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PNC Launches Financial Literacy Campaign with ACF and IRS
By Alton Gary Simpson
In partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children & Families and the Internal Revenue Service, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has launched "Add It Up For Families."
This new initiative seeks to help lower-income families become more financially self-sufficient. The program will focus on early childhood education, math skills, financial education and income tax preparation. It will serve approximately 450 preschool children and their families at the North Philadelphia Head Start Program, where the initiative was announced.
According to a press release from PNC, the program is believed to be the most comprehensive collaboration between two federal agencies and a public company on financial education to assist lower-income families.
"This collaboration between the public sector and PNC is further progress in our commitment to become a leading state in early childhood investment," said Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell. "The quality of education that we provide today will directly affect the future success and strength of our economy and workforce."
Add it Up for Families will incorporate teacher training in core competencies for mathematics and brings together key partners in the community, each with their own area of expertise. The benefits for the Head Start children and their families include:
• Enhanced math curriculum funded by PNC to establish a foundation of skills for children and their families, including activities such as the "Math Backpack" with take-home activities that are fun and engaging for the entire family. ACF is funding an independent evaluation of the math curriculum. One aspect of the evaluation is to determine if the math program could be replicated in other Head Start programs.
• Free tax preparation through a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at the site. IRS trained and certified Head Start staff will prepare tax returns and help families determine if they qualify for the earned income tax credit - tens of thousands of families earning less than $40,000 per year miss this financial support due to lack of awareness.
• Free financial education workshops hosted by PNC bankers. Topics include managing a budget, keeping checking and savings accounts, and buying a home.
• Assistance in setting up Individual Development Accounts, a program funded by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ACF to encourage low-income families to save towards buying assets, such as a home, education or job training.
"Comprehensive services that address the needs of underserved families are the best way to set them on a path to financial self-sufficiency," said PNC chairman and CEO James E. Rohr. He is also co-chair with Gov. Rendell of Pre-K Counts, the state's public-private partnership that funds block grants to create and/or improve pre-k programs. "Today's economy is transforming into one based on knowledge and skills and the foundation starts in the early school years," he said. "Access to quality early education, like this program, is critically important and will result in long-term benefits for our nation's children, society and economy."
PNC, ACF - which administers Head Start nationally - and the IRS teamed up to develop an initiative that would coordinate their combined services to make it easier for families to take advantage of these opportunities. The result - Add It Up for Families - was built on the success of the North Philadelphia Head Start's math program, which was funded through PNC Grow Up Great, a 10-year, $100 million investment in early childhood education by the financial services firm. In addition to the announcement of the Add It Up for Families initiative, PNC, in its continued partnership with Sesame Workshop, presented a gift of 10,000 new "Happy, Healthy, Ready for School: Learning is Everywhere" kits to Head Start programs in Philadelphia County. The free bilingual, multimedia kits will be distributed to children and parents in all Head Start centers throughout the county, as well as every PNC Bank branch.
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