Family Financial Education

Jamie H. Thompson, Family Financial Education Specialist

 

 

MOTax – The MOTax Education Initiative assists people by preparing and electronically filing income tax returns and by providing financial education to help families maximize their tax refunds.  This educational initiative reaches its audience through the “3 Ps”:

• Promotion of tax credits and free tax services.
• Preparation and e-filing of tax returns.
• Planning for financial stability and wealth building.

 

Terri Roberts, Social Services; Andrew Zumwalt, MOTax coordinator for State Extension; and Jamie Thompson, Family Financial Education Specialist worked on the expansion of the Cole County MOTax program for 2008.  Educational materials were provided to 287 participants in the program.  Fifty-eight participants met with Jamie Thompson to discuss financial issues.

 

Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?

Everyone has property and personal belongings to transfer when they die and many items have meaning, not only to the owner but also to family members.  What happens to personal belongings when someone dies?   How can these decisions be made while living?  This is an issue that is often ignored—until a crisis occurs, who gets grandma’s yellow pie plate?

 

This program was presented at the Lohman Senior Center in January 2008.  Twenty-four seniors participated in the two-hour program.  Comments:

• “It got me thinking.”
• “Planning ahead can help keep problems at a minimum.”
• “I am the youngest and the closest to my parents. It will fall to me.”

 

Credit, Credit Reports, and Credit Scores.

Eighteen Cole County Extension Council members participated in a short-course dealing with credit, credit reports and credit scores.  Too often, it is assumed that educated adults know about credit and how to use it; know about annualcreditreport.com; and know about what goes into a credit score.

 

Most of the group was unaware copies of credit reports could be requested from each of the major credit bureaus, once a year, free.  Only 20% had actually gone to annualcreditreport.com to see their report.

 

Jobs for Missouri Graduates

Career Development Conference

A conference was held April 4, 2008 at the Governor’s Office Building.  One-hundred and twenty-eight participated in the three sessions offered during the day. The topic presented by the Extension Specialist was Protect Your Credit Score.  Consumer credit facts, credit report basics, how to read a credit report, what is “annualcreditreport.com”, what a credit score is and how it affects your credit was discussed.

 

Some of the comments shared by the students were:

• "You should watch how you spend your money and the credit cards you get, because you could get rejected for stuff that you need, if you need a loan."
• "Now that I know about credit I will be careful in the real world."
• "Not put my social security number on my driver’s license. Simple mistakes can turn into bigger problems."
• "(I learned) the difference between debit and credit. I need to get some type of credit history."
• "That credit can be good as long as we don’t abuse it."
• "Not use my credit card unless it’s used for a need, and not on high amounts of money."
• "That loans and credit cards are not always bad. They establish a responsibility profile."

 

Identity Theft: A loss that hurts!

Americans cannot live in constant fear of what may or may not happen to their identity.  It is important that everyone be aware of “Identity Theft” and act responsibly to protect them.  Sometimes, no matter how careful someone is, it happens anyway.  How can someone protect his or her identity?  What should a victim do if it does happen to them?

 

Seventeen Cole County Extension Council members participated in a short-course on Fraud and Identity Theft.  The instruction also included six newsletter handouts. 

 

Cole County Citizen Corps

The Cole County Citizen Corps is a group of local government officials, first responder organizations, and members of other agencies who respond to emergencies and disasters in Cole County.  The corps mission is to involve each citizen in making homes, communities and country safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues and other emergencies through training, education, and volunteer service.

 

Community Emergency Management

Jamie H. Thompson, Family Financial Education Specialist represents the Cole County Extension Center in Citizen Corps and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) at their meetings, events, and activities. 

 

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Cole County Citizen Corps offered CERT training in 2008.  Emergency personnel and CERT instructors provided training in basic disaster response skills. The training sessions included Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety, Medical Operations, Terrorism, Disaster Psychology, Search and Rescue, and CERT Organization.  The program is designed to train citizens in the basic skills needed to respond to a disaster in homes, neighborhoods, or workplaces.  A CERT Handbook is currently being developed.  Cole County Extension and the Red Cross provide continuing education.  Cole County CERT is looking to develop a contact with Capitol CERT and to participate in joint educational programming.

 

Region F’s “Mass Care Exercise” was held in Cole County.  The exercise was developed around simulated emergency responses for all agencies involved.  Responses were driven by situations provided from the University Of Missouri Fire & Rescue Training Institute passed through the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).  “Search and Rescue” training was also conducted in October. 

 

“Ready in 3” Training

Forty day care providers participated in a two-hour program titled Ready in 3.  The program has three steps to prepare for an emergency so the class was divided into three areas: Introduction to CERT (Karen Dunkel), home and auto safety for provider families (Jamie Thompson), and business safety (Lisa Binkley). The program generated a great deal of discussion throughout the program.  Many comments discussed how more information is needed to for public, not just for day cares.

 

The training program “Ready in 3” was also used in Tipton and Boonville Correction Centers, in the Building Strong Families program; Healthy Home module. Seventy inmates in Tipton and thirty-two Boonville inmates have participated in the program.

 

SNAPP – Special Needs Assessment and Planning Project

The SNAPP Project is an effort to mitigate the effects of disaster on the special needs population that will by identifying those that comprise the special needs population in Cole County.  SNAPP assesses their individual needs and determines who will sustain those needs during a disaster by determining agency roles for special needs planning and response.

 

Bill Farr, Cole County Emergency Management, asked Cole County Extension Center to be a partner in this project.