Money matters may sometimes seem like an adults-only part of life. Parents may aim to spare kids the hassle of dealing with finances until they are older, but research shows this may do them a disservice. PC-FLIPP does make a difference!

About PC-FLIPP

Alabamians are invited to demystify money management for children and parents alike through the Parent-Child Financial Literacy in Progress Program (PC-FLIPP). This program, funded through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Children, Youth, and Families at Risk program, helps parents build financial literacy skills as their children develop money management skills. The program accomplishes this task through tools and resources, as well as courses for both parents and children.

PC-FLIPP is a free resource by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Alabama A&M University throughout the year. PC-FLIPP is designed for parents with limited resources and children aged 5 to 9 years old. Unbanked parents can even transition to a fully banked status through the program.

Why Financial Literacy Matters

The 2025 Kids Count Data Book, published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, indicates that one in three children in the United States lives in households where parents struggle with high housing costs. So, helping get your own finances under control while setting children up for a better future is a two-fold solution.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (2022) reported that, “Financial education has been linked to lower debt levels, higher savings, and higher credit scores as children mature into adulthood. Later on in life, that financial education is also positively connected to net worth and investing.”

This is all great in theory, but what about in practice?  PC-FLIPP participant Brianna Westbrook took time to tell us how her experience in the program helped her and her son.

PC-FLIPP Testimony

“During the program, I started thinking about how I could spend more appropriately and started looking at how I could reduce spending,” Westbrook said.

She credits her experience with not only balancing her monthly budget by expenses rather than income, but also boosting her credit score by asking her utility provider to report her payment history to credit bureaus.

“During the program, I actually learned how we can call like places to have them report our payment history. I did call them toward the beginning of the program,” Westbrook said. “At the end of it, I noticed that my credit went up by 60 points.”

Westbrook had been paying her bills on time for six years, so when her payment history was reported to the credit bureaus, her credit score took off. Her habits also changed after using the program. She began to see her finances differently by the end of the program.

“I noticed that instead of going and spending money that wasn’t needed, I was putting it towards debt and saving it,” Westbrook said. “It took a little bit of concentration at first, actually putting that money towards more debt or things that I could pay off to help better my finances. But now it comes more naturally. So, the mindset of me budgeting and managing the finances has changed completely.”

Westbrook’s son has also seen a marked change in his money management skills after taking classes through the program.

“They learn more about the empathy side of helping others,” Westbrook said of the classes her son attended. “I have instituted an allowance for both of my children, but my youngest is the one who attended the program with me. It actually got him to start saving money out of his allowance to go to his savings. He has learned to automatically put money in savings.”

Westbrook said she frequently recommends the program to people in her community. She tells her peers that she sees value in the things she learned about predatory lenders and budgeting, for example.

For More Information

Parents interested in using the program can contact Dorothy Brandon at 256-372-5458 or Terence Martin at 256-372-4973.

The program was initially piloted in three locations:

Madison County

Calvary Hill Community Center
2900 Fairbanks Street NW
Huntsville, Alabama 35816

Triana CPCA Family Life Center
263 Stone Street
Triana, Alabama 35756

Greene County

Branch Heights Community Center
429 WM. Branch Heights Drive
Eutaw, Alabama 35462