3.3.4.4 Individual Development Accounts

IDA Individual Development Account s are funded by the Office of Community Services under the Assets for Independence Act (AFIA).

IDAs are designed to help individuals and families with low-income accumulate assets and build financial stability. In an IDA program, an eligible individual signs a savings agreement with a participating agency to save earned income for a specified purpose. The participant's savings are put in a segregated bank account and matched with program funds. The savings and match can only be withdrawn and used for purposes specified in the program.

The match funds reserved for a participant in an IDA account, and the accrued interest for the participant's savings and the match, are not available to the participant and, therefore, are disregarded as assets for W-2 eligibility.

If a W-2 agency uses AFIA funds to establish IDAs, the participant's savings in those IDAs are disregarded as an asset for W-2 eligibility.