Seattle-King County Asset-Building Collaborative

Financial Coaching Pilot Study

The Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative (SKC ABC) with the support of Burst for Prosperity is conducting a financial coaching evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the coaching model as implemented by five coaches from three King County non-profit agencies, who are coaching 25 – 30 clients from July 2011-January 2012. All five coaches completed Burst for Prosperity’s financial coaching training. SKC ABC’s role is to oversee the evaluation and assist the coaches in identifying and tracking individual client outcomes, such as changes in financial status, assets, education, employment, and housing status. SKC ABC will provide a final written report in February 2012 that will be made available to the asset building community. The evaluation findings will offer significant input to our asset building community’s understanding of the use of the financial coaching model as a way of assisting clients to understand, manage, and improve their financial situation.

The evaluation objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating a coaching model into financial empowerment case work. Benchmarks include coaching characteristics, demographic data, and client progress and outcomes in the following areas: financial security, asset creation, asset management, asset protection, legal issues, housing, and relationships and well being.

The Washington Asset Building Coalition (WABC) partnered with Burst for Prosperity to offer financial coaching training scholarships in 2011. Scholarships were available for Washington Asset Building Coalition members who were willing to introduce strategies to integrate coaching into their existing work structure and responsibilities, build a peer learning network with coach practitioners working with low-income individuals, and work with their local ABC’s with training and evaluation. To date approximately 52 SKC ABC members have been trained.Of those who received training in financial coaching, five were selected to participate in this evaluation. The five coaches selected represent three agencies that have provided client access to this evaluation; The Sophia Way in Bellevue; Solid Ground in Seattle; and the YWCA, whose location represented is in Renton.