Money Smart Week is a great resource for our community but it is often difficult to reach teens effectively. For teens at the Juvenile Justice Center, this is even more true. Bringing financial literacy to the JJC is a chance to expose teens to concepts they often have never thought or heard of. Staff knew it was important to bring Money Smart programming to the JJC teens, but knew it had to be something fun and interesting, and at the same time be realistic without being depressing and meet the guidelines of the JJC.

Staff turned the pre-packaged concept into a role playing game, complete with local opportunities, salaries and data. Teens visit stations representing decisions like jobs, college, housing and children. At the end, each teen works with a Vantage representative to balance their budget. If they are in the red, they must return to the game to make new decisions until their budget balances. This gamification of personal finance teaches the teens valuable skills in an amusing manner that encourages smart decision making.

Library staff were asked to return with this successful program and plan to continue this partnership indefinitely. While the number of teens reached remains small at just over a dozen, staff at the JJC believe in the value of this education. The program exposes at-risk youth to a number of adulting concepts often overlooked in the daily pressures of life. Library staff have been able to reinvent the library’s image while forging an important partnership between the library and the JJC.