The Financial Empowerment Center model has operated for thirteen years, and across more than two dozen operational FECs has worked with more than 150,000 clients, helping them reduce debt by more than $225 million, and increasing savings by $45 million. Professionally trained FEC counselors help consumers with low to moderate incomes manage their finances, pay down debt, increase savings, establish and build credit, and access safe and affordable mainstream banking products.

The core tenets of the FEC model are:

• Financial counseling is provided at no cost, with services delivered one-on-one to empower clients to address complex financial challenges.
• Counselors are professionally trained according to rigorous FEC Counselor Training Standards.
• Counseling is data-driven; the central FEC database collects over 200 client data points, and impact is measured against specific behavior change outcomes.
• Because financial instability impacts the need for, and success of, other social services, strategic referral and integration partnerships with other services such as housing and foreclosure prevention, workforce development, prisoner reentry, and benefits access are critical.
• Financial counseling serves a critical public need, and local government oversight provides for credibility, accountability, scale, and program sustainability.

The FEC Counselor Training Process 

Each FEC Planning Partner is required to train their financial counselors in accordance with the requirements and competencies detailed in the CFE Fund’s FEC Counselor Training Standards. The FEC Counselor Training Standards delineate the breadth and depth of the financial content areas, counseling and coaching skills, practice and experiential learning, and socio-economic and cultural context setting necessary to serve the diverse needs and backgrounds of FEC clients.