City of STL Financial Program Development VISTA - FT

The Financial Program Development VISTA will coordinate the pilot financial empowerment diversion program in collaboration with The Office of Financial Empowerment and the Municipal Courts, creating mechanisms for project management and evaluation throughout its first year of operation. By building out the infrastructure of this program, the VISTA is helping to break the punitive cycle of prosecution (involving fines/fees) that exacerbates financial hardship, providing a restorative solution geared towards financial empowerment. Ultimately, the goal of this program is to build out the capacity of The Office of Financial Empowerment to operate within our criminal legal system to deliver financial empowerment support and resources.

Through a partnership with the Office of Financial Empowerment and the City of St. Louis Municipal Court, a 1-year pilot financial empowerment diversion program will work to serve individuals that have charges related to automobile insurance coverage and unregistered vehicles, pursuant to Missouri’s Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Laws. The AmeriCorps Financial Empowerment Catalyst VISTA will be responsible for programmatic management of this pilot program. More specifically, they will be responsible for; a) program development and improvement, b) facilitation of programming sessions and measuring program outcomes and c) data management and tracking for all program participants. The goal of this program is to break the cycle of punitive prosecution that perpetuates financial hardship (Exhibit A) among predominantly low-income and Black and Brown communities. This goal will be achieved through a 6-9 week financial empowerment curriculum that focuses on budget and money management, the importance of automobile insurance, and the creation of a spending plan that’s reflective of the individual’s transportation as well as general needs. By the end of the program, through a partnership with insurance providers, all participants should be empowered to purchase automobile coverage that’s appropriate for their spending plan.