https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894211066464 Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services 2022, Vol. 103(1) 3–6 © The Author(s) 2022 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/10443894211066464 journals.sagepub.com/home/fis Introduction Financial and economic issues underlie many of the problems that bring families to social services. Sometimes these financial difficul- ties are contributing factors. Other times, they are at the heart of a family’s troubles. Intake interviews and psychosocial assess- ments in family services often reveal insuffi- cient income and assets, overwhelming debt, lack of emergency savings, limited access to public benefits and social assistance, chal- lenges obtaining a bank account or credit, and worries about their future financial well- being. Together with possible physical and mental illness, incarceration, disability, or other challenges, financial stresses can over- whelm families, as well as professionals, organizations, and communities. Despite the many challenges, human ser- vice professionals are in a unique position to respond. They work with populations most at risk and have deep understanding of the real- ity of their clients’ lives. They understand the power of emotions in financial decision-mak- ing and can assist families in making optimal decisions. Social workers and other human service professionals understand deeply the importance of financial protections and know that basic financial knowledge and skills, as well as confidence, are essential to household financial management. At the same time, they understand that cli- ents have little control over the larger social forces that shape family financial well-being and that social change is imperative. Human service professionals witness daily the adverse effects of financialization, as finance shapes more and more of life often to the disadvan- tage of low-income and minoritized groups. They work with many of the more than 7 mil- lion people who lack even a basic bank account (Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora- tion, 2020) and with the millions more who have a tenuous relationship with the main- stream financial sector and resort to costly and often-risky predatory financial services, such as payday and car title loans. Human service professionals also have witnessed up close the effects of a global pan- demic that has led to losses in jobs, benefits, childcare, and housing. They know that finan- cial distress has been concentrated in poor and minoritized groups (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2020). They observe how diffi- cult it is for families to do more than make ends meet, frustrated at their attempts to build financial security. For many of their clients, 1066464FIS XX X 10.1177/10443894211066464Families in SocietySherraden et al. editorial 2021 1 AM, PhD, research professor, Washington University in St. Louis, MO; professor emeritus, University of Missouri–St. Louis, MO, USA 2 MSW, PhD, professor, Saint Louis University, MO, USA; research associate professor, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA 3 MSW, PhD, dean and professor, Clark Atlanta University, GA, USA 4 MSW, PhD, LCSW-C, research associate professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA Corresponding Author: Margaret S. Sherraden, Washington University in St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Email: sherraden@umsl.edu Building Financial Capability and Assets in America’s Families Margaret S. Sherraden 1 , Jin Huang 2 , Jenny L. Jones 3 , and Christine Callahan 4 Keywords asset building, financial capability, family finance, family service