Resources

Money Smart for Older Adults (MSOA) is an instructor-led training that provides information and resources to help older adults and their caregivers identify and avoid financial exploitation through fraud and scams.  The guide also encourages advanced planning and informed financial decision-making. Developed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the curriculum covers seven topics:

1. Common Types of Elder Financial Exploitation
2. Scams Targeting Veterans
3. Identity Theft
4. Medical Identity Theft
5. Scams that Target Homeowners
6. Planning for Unexpected Life Events
7. How to Be Financially Prepared for Disasters

The following files are available for download:

• Instructor Guide, English
• Resource Guide, English
• Slides, English (PowerPoint)
• Slides, English (PDF)
• Slides, Spanish (PowerPoint)
• Slides, Spanish (PDF)

The original version of Money Smart for Older Adults  will continue to be offered in Spanish until the updated version of Money Smart for Older Adults is available in Spanish. The three-part module consists of an instructor guide (English), a resource guide (English and Spanish), and a PowerPoint presentation (English and Spanish).

Rising employer demand for skilled workers has driven efforts to better align occupational training programs to industry needs. Yet, even as the demand for skilled workers increases, less than half of students who enter occupational training programs receive a credential within six years. Community colleges are working to find faster and more effective ways to train those in need of basic skills instruction in math, reading, or job skills. Traditionally, basic skills courses are offered in a sequence that must be completed before students can begin college-level occupational training. However, most students referred to basic skills training never enroll in college-level courses. As its name implies, Washington State's "Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training (I-BEST)" provides integrated basic skills and occupational training that allows students to complete their training program faster, and provides supports designed to ensure students stay engaged in training. Washington State's "I-BEST" program was developed by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and was first implemented in the 2006-2007 school year. Since its creation, "I-BEST" has been replicated in other locations, sometimes under different names. "Accelerating Opportunity" was launched in four states in 2011 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With support from the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF), the "Accelerating Connections to Employment (ACE)" program was implemented in four states in 2013. Both "Accelerating Opportunity" and "ACE" programs note that they are based on the "I-BEST" model, with the same core commitment to integrated basic skills and occupational training. Supports provided by these programs differ slightly, and these differences are described in this report. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "I-BEST" on education and labor market outcomes. The WWC identified 12 studies of "I-BEST." Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "I-BEST" on students in career and technical education programs--including African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and White students--in a variety of school settings, including urban, suburban, and rural community colleges.

This compendium describes nine innovative practices selected by the Advancing Innovation in Adult Education project. The practices featured in this compendium represent AE programs’ efforts to provide core AE program services—learner intake, assessment, and instruction—as well as a range of supportive services to engage, motivate, and enable learners to attain their goals for participating in AE. Although the implementation of supportive services such as referral of learners to community agencies for transportation, childcare, and other resources has been a feature of AE programs, what is innovative about the current efforts of the practices highlighted in the compendium is the range of activities they are conducting to assist AE learners and the assumptions of the AE programs implementing the practices about the necessity to support AE learners as broadly as possible to help ensure their success.