Complementing the Agency's direct assistance services and website outreach is the CPB strategic involvement in public events, town hall meetings, community fairs, and senior gatherings. Over the past year, communities around New York State -- from Long Island to New York City to Syracuse and Buffalo -- have been provided with free shredding events and numerous workshops on credit and debt, identity theft, toy safety and recalls, scam prevention, information privacy, data breach, and other consumer issues, courtesy of the CPB.
The Agency sponsored a Consumer Action Day in March 2010, bringing more than 30 State, federal and not-for-profit agencies together to offer resources for consumers, and participated in several gatherings for seniors sponsored by members of the Legislature. The Agency also participated in the NYS Association of Black, Puerto Rican and Asian Legislators, Inc. and the Somos El Futuro Conferences.
In light of the public fisc, the CPB outreach approach emphasizes a wholesale educational effort through the creation and dissemination of electronic resources, strategic workshops and train-the-trainer seminars with community and business partners, professional service providers, and educational and religious organizations. Train-the-trainer workshops have proven to be an effective tool in data breach prevention and response, identity theft prevention, credit card usage, and other areas. By utilizing this method, the CPB is bringing its consumer protection messages and resources to greater numbers of people, as those trained by the CPB's experts impart their knowledge onto others. The Agency has expended time and effort to assure that many of its presentations were made available and conducted in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Additionally, the CPB has joined with other State Agencies including the Department of Labor (DOL), the Banking Department and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), for example, to present joint workshops and seminars about economic security issues.
College Tour
As part of the Agency's community-based presentations, the CPB has focused on the college community to help students become better prepared to face financial and credit challenges in their adulthood. The Agency developed practical resource materials and organized a strategic College Tour as a recent survey found that nearly 1 in 4 college students leave school with more than $5,000 of credit card debt and many fall victim to identity theft. These student, staff, and parent presentations are dedicated to understanding the pitfalls of credit card debt and preventing and mitigating identity theft. Further, in light of the new federal credit card reforms that were championed by the CPB, the Agency's College Tour provided key information on these impending protections.
Among the resources distributed to participants were the CPB's "Money Mark: That's SO Money" bookmark, and Money Maps financial life skills series. Skidmore, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Morrisville State College, Mildred Elly, Austin Beauty School, Mercy College, Nyack College, CUNY Lehman College and SUNY Purchase were some of the schools visted this past year.