Cooperative Extension’s Capacity to Demonstrate Impact in Financial Capability and Well-Being - A Briefing Paper

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Aria

Cooperative Extension’s programs advance financial security and well-being for individuals and families through education, teaching materials, and social marketing targeting youth and adults, alongside support for professionals and volunteers. While financial education interventions have demonstrated impact, evaluations at individual, state, and national levels remain limited in major reviews. This briefing paper summarizes how a team of FRM professionals identified themes, evaluation strategies, and common indicators to coordinate efforts, build a national reporting mechanism, and inform next steps for documenting FRM impacts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages30

Reading Time1 h 16 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Policy and accountability drivers

Need for evidence-based evaluation in FRM

October 2017 Cooperative Extension’s Capacity to Demonstrate Impact in Financial Capability and Well-Being: A Briefing Paper Maria Pippidis, University of Delaware Suzanne Bartholomae, Iowa State University Elizabeth Kiss, Kansas State University Cooperative Extension’s Capacity to Demonstrate Impact in Financial Capability and Well-Being: A Briefing Paper Cooperative Extension contributes to the financial security and well-being of individuals and families through programs, teaching materials, and social marketing and media campaigns developed for youth and adult consumers, as well as professionals and volunteers who conduct personal finance and consumer education with others. Financial education interventions offered by Cooperative Extension have been shown to have impact (Battelle Report, 2015); however, evaluations at the individual, state, and/or national level have been absent from several authoritative reports and reviews published in the past decade on the efficacy of financial education. A Battelle Report (2015) commissioned by the North Central Cooperative Extension Association Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) program leaders identified a key opportunity for the system to “strengthen its knowledge-sharing process to reduce parallel efforts and combine efforts in evaluation work in order to better document program successes”(p. ES13) . This briefing paper summarizes work by a team of Cooperative Extension Family Resource Management (FRM) professionals to identify programmatic themes, evaluation strategies, and common indicators to structure and coordinate efforts and build the case for creating a mechanism and/or reporting system that will facilitate documenting FRM impacts nationally, and potentially contribute to the body of scholarship on financial education evaluation. It also suggests next steps for developing and implementing such an initiative and system. Background Now more than ever, Family Resource Management (FRM) programs need to provide rigorous research evidence documenting effective implementation and impact of their interventions. FRM programs are delivered with scarce resources, in a crowded marketplace, and in an environment of greater accountability (Bartholomae & Pippidis, 2015) . The costs, overlap, duplication, coordination, and effectiveness of federal financial literacy activities, including those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), have already been examined by the General Accountability Office (GAO) (e.g., see reports from 2004; 2012a; 2012b; 2014) . One report recommended that Congress require federal agencies to evaluate financial literacy efforts; subsequent evaluative work by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Treasury, and in particular coordinating efforts by the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, caused a withdrawal of this recommendation. However, the GAO (2012a) concluded that a national strategy is needed to provide “clear recommendations on the allocation of federal financial literacy resources across programs and agencies”(p. 39), otherwise “policymakers lack information to help direct the strategy’s implementation and help ensure efficient use of funds”(p. 38) . For several decades, an evidence-based policy and practice movement has been underway, with some Cooperative Extension professionals serving as advocates (Bogenschneider & Corbett, 2010) . In 2016, a bipartisan bill was signed into law that created the Commission on Evidence-Based Policy Making (H. B. 1831) . The commission “lays critical groundwork for adopting evidence-based policies that maximize public investment and improve lives”(Milner, 2016) . The commission is charged with not only increasing the integration and accessibility of federal data, but also enhancing the conduct and quality of evaluations conducted by federal entities, such as the USDA’s Cooperative Extension System. The 15-member commission’s attention will largely focus on the government’s program adm

FAQs

What role does Cooperative Extension play in financial capability and well-being?

It contributes to individuals’ and families’ financial security and well-being through programs, teaching materials, and social marketing/media campaigns for youth and adult consumers, plus education conducted with professionals and volunteers.

Why does the document argue that FRM programs need more rigorous evaluation?

FRM programs operate with scarce resources and increasing accountability, yet authoritative reports have lacked evaluations at individual, state, and national levels showing effectiveness and impact.

What is the purpose of the briefing paper’s proposed evaluation coordination work?

It summarizes efforts to identify programmatic themes, evaluation strategies, and common indicators so a mechanism or reporting system can facilitate documenting FRM impacts nationally.

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Aria