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So tell us, what’s new?

The AAFCS has recently redesigned its advocacy program and launched a new advocacy website to provide a toolkit with information and resources to keep individuals informed on recent legislation and regulation related to Family and Consumer Sciences content areas, including personal and family finance.  The AAFCS is working with legislators, regulators, industry, and others to bring visibility to emerging challenges that impact the financial well-being of individuals, families, and communities around the U.S.  

The Advocacy website provides an “Action Center” to review specific calls to action, sign up to receive calls to action via email, and look up legislation and legislators in your state.  Additionally, the website includes a “Legislative Updates” section with an interactive map to filter legislation by state.  The AAFCS policy experts have curated the legislation to ensure that it is relevant to family and consumer sciences and organized by the following topic areas:  

• Workforce Development;
• Consumer Sciences Curriculum (with financial education as a keyword);
• Childhood Nutrition; and
• Consumer Health and Safety. 

What’s the impact this has had/or you hope it will have on moving financial literacy forward?

Through its advocacy efforts, the AAFCS hopes to advance financial literacy by raising awareness, influencing policy, and empowering individuals and communities to make informed financial decisions.  Our advocacy tools, campaigns, and informational materials help raise awareness about the importance of financial literacy.  Advocacy efforts can influence policymakers to prioritize financial education in schools, workplaces, and communities and can empower consumers by providing them with access to resources and tools to improve their financial knowledge and skills.  By promoting positive financial behaviors, advocacy can contribute to overall financial well-being.  Advocacy efforts encourage collaboration among government agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and educational institutions. These partnerships strengthen the impact of financial literacy initiatives and promote coordination of resources.

How do we learn more?

Visit the advocacy website to gather information, explore the toolkit, and track upcoming state and federal legislation impacting financial education.  You are encouraged to partner with the AAFCS so that we can collaboratively raise the visibility of financial literacy and critical issues.

What else are you working on?

In response to the growing emphasis on effective financial literacy and the need to ensure that educators, regardless of practice setting or discipline of content background, are highly qualified to teach this subject, AAFCS continues to offer a national pre-professional assessment and certification for secondary students and a professional credential for personal and family finance educators.

The Certified Personal and Family Finance Educator (CPFFE) credential is the ultimate validation of quality assurance and professional stature for those involved in providing personal finance education to America’s youth and adults.  Regardless of area of training of the educator (family and consumer sciences, social studies, economics, mathematics, etc.), the CPFFE credential establishes the credibility and competence necessary to teach personal finance content that is consistent with the U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy and the National Standards for Personal Financial Education published by Jump$tart and the Council for Economic Education.  Click here to learn more about the CPFFE professional certification.

Additionally, AAFCS offers a Personal and Family Finance national assessment and corresponding industry certification that is a reliable tool to validate student competency and to measure the effectiveness of personal finance education programs.  The Personal and Family Finance certification emphasizes the knowledge and skills necessary for success in managing personal and family financial matters in daily life and documents student achievement of financial literacy competencies.  The certification is aligned to the National Standards for Personal Financial Education.  Click here to learn more information regarding the Pre-PAC in Personal and Family Finance.

Tell us more about your organization

The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) is the only professional association that provides leadership and support to family and consumer sciences students and professionals from both multiple practice settings and content areas.  AAFCS members assist individuals, families, and communities in making informed decisions about their well-being, relationships, and resources to achieve optimal quality of life. 

AAFCS is committed to connecting individuals to professional development opportunities, resources, and a network of peers to share best practices and strategies related to financial education.   Through its credentialing programs, AAFCS strives to ensure high-quality personal and family finance educators and effective financial literacy educational programs.  In addition to developing and launching our advocacy program and offering industry-recognized credentials, AAFCS seeks new opportunities to collaborate and coordinate with other organizations to advance its financial literacy initiatives.

Contact 

Karin Athanas, Executive Director
Kathanas@aafcs.org

Lori Myers, CFCS, Chief of Staff & Senior Director:  Core Competency
LMyers@aafcs.org