Entry Category
Program Entry – Best Financial Health
Name of Intervention/ Program
Office of Economic Empowerment – Baby Steps Program
Background and Situation Analysis
The BabySteps Savings Plan, Massachusetts’ first statewide children’s savings account program, was launched on January 1, 2020, by the Office of Economic Empowerment (OEE) within the Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General Deborah Goldberg. It provides a $50 seed deposit into a MEFA U.Fund 529 college savings account for every child born or adopted in the state, aiming to encourage families to start saving early for future educational expenses. The Treasurer championed BabySteps, recognizing its potential to expand educational and economic opportunities by helping families build dedicated savings for postsecondary education. Prior to the launch, OEE partnered with MORE to brand the program along with developing a marketing campaign, inclusive of video and materials to support OEE’s outreach efforts. In 2024-25, MORE refreshed the BabySteps visual identity and developed new materials to promote the program.
Priority Audiences(s)
• The BabySteps Savings Plan primarily serves Massachusetts families with newborns or newly adopted children. • Geographic priorities were selected based on regions with birthing hospitals, increasing birth rates, and low-to-moderate incomes. • Materials were also produced in multiple languages, such as Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and others to be both inclusive and equitable.
Behavioral Objectives
The BabySteps program acts as the product for this campaign, with the actual product being the $50 seed deposit and the core product being savings for the future. Based on these features, the communication objectives are: • Knowledge: We want our audience to know that a seed deposit increases the likelihood of their child attending post-secondary education. • Attitude: We want our audience to feel confident and assured that saving for their child’s future is possible. • Behavior: We want our audience to open a 529 account to earn the $50 seed to take the first step toward financial savings now.
Description of Strategy/Intervention
The program’s inception was driven by research indicating that children with dedicated college savings are 31% more likely to plan on attending college than those without. By initiating savings at birth or adoption, BabySteps seeks to foster a culture centered on saving for the future, promote financial management, and ultimately boost postsecondary enrollment and graduation rates among Massachusetts residents. Starting to save early for college can result in improved financial and educational outcomes, including improved math scores, higher graduation rates, and reduced student loan debt for college graduates. By offering this early financial incentive, BabySteps aims to empower families who may have not touched a wealth building tool like the 529 or would have incurred student-debt for their children. BabySteps as a brand had to embody the purpose and mission. The name BabySteps captures the essence of the program—progress made through small but meaningful actions. Just as a baby’s first steps mark the beginning of a lifelong journey, BabySteps provides families with an early, accessible way to start saving for the future. BabySteps recognizes that saving for the future doesn’t happen all at once. It happens through steady, intentional progress—one deposit, one milestone, one step at a time. In its original visual identity, BabySteps featured animated characters to reflect the diversity of families and individuals across Massachusetts. However, with the brand refresh in 2024-2025, the program now embraces photography and real people, reinforcing its realistic and attainable nature. This shift ensures that BabySteps feels more tangible and relatable for families, aligning with OEE’s commitment to making the path to saving both accessible and achievable. OEE and MORE have been able to take that visual identity across a plethora of new assets for digital, print, and with their Community Ambassador program.
Implementation
OEE first launched two pilot seeded children’s savings account programs, SeedMA and SoarMA, in seven cities throughout Massachusetts. SeedMA was available to children in kindergarten, and SoarMA available to middle school students in select schools. After assessing the pilot programs, OEE and its partners determined an at-birth initiative would be most impactful in Massachusetts. OEE announced its plans to launch a statewide CSA program at a press conference with then-Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, members of the legislature, and non-profit and funding partners from across the state. OEE also hosted a partner meeting at The Boston Foundation, bringing together organizations in education, healthcare, community services, development, and more to spread the word about OEE. The program officially launched on January 1, 2020. MORE created a social campaign including a variety of assets, including an animated video, social media toolkits, and website assets. The Boston Globe and other press covered the launch. During 2020, OEE planned to visit birthing hospitals across the state to spread awareness of the new initiative. Unfortunately, we only were able to visit two hospitals before the COVID-19 pandemic limited our ability to make in-person visits. With MORE’s guidance, OEE shifted to providing informational webinars and meetings to key partners. We also utilized paid social media, press opportunities, and even Spanish-language radio advertisements to increase engagement with the program. As the program evolved, OEE has implemented initiatives like the Community Ambassadors program, which trains local leaders to promote BabySteps and other OEE programs within their communities. This approach aims to increase enrollment, particularly in gateway cities, by leveraging trusted voices to educate families about the benefits of early postsecondary education savings. By targeting these audiences and fostering partnerships, BabySteps strives to create equitable opportunities for all Massachusetts children to pursue postsecondary education. In 2023, OEE launched SNAP into BabySteps, a pilot program in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) that gives families enrolled in both SNAP benefits and BabySteps an extra $120 to boost their child’s educational savings. By utilizing community partners, DTA’s text and mailer system, and mass outreach, OEE is reaching a population that could grow their generational wealth and explore a brighter future for their children. The success of BabySteps is in-part due to a strong community network. Public serving organizations across the state, such as Neighborhood Health Centers, Libraries, United Ways, Family Resource Centers, and others, serve as Enrollment Hubs. Enrollment Hubs have trained staff members ready to assist families in their community to receive their $50 deposit and take the next steps in saving for their child’s future. In 2025, OEE looks forward to promoting this partnership as a funded grant and strengthening community level partnerships.
Evaluation Methods and Results
Over 47,000 BabySteps accounts have been created since 2020, and Treasury has invested over two point three million dollars in seed deposits with BabySteps families contributing over 635 million dollars to these accounts. From 2021-2023 low-income neighborhoods in Massachusetts saw an 11% increase in account openings, middle-income saw an 8.5% increase, and high-income saw a 2.5% increase. High growth in low-income neighborhoods may be attributed to the success of SNAP into BabySteps. The Community Ambassadors dropped off BabySteps materials to over 200 partner organizations and businesses, signed up over 120 people to the OEE newsletter, created 20 new community partner hubs, and participated in over 80 workshops and tabling events. Since fiscal year 2022, over 35,000 pieces of material have been distributed in multiple languages across Massachusetts and arrived to trusted partners such as hospitals and Welcome Baby programs.
Entry Letter: P