THIS WEEK: CHILD TAX CREDIT CHECKS GOING OUT!

Hello,

Please join state and local elected officials across the country in reminding your constituents that eligible families can expect to receive Child Tax Credit ($250 to $300 per child per month) deposits or checks this Thursday, July 15!  Here are ways to continue amplifying the Child Tax Credit and the critical need for its permanent expansion in the American Families Plan.

I have also attached the latest materials and information below to assist you with your outreach.  Thank you in advance for helping to amplify the #ChildTaxCredit!

 

Sincerely,

Gabe Uy

Associate Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

The White House

 

Child Tax Credit and the Need for the American Families Plan

President Biden is calling for the Child Tax Credit expansion, first enacted in the American Rescue Plan, to be extended in the American Families Plan, so that low-income families—the families that need the credit the most—can benefit from the full tax credit. The expanded Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan benefited nearly 66 million children, and it was the single largest contributor to the plan’s historic reductions in child poverty.

Beginning July 15, families will receive monthly payments of $250 to $300 for each child and to help families make ends meet. State, local, and tribal officials are encouraged to:

  • Ensure Americans know about this major tax relief—$3,000 to $3,600 per child—for nearly all families.
  • Promote the need to extend these benefits for years and years as the President has proposed in his American Families Plan.
  • Help give children a lifeline out of poverty by assisting eligible low-income families—who may have such low-incomes that they are not required to file taxes—in signing up for Child Tax Credit benefits using a new, simple sign-up tool.

 

While most families will automatically benefit, state and local leaders have a critical role to play in the effort to ensure all eligible families get the benefits they are eligible for, cutting poverty in their communities. Here are some examples of outreach that others have shared:

SPOTLIGHT

City of Detroit, MI

To help as many families as possible take advantage of this one-time windfall, a coalition of nonprofits, the City of Detroit, and education partners and foundations launched an outreach and engagement campaign to ensure parents and young people benefit from the newly expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC).  More here.

 

City of Bridgeport, CT

Posted 18”x 24” enlarged posters of the IRS CTC Awareness flyers in all of the high traffic areas of Bridgeport’s three Housing Projects, all major Community Health Center sites, Daycare Centers, and disseminated flyers to 54 social service agencies throughout Fairfield County.

 

Pennsylvania State Senate District 12

Pennsylvania State Senator Maria Collett, PA-12, texted 10,000+ constituents reminding them to sign up for the child tax credit by visiting IRS.gov. 

 

On July 15, 2021, please share with IGA46@who.eop.gov how YOU will commit to:

1. Raising awareness through your office and your official communication channels

  • Add a hyperlink to childtaxcredit.gov on your online landing pages, your e-mail signatures and your newsletters, or other messaging channels

2. Leveraging program data and partnerships to target outreach to hard-pressed families

Identify the families least likely to be receiving Child Tax Credit benefits.

  • Where possible and appropriate, use administrative data from state-run programs like SNAP to identify families with children whose incomes may not have been high enough to have had to file taxes in recent years—and provide them information about the simple, non-filer sign-up tool so they don’t miss out on benefits.
  • Where possible and appropriate, direct state higher education agencies to target outreach about the Child Tax Credit to students who apply for or receive financial aid as independents with children.

Help families seeking help.

  • Provide families applying for or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families with information about the new monthly Child Tax Credit benefits and—if they haven’t filed taxes in recent years or received stimulus payments—assistance signing up.
  • Direct state or county-run SNAP programs to include information on the Child Tax Credit and a link to www.childtaxcredit.gov on their online application portals and in their call center recordings.

Reach families where they live. Mayors could partner with local public housing authorities to post flyers and deliver letters on the expanded Child Tax Credit. Similarly, States could provide owners and property managers of Low Income Housing Tax Credit-aided properties with similar materials.

3. Partnering with schools.

  • Work with local school leaders to send notices and emails home to parents with information on Child Tax Credit benefits and how to sign-up
  • Make Child Tax Credit awareness, and assistance signing-up, part of back-to-school events (e.g. have members of community organizations available to help walk parents through the non-filer sign-up process or collect contact information to follow-up with interested parents at a later date)
  • Include information on the Child Tax Credit as part of new school year enrollment or welcome packages and bring in trusted volunteers to run sign-up drives at drop-off and pick-up during the first week of school.

4. Engaging communities with trusted messengers.

  • Host a meeting with community pediatricians and ask them to provide Child Tax Credit information to the families they see
  • Equip local staff directly working with families and children (e.g. Parks and Rec, community ambassadors, COVID Vaccine Ambassadors) with a Child Tax Credit toolkit or partner with entities that receive state and local funding that can reach the most vulnerable families and children, such as family resource centers and domestic violence shelters.
  • Engage your community’s summer feeding programs, food banks, and local Housing Authorities in an outreach campaign or partner with child care centers in low-income communities to provide information and materials on the child tax credit to families.

5. Using caseworkers to reach vulnerable families.

  • State and local leaders could add Child Tax Credit-related messages to the scripts or checklists that public workers use when they sign up or check-in with families in their programs. For example, in state or county administered child welfare systems, governors and county officials could:
    • Provide materials and talking points on the Child Tax Credit and the non-filer portal for caseworkers to use during their initial and regular check-ins with the parents who are in contact with these systems.
    • Direct their child welfare agency leaders to incorporate information on the Child Tax Credit into their caseworkers’ trainings and into existing caseworker tools, such as checklists and lists of resources caseworkers rely on when determining on how to meet the needs of the families they serve.
  • Similar approaches could be taken within WIC programs, reaching low-income families with young children during quarterly nutrition education meetings.

 

For additional resources on the Child Tax Credit, visit www.ChildTaxCredit.gov. For state and local leaders interested in ZIP Code-level data on eligible non-filers, Department of Treasury estimates are available online.

Sign-up for updates here.

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