David Fosterⁱ
Policy Strategist
Oregon Housing & Community Services

As Oregon’s Individual Development Account (IDA) initiative begins to move to scale, inclusion of persons with disabilities remains a strong objective. Still, access to the asset building tool remains challenging for this group of Oregonians. So consumers, advocates, service providers, and staff from Oregon Housing & Community Services (OHCS) are actively pursuing solutions to barriers. They are on the cusp of addressing two big ones.

Passage of enabling legislation in 1999 really boosted implementation of the IDA concept in Oregon. Policy makers crafted the law after model legislation from the Center for Social Development (CSD) and Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), two national leaders in the asset building field. A state income tax credit mechanism was established to provide funding. With bumps and struggles along the way, Oregon’s IDA initiative structure and funding took three years to become adequate to start a pilot phase and engage a couple hundred participants per year. By 2006, the system of fiduciary and partner organizations, fund raising, and level of participants "ripe" for effectively capitalizing this unique asset building tool developed well and Oregon began moving its initiative to scale. In 2006, about 280 participants will be engaged. In 2007, an estimated 500 will be engaged. At scale, Oregon’s IDA initiative should engage 1500-2000 new low-income adults annually.

While patterned after the national model IDA legislation, Oregon’s approach distinguishes itself in several ways. Probably the most unique aspect involves initiative funding. Oregon is one of only a handful of states using a state income tax credit to generate funds for IDA delivery and match. Marketing the credits has presented many challenges, but this source has proven more stable than what many others rely upon across the country.

While many IDA initiatives nationally have developed to serve a particular community or service area, Oregon is creating a statewide initiative, building on networks of non-profit community-based organizations. Currently, five fiduciary organizations receive funding from the state IDA pool and manage accounts for participants in 18 of Oregon’s most populous 36 counties. More than forty “partner” organizations that provide the human capital development component, work with the fiduciary organizations to select, prepare, and refer clients ready to capitalize on the IDA tool. The partner organization role also includes providing the case management and coaching, life-planning counsel, financial education and asset specific training components integral to Oregon’s IDA strategy. Organizations serving in the partner role include housing authorities, micro-enterprise organizations, community development corporations, community action programs, and a variety of other social support providers. While capacity must develop considerably in the coming years to fully satisfy anticipated demand for IDAs across the state, a sound framework has been established upon which to expand.

Oregon’s initiative differs from many other IDA initiatives in another way. Many organizations across the country struggle to sustain their initiatives because their IDA strategies operate as stand-alone social supports programs. Human capital development strategies (i.e., supportive services, coaching/mentoring, life-planning, financial education, asset specific training, etc.) that assure client outcomes require substantial commitment of staff and funds. Oregon addressed this challenge by applying IDAs as an add-on tool for those already engaged in an existing social support strategy. One becomes an Oregon IDA participant through participation in another strategy. The IDA tool is thus used as an incentive to motivate participants engaged in other programs, to incentivize and maximize potential for success. Synergies result in both program directions making delivery more efficient and outcomes more likely.

Piloting the IDA concept in Oregon revealed important insights about participants with disabilities. Most importantly, system partners learned that persons with disabilities can and will capitalize on this asset building strategy just like any other individuals. For example, a Portland woman with a disability was among the first to utilize Oregon’s state-funded IDA tool, developing her talent for creating greeting cards into a micro-business that continues to enhance her life several years later.

But partners also learned that persons with disabilities could utilize the tool even better with statutory modifications in two areas. State staff is proposing statutory amendments for the 2007 Oregon Legislative session to expand the asset classes eligible for purchase with successful completion of human development requirements and savings goals. The draft language (subject to refinement through the legislative process in the coming months) will address two major areas of concern for persons with a disability. One would allow purchase of equipment or other technology necessary for the participant to become competitive in the workforce or to use in business development. The second would allow for improvements, repairs or modifications necessary to make or keep the participant’s dwelling habitable.

Those involved in crafting the draft wording are particularly pleased that the language accommodates persons with disabilities without narrowly targeting this group of potential participants. The two provisions respond to the many low-income Oregonians facing barriers related to work competitiveness and livability in their homes.

As proposed, the new provisions accommodate persons with a disability without stigmatizing language or granting a special privilege to small group of potential participants. The wording reflects the understanding that each of us must overcome challenges as we capitalize on our strengths to thrive. The challenges faced by a person with a disability are as unique to this individual as any other person. In Oregon’s IDA future, if the participant and their “coach” from the partner organization determine a piece of equipment or an adaptation of their dwelling is necessary to help move the person along the self-reliance continuum, then this item would be built into the participant’s required Personal Development Plan. The state’s IDA match would then apply when all program requirements are fulfilled and the participant is ready to purchase their asset goal.

Draft statute amendment language:

"As specified in the account holder’s personal plan for becoming more self-reliant, the purchase of specialized training, equipment or other technology required to become competitive in obtaining or maintaining employment or for starting and maintaining a business."

"Improvements, repairs or modifications necessary to make or keep the account holder’s primary dwelling habitable, accessible or visitable for the account holder or a household member. This paragraph does not apply to improvements, repairs, or modifications made to a rented primary dwelling to achieve or maintain a habitable condition for which ORS 90.320 (1) places responsibility on the landlord. As used in this paragraph, "accessible" and "visitable" have the meanings given those terms in ORS 456.508."

Oregon’s IDA partners realize that not all barriers faced by persons with disabilities that were identified during the IDA pilot phase will be addressed by statutory revisions this year. Some of what may be viewed as barriers actually serve as intended performance thresholds for determining readiness for utilizing the IDA tool. For example, Oregon participants must use earned income for their savings deposits. SSI or other income subsidy payments may not be saved to generate match. This provision keeps Oregon’s IDAs functioning as an incentive for moving along the self-reliance continuum and avoids transforming the tool into just another layer of public income subsidy with a complicated and expensive delivery system.

Program staff also realize that limits on participant match may not cover purchase of expensive adaptive technology needed by a person with disability. As one advocate helping to shape the draft statutory language noted, adapting a vehicle to accommodate his disability costs tens of thousands of dollars. While it may help in these instances, Oregon’s IDA savings and match system is not sufficiently robust to cover such bills. In Oregon, the IDA match provides an "incentive," an encouragement, for participants to fulfill their human capital development commitments of their personal development plan and stay on their journey towards self-reliance. Oregon’s match funds may not cover the full cost of whatever the participant needs, but it should help leverage the participants savings with potentially several thousand dollars in additional resources "earned" by staying on the course towards greater self-reliance.

Oregon’s strategy also will not help those persons with a disability that enjoy higher incomes, yet face significant needs stemming from a disability. By intent, the Legislature limited Oregon’s IDA strategy to target only members of low-income households. We will probably need to wait for a national universal asset building strategy to provide a tool for the general population to address this problem.

In the meantime, consumers, advocates and Oregon’s IDA initiative representatives will continue striving to provide those working with persons with disabilities an improved tool for keeping consumers on their path to greater self-reliance. With the two proposed statutory amendments, all involved in Oregon’s IDA initiative anticipate better serving persons with disabilities in the near future.

David B. Foster, Policy Strategist
Oregon Housing & Community Services
725 Summer Street NE, Suite B
PO Box 14508
Salem, OR 97309-0409
PH: (503) 986-2112 FAX: (503) 986-2020
EMail: david.foster@hcs.state.or.us