Everybody Wins: Creating a Successful Prize-Linked Savings Program in Arkansas

The objective of this paper is to lay the foundation for Arkansas to enact legislation enanbling a prize-linked savings (PLS) program to exist in the state. In this report, Southern Bancorp Community Partners' policy team makes the case for why Arkansas should authorize the use of PLS programs thorugh the distributions channels of fnancial institutions or the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. This brief will illustrate the purpose and effectiveness of PLS accounts, explain why a PLS program in Arkansas would be advantageous for the state and its people, and offer three PLS program alternatives for state policy consideration

Making the Case for Eliminating Asset Limits: Why Asset Limits Undermine Financial Security for Arkansans

In this brief, Southern Bancorp Community Partners' policy team presents the case for why Arkansas should enact legislation or create an administrative rule to eliminate asset limits on SNAP and TANF. This paper will provide a concise background on asset limits over the past two decades, highlight key research findings from the asset-building field, and offer recommendations on how and why Arkansas should abolish asset limits on SNAP and TANF

The State of Asset Building in Arkansas

This paper examines the five areas of the 2012 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and underlines asset-building policy triumphs, deficiencies, and recommendations for Arkansas

Evaluating College Savings Plans: A Case Study on Arkansas and Mississippi

In an effort to improve family economic security in rural communities, Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP) sought a sustainable funding source in 2013 for Arkansas's Aspiring Scholars Matching Grant (ASMG) Program, a savings incentive for low-to-moderate income families that matches funds saved for a child's college education in the 529 GIFT Plan, and investigated the possible creation of a matched 529 savings program in Mississippi. SBCP authored this paper to illustrate and examine the current options of college savings accounts offered in both states and analyze the causes behind low participation in each state's 529 plans

Next Shift: Beyond the Nonprofit Leadership Cycle

This report takes a broader look at the issue of generational change and presents different challenges and solutions that move beyond the crisis view of leadership transition and expansion