Cash Campaign of Maryland

Financial capability services including free tax preparation, financial education, financial coaching, and screening for public benefits. Free tax preparation is offered through the irs volunteer income tax preparation assistance program. In 2023, Cash gained 45 new financial coaching clients and helped 67% of them increase their credit scores by an average of 37 points and decrease consumer debt by $190,000. Cash offered 195 financial education classes to 4,534 individuals, and 2,000 people were impacted via outreach events. Cash screened 379 households for benefits and enrolled 172 families resulting in $200,366 of assistance. Additionally, 407 practitioners were trained through 34 events. Returning $25.8 million to residents, Cash prepared 16,737 taxes, which also saved residents $5.1 million total. This would not have been possible without 460 volunteers who donated their time across 26 sites in Maryland.

Policy research and advocacy focuses on policies that help or hinder the financial security of low-to-moderate income marylanders. In 2023, Cash tracked 151 bills and supported 69 through written and oral testimony. of these, 32 bills were successfully passed including the family prosperity act of 2023.

Practitioner training and capacity building includes volunteer and partner training, fee for service customized training, and technical assistance. In 2023, Cash trained 2,013 practitioners with financial content and provided 109 customized training/conference sessions.

The baltimore young families success fund (byfsf) is a guaranteed income pilot project launched by mayor brandon m. scott to provide 200 young parents, between 18-24 years old, with an unconditional Cash payment of $1,000 per month over the course of 24 months. The first payment went out in august 2022 and the final payment will be in july 2024.