Session: Aligning Financial Services and Socialization with Equity: Barriers, Tools, and Structural Exclusions (Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference Anniversary)

Financial well-being fundamentally shapes health outcomes, social mobility, and quality of life for individuals and communities. Despite this clear connection, U.S. financial systems continue to exclude vulnerable populations through structural barriers, knowledge gaps, and insufficient policy supports. This symposium examines the critical intersection of social work practice and financial capability building, highlighting both innovative interventions and persistent challenges that influence economic equity.

Access to appropriate financial services remains uneven across American society, with significant disparities along racial, socioeconomic, and geographic lines. These disparities not only limit immediate financial opportunity but also perpetuate intergenerational cycles of economic disadvantage. Social workers are uniquely positioned to address these inequities through their direct engagement with vulnerable populations and their understanding of systemic barriers to economic justice. However, traditional social work education has often overlooked financial capability interventions in comprehensive client support.

The papers in this symposium showcase diverse approaches to addressing financial inequity. Author 1 and colleagues present a systematic review of financial coaching interventions, examining their effectiveness in improving both financial outcomes and health/well-being among vulnerable populations. Their findings reveal promising but preliminary evidence while highlighting the need for more rigorous outcome measurement. Author 2's paper explores an innovative educational model that prepares social work students to deliver Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services while addressing clients' broader financial needs. This program provides immediate financial benefits for low-income community members through tax preparation while expanding students' understanding of social work's role in financial capability building. Author 3 examines a pilot program that trains resident advisors to integrate financial topics into their work with college students. This pioneering strategy explores the promise of having financial information resources integrated within other services during critical young adult years that may help establish foundations for lifelong financial health. Author 4 and colleague explore potential differences in parental financial socialization, financial capability, behavior, and well-being between young adults from lower-income and higher-income households. Their findings suggest that lower-income young adults face disadvantages in objective financial knowledge, financial access, and well-being, indicating the need for targeted interventions.

These papers collectively demonstrate that addressing financial inequity requires a multi-level approach: direct interventions that build financial capability and educational innovations that prepare social workers to effectively engage with financial systems. This symposium contributes to the conference theme of "Leading for Transformative Change" by examining how social work research can inform practice interventions and policy reforms to create more equitable financial systems and services. By aligning social work science with financial capability practice, we can transform how vulnerable populations access, navigate, and benefit from financial services. The research presented provides evidence-based approaches for practitioners, educators, and policy advocates seeking to advance financial equity as a fundamental component of social and economic justice, ultimately supporting a more inclusive financial landscape that recognizes the diversity of needs among underserved communities.