When young people leave foster care, they often lack financial assiets, a relationship with a bank, or even much functional knowledge about the economy of everyday life. To address these issues, the Jim Casey youth Opportunities Initiative has developed a pilot project that is testing a personal empowerment and asset-building tool called an "Opportunity Passport." Young Adult Community Development is partnering with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initative to implement the Opportunity Passport in Columbus, Ohio.

The Opportunity Passport has three distinct components.

• Personal debit account for short-term expenses
• Matched savings account, called an Individual Development Account (IDA) to be used for asset building
• Door openers, a host of opportunities to be negotiated on a local basis, which may include pre-approval for registration for community college courses, or expedited access to job-training or adult education courses

Participant Eligibility

The Opportunity Passport is for individuals who at the time of enrollment:

• are between 14 through 25 years of age; 
• successfully completed financial literacy training (Building Assets for Your Future);
• agreed to all participantion requirements (defined below); and
• signed the Opportunity Passport participant agreement

Participant Requirements

 

To enroll inthe Opportunity Passport, a participant must:

• enroll in all three Opportunity Passport components (matched savings account, debit account, and door openers);
• successfully complete financial literacy training arranged by YACD;
• make regular deposits in the IDA on an individually designed basis; and
• provide inforamtion onthe use of the Opportunity Passport and outcomes that may be associated with the use of the Opportunity Passport.