day, staff and volunteers handed out non-partisan issue voter guides to transit riders at the same locations where we registered voters for Transit Vote.
Lead Poisoning Prevention
Statewide Lead Abatement Financing Assistance
In March 2003, NJCAEF coordinated a public information session with decision makers about the need for state-supported financing for low-income renters and homeowners to abate lead hazards. Working with allies, including NJCA, CWA Local 1081, the NAACP National Voter Fund-NJ, IFPTE Local 195, La Casa de Don Pedro, NJ Environmental Federation, NJ Tenants Organization and the Paterson Task Force for Community Action, we mobilized strong community and parent support for the session. During the year, NJCAEF conducted and publicized detailed analyses of legislative proposal to provide such financing, to ensure that low and moderate income (LMI) residents can obtain the crucial resources they need. Our efforts helped inform the policy debate that led to the passage of the Lead Hazard Abatement Assistance Act, creating a $10 million fund for lead abatement. NJCAEF is now educating consumers about the opportunities to remove lead from their homes by using this fund.
Train-the-Trainer and Community Outreach
In 2003, we held an unprecedented six Train-the-Trainer workshops that graduated 194 individuals, including one in Paterson which had not had a local training in several years. Trained graduates, armed with critical information to prevent childhood lead poisoning where childhood lead poisoning continues to be a health care crisis, are reaching hundreds of other people by teaching parents, co-workers, and staff what they learned. NJCAEF continues to be a leading member of the Newark Partnership for Lead-Free Children, coordinating two of the Partnerships Committees and providing expert training on the issue to the 80 other participating Partnership organizations.
Lead Disclosure Project
We launched a new project in 2003 seeking to leverage the Federal Lead Disclosure Law, which requires landlords to inform their tenants about lead hazards prior to moving in. In order to have landlords comply with the law, we organized landlords to attend lead safe work practices trainings, and to assist the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employing their enforcement power against landlords who are not complying. We conducted four presentations to tenant groups, reaching a total of 85 tenants and supplying HUD with more than a dozen tips regarding non-compliant landlords.
Tenant Sampling
We began to teach tenants how to sample their own homes for lead dust, in order to encourage tenants to engage their landlords about reducing and removing lead hazards. The Education Fund partnered with the Ironbound Community Corporation to sponsor a tenant sampling training at their facility in July. This new project received press coverage in the Star Ledger, after the first training in February, and on New Jersey Network, as a reporter accompanied a landlord and NJCAEF staff taking lead dust samples. In total, we taught 63 people how to sample their homes for lead dust.
Fair Utility Rate Advocacy and Community Education
Energy Affordability and Reliability
NJCAEF and our allies scored a major policy victory when the Board of Public Utilities implemented the final Universal Service Fun (USF) program. Since 1998, we have worked to make sure that low-income consumers have can afford energy service. Due to NJCAEF's advocacy on this issue, energy consumers living at or below 175% of the federal poverty level now will only have to pay 6% of their annual income towards their energy bills. More than 135,000 recipients were enrolled in the first year of the USF, and we are working with the BPU and other state agencies to automate that process to reach and even greater population of eligible participants. On December 18, 2003, we joined Governor James E. McGreevey to announce the final phase of the program at the James White Senior Center in Newark.
In August 2003, the northeastern portion of the United States experienced a historic energy blackout, which provided an opportunity for us to raise concerns about reliability and deregulation. NJCAEF was a major public interest voice in the New Jersey media coverage about this unfortunate event. We reiterated our long-standing position that energy deregulation has led to relaxed safeguards and reduced investment in the transmission and distribution systems, without providing lower costs to consumers. In response to this energy crisis, we circulated a position paper that calls for re-regulation of energy generation and increased public oversight of the power industry as a whole.
Improved Cable Oversight, Telecommunications Choices: NJCAEF continued to be a leading voice for affordable communications costs and improved services for telephone and cable customers. NJCAEF was a leading voice in the regulatory arena during the 2003 debate to change cable service regulations to increase penalties for providers who failed to meet more aggressive customer service standards. NJCAEF staff worked closely with media outlets to present the consumer perspective on sub-par service and rising fees for once-free services, generating substantial press coverage. Additionally, NJCAEF monitored the state's progress towards more competitive local and long distance phone markets, in the wake of the Board of Public Utilities 2002 decision to lower wholesale rates. NJCAEF was the organization of record regarding prices and choices available to consumers as a result. We continue to watch consumer participation and switching rates, in order to provide input to regulators about key decisions facing the telecommunications industry.
Statewide Energy Education
NJCAEF continued our statewide energy education and outreach program, which informs consumers about their rights and responsibilities under energy deregulation. In 2003, NJCAEF's program reached 550 organizations, primarily those representing low-and moderate-income customers, seniors and people of color, educating 15,100 individuals. Since the programs inception in 1999, NJCAEF has conducted energy education presentations to more than 100,000 people and over 3000 groups. Last year, our energy education staff members contacted more than 2,000 additional organizations to make them aware of this informative service.
Telephone Customer Outreach
In 2003, NJCAEF continued our telecommunications education project, reaching seniors and low-income residents in Northern and Central New Jersey. Customers at these presentations learn how to understand their phone bills, make smart telecommunications decisions and protect themselves from fraud. In 2002, this effort reached 100 organizations and 3200 participants, bringing the total to 400 groups and over 11865 consumers since its inception. We also launched a new Community Education Campaign centered on the Lifeline program, which provides financial assistance for low-income consumers, for Verizon customers.
Oil Group Delivers Savings
Our 6,000 members saved as much as 17% on their annual heating costs through our Oil Group, which pools buying power to negotiate for lower oil prices. Together, these members save $1.5 million annually on their home heating bills. In 2003, we embarked on new advertising and outreach initiatives that incorporated strong grassroots and earned media components. As a result, we expanded our membership significantly during the heating season. We worked with our existing suppliers to offer new products and pricing arrangements, including a price cap, for some Oil Group members. Additionally, NJCAOG added a new supplier to the South Jersey area that serves Cumberland County and the towns of Vineland, Minotola, Buena, Richland, Newfield, Malaga, and Pittsgrove.
Community Reinvestment, Housing and Economic Development
Small Business Forums
In 2003, NJCAEF continued our successful Small Business Forums to raise awareness of the opportunities for current and future small business owners to access capital through the Community Reinvestment Act. Working with the NJ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Black Urban Alliance/African-American Chamber of Commerce, NJ Department of Economic Development and individual banks, NJCAEF held three informative events last year, in Long Branch, Newark and Yorkers, NY. At these seminars, more than 400 potential and current small business entrepreneurs learned about the availability of small-business funding and technical assistance through our efforts. NJCAEF is planning at least six additional seminars in 2004, with events already scheduled in Newark, New Brunswick, Atlantic City and Union.
Predatory Lending
NJCAEF facilitated a train-the-trainer session with Seton Hall Center for Social Justice on predatory lending for two dozen loan counselors from around the state. Also, we held a Home Improvement Seminar at the East Orange Public Library for 70 victims of predatory lending. The consumers, once victimized by unscrupulous lenders, learned how to protect themselves and their credit as they embarked on much-needed home repairs. Lessons included shopping for the best materials for do-it-yourself jobs and how to avoid scams when choosing a home improvement contractor.
In July, Tawayna Hudson became the first survivor of the Fauntleroy Predatory Lending scandal to complete NJCAEF's landmark Predator Lending Workout Solution. As a result of our work with HUD, Fannie Mae, New Community Corporation and participating municipalities and banks, Ms. Hudson and other affected families in the Newark area will avoid foreclosure and get a new mortgage which reflects the actual value of their homes. The amount of time and assistance required to resolve these cases has turned out to be far greater than anticipated. Seven closings have occurred, and we anticipate that when the process concludes, 78 more families will have been assisted to obtain deeds in lieu, refinances based on actual current market value or workout solutions providing new mortgages and/or grants for up to $50,000.
In the policy arena, NJCAEF provided critical leadership development and self-advocacy training to encourage predatory lending victims to participate in advocacy efforts that won one of the strongest anti-predatory lending laws in the nation. Working with allies like NJCA, AARP, ACORN and Legal Services of NJ, NJCAEF helped victims share their stories with decision and the media to demonstrate the need for legislative action to prevent future scams. This training and public education work resulted in the passage of the NJ Homeownership Security Act in May 2003.
Community Reinvestment Agreements
NJCAEF helped negotiate a $300 million renewed community reinvestment agreement with Sovereign Bank, NJCA and the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ, in which Sovereign committed over $175 million in mortgages over the next three years. We also negotiated a new agreement with PNC Bank, which bought United Trust that commits $883 million for small business development. PNC Bank announced its $883 million renewed community reinvestment agreement with NJCA and the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ. As a result of the agreement, PNC will start doing below market-rate mortgages in New Jersey once again. NJCAEF will complete renewed CRA commitments with Independence Bank, Commerce Bank and Valley National Bank in 2004.
In 2003, NJ experienced several major bank mergers and consolidations by huge, out of state banks. Most significantly, The Bank of America (BOA) acquired FleetBank, which had a large state presence and excellent record on CRA issues. Initially, BOA refused to discuss state specific CRA investment commitments with NJCAEF. In response, NJCAEF protested to the Federal Reserve (FR) Bank and our Executive Director, Phyllis Salowe-Kaye testified at a FR Board meeting in Boston. NJCAEF also coordinated a protest by a delegation comprised of NJ Congressional Representatives, the Governor's Office and other community organizations from New Jersey and across the country working to protect CRA targets. As a result of these combined actions, BOA agreed to honor the current Fleet commitments which expire in one and a half years, to begin negotiations on state specific CRA commitments by April 15, 2004, and to work with us to plan the development of new products for LMI communities.
Additionally, we have worked with a number of small banks to improve their CRA performance as they merge or acquire new banks. BankOne is acquiring JP Morgan Chase, which had a lackluster performance on CRA issues in the state. We have had several negotiating sessions with BankOne officials, but to date, they have resisted setting CRA targets by state. NJCAEF filed a protest against the merger with the Federal Reserve Bank, and NJCAEF will testify at the Federal Reserve hearing scheduled for April 15th. We have engaged North Fork Bank of NY after the announcement of plans to merge with the Trust Company of NJ, which has no current CRA agreement. We have not reached an agreement, but North Fork indicated that they want to continue working towards a commitment. We had some successes with Provident Bank of NJ (merging with First Savings Bank) and Sun National Bank (merging with Community Bank) which are both in negotiations to reach a commitment. The Bank of New York, whose agreement expires June 1, 2004, is acquiring Roselle Savings Bank, which currently has needs to improve rating. The Bank of NY has finalized a new agreement to be signed June 1st. We are holding discussions with the Fort Lee Savings Bank, which wants our assistance to help them work with Federal loan products.
We have made major progress in our battle against HUBCO (Hudson United Bank), which has refused to discuss its poor lending record and renegotiate a CRA Agreement with NJCAEF and the Network. HUBCO's previous CRA agreement expired in 2002, with the bank failing to meet several of its lending goals. After HUBCO refused to renew its agreement in early 2003, it received a "Low-Satisfactory" CRA Rating in the category of lending in New Jersey from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
NJCAEF coordinated a strategic response to HUBCO's continued intransigence by mobilizing Newark residents, the Mayor and the City Council to link city investments with CRA performance. We began with a public education picket in November 2003, with over 50 picketers and a Thanksgiving turkey outside the bank's Newark branch, urging the bank to tell the bank to "talk turkey" on its poor lending record and renegotiate a community reinvestment agreement with us. We met with members of the City Council in early 2004, which resulted in the City of Newark withdrawing $20 million from HUBCO, and depositing the funds with PNC Bank, which just signed a new CRA commitment with a specific CRA investment carve-out for Newark. Essex County also withdrew $1 million and closed another account. We are working with community and state leaders to expand this effort and we are targeting West Orange, Orange, and Hudson County to take similar action, with a goal of withdrawing $50 million from the bank. The primary goals of this campaign are to force HUBCO to negotiate a meaningful agreement and to send a strong message to other banks in the state about the importance of community reinvestment.
Credit and Insurance Redlining
NJCAEF engaged decision makers about a controversial plan to allow auto insurance companies to use, on a limited basis, credit scores to determine policy terms. We conducted an aggressive media outreach effort, to draw attention to this significant policy shift towards insurance redlining. As a result, the plan was limited to a test with one company and strict safeguards were put in place to protect consumers, including providing informational assistance about improving one's credit score. NJCAEF also began a research initiative into the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance in urban areas. In early 2004, we released a report detailing the effective redlining of urban homeowners and consumers of color in suburban neighborhoods.
Homeownership Counseling and the Homeownership Institute
Last year, more than 775 low and moderate-income families became first-time homeowners through NJCAEF's Loan Counseling Program. The Loan Counseling Program provides families with budgeting and credit counseling, home repair information and below market rate mortgages and grants. Over 4,000 families were actively involved in counseling in 2003, and we added another Spanish speaking loan counselor to our staff to meet the growing interest from the Spanish speaking community.
In 2003, NJCAEF continued to run the Homeownership Institute, a series of three to six classes which offer participants an overview of all of the self-sufficiency information NJCAEF handles, including credit, mortgage and budget counseling, banking fundamentals, telecommunications and energy conservation and choices, fair housing and predatory lending prevention, health care access, lead poisoning prevention, home improvement and community involvement.
We expanded the Institute to include a series for Section 8 Homeownership, as the Section 8 Program allows recipients to apply their Section 8 vouchers to a mortgage. This will lead to increased homeownership opportunities while also allowing more low income families access to the Section 8 rental assistance program. The series was approved by NJHMFA in September and we began offering classes to state run Housing Authorities through the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). In 2003, we held classes for the city of Asbury Park, Perth Amboy Housing Authority and Essex County Housing Authority. In 2004, we are planning series with Irvington, Bergen County, Passaic County, Hudson County, Union County and Camden County Housing Authorities. We will also continue to offer classes for Asbury Park and Perth Amboy Housing Authority.
NJCAEF held two Women's Housing Events last year, in Asbury Park and Newark, reaching more than 500 women and their families, at these standing room only events. Participants heard new home owners talk about the challenges they overcame to purchase a home of their own. These inspirational stories encouraged more than half the audience to enroll in NJCAEF's Loan Counseling and/or financial education programs. We are continuing to identify and train women to serve as mentors for our Been There Done That project, which provides peer coaching to help women stay motivated & positive during this multiyear effort.
Financial Education
In 2003, NJCAEF continued our popular financial education program and expanded it to include training for Individual Development Accounts (IDA) and tax preparation. Our financial literacy curriculum helps residents better understand basic financial services, including basic banking, money management and consumer education topics. Curriculum topics include: Protecting Your Money, Keeping the Money You Make, Getting Credit and Keeping Your Credit, Predatory Lending, and Investment Strategies.
Staff are available to conduct these trainings on-site at our Newark and Camden Centers, where consumers can utilize our Technology Room, designed for up to 10 consumers at a time in small group trainings to learn more about computers and master the Internet for on-line banking and other monetary services. NJCAEF staff can also provide Technology and Financial Literacy trainings off-site for community organizations and social service providers. In 2003, our Camden and Newark Centers conducted over 300 trainings for more than 7,800 people, bringing the total for the project to 563 trainings reaching more than 20,000 people since its inception.