Executive Summary
1. What Results Do You Want?
The economic well-being of children and their parents are inextricably linked, so successful policy strategies will promote opportunities for parents and opportunities for children at the same time. See more information on priorities and indicators in this area.
2. How Are Your Kids?
By 2012, an estimated 8 million or more foreclosures could result from the current crisis.[i] See data for your state on home foreclosure rates and on the total number of homes with foreclosure filings, plus guidance for understanding root causes, creating projections, and setting targets.
3. What Can Policymakers Do?
Strategies A number of states are pursuing strategies that are considered promising by experts in the field.[ii] 4. How Can You Ensure Success? As policymakers enact promising policies, attention must be paid to implementation and accountability to ensure that the desired results are achieved. Key implementation and accountability strategies for reducing home foreclosures include supporting monitoring and enforcement, ensuring that loan modifications benefit borrowers, and enacting protections against abusive “foreclosure consultants.” See more guidance on overseeing implementation and ensuring accountability. 5. How Can You Sustain Success? Using federal and state funds, policymakers can pursue multiple financing strategies, including connecting residents to federal sources of aid, pursuing no-cost legal protections, and assessing the return on investments in preventing foreclosures. Guidance on Financing and Investing in Results and Financing Options.
[i] MarketWatch, “Foreclosures could top 8 million: Credit Suisse,” December 9, 2008; as cited in Stephanie Casey Pierce, Emerging Trends: State Actions to Tackle the Foreclosure Crisis. Washington, DC: National Governors Association: February 2009.
[ii] See State and Local Prevention Policy Options by the Center for Responsible Lending.