Black Hills Childrens Ranch Inc

Programs: The organization offers several options to consumers seeking help in financial education, budgeting and debt management. A consumer will initially visit with one of our certified credit counselors (certified through the guidelines of the financial counseling association of america - fcaa) to discuss the goals of the consumer. If the consumer is primarily seeking assistance in establishing a monthly budget or reviewing their financial situation, this will be done at no charge to the consumer and can be completed within an hour or two, whether face to face or by phone, depending on the consumer's financial situation. On a daily basis, we also provide consumers with housing counseling (at no cost), reverse mortgage (hecm) counseling, student loan counseling, pre-bankruptcy counseling and post-bankruptcy education. There are some instances in which after their initial consultation, the consumer determines that they would like or need further assistance in reducing payments to unsecured creditors or due to their budget not being within their means. In such situations, a "certified credit counselor" may recommend enrollment in our "debt management program" as a means of additional assistance and ongoing counseling. We provide a wide range of information through our state of the art website 24/7,which has account information for those that have enrolled in our debt management program, in addition to being available by phone monday-friday,7am to 7pm mst, and saturday, 8am to 5pm mst. The organization is also a registered agency through bureau veritas certification and operates a quality management system in compliance with the requirements of the international standards organization 9001-2008 and the fcaa "code of practice," as well as a participant of the better business bureau care program. The organization has had over 25,000 counseling sessions in 2017 alone, with an estimated 1,897 of those consumers determining their needs to enroll in our "debt management program. " many of our counseling and educational sessions are provided at no charge to the public. The organization provides counseling to anyone that is in need of our education programs and services, regardless of their ability to pay. Our latest education program, "a new day," is available 24/7, and in 2017 there were 11,194 consumers who completed part i of the course and 7,476 consumers who completed part ii of the course. In the year 2017, the number of enrollees for the "simplified guide to financial life skills" were 5,845. This workbook covers basic money management and financial life skills. The chapters are as follows: pretest (this helps measure the financial literacy of each individual) 1 identifying debt warning signs, 2 setting up a family budget, 3 tips for making a budget, 4 shopping guide/budget help,5 money management help, 6 conquering your financial stress, 7 tips for dealing with your creditors and planning, preparing and managing your financial future. It also includes a final test (submitted to us for grading and recording the measurement of their success) and a glossary/appendix (this includes terms which appear on creditor statements and credit reports to enhance the consumer's financial literacy). Those completing the course with a passing grade on the final test, graduated and received a "graduation certificate. "