—  ECFC Events  —
How EC Funders Can Support Outreach & Advocacy for the Child Tax Credit
This event was held on September 2, 2021 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT
Part of ECFC’s 1st & 3rd Thursday Call Series
- Speaker Bios
- Kresge Foundation, Detroit CTC Campaign Slide Deck
- Detroit CTC Outreach Toolkit
- Child Tax Credit Outreach Materials: sample social media, text and email messages and more to share with partners working to enroll families.
- Guidance for community-based navigators seeking to help hard-to-reach clients access the Advance Child Tax Credit (AdvCTC) or Economic Impact Payment (EIP or Stimulus).
- CTC Topline Message Guide (developed by SDK)
- CTC Attack and Response Guide for advocates (developed by SDK)
- Learn more about the Child Tax Credit, Non-Filer Enrollment Tool, and Navigator resources
The American Rescue Plan of 2021 offers a historic opportunity to boost the economic well-being of families and children, including critical temporary expansions to the child tax credit (CTC) and earned income tax credit (EITC) which will help families hit hardest by the pandemic. Many economists agree that a permanently expanded CTC would yield tremendous immediate and long-term benefits for children AND would not erode incentives to work or meaningfully reduce parental employment.
On September 2nd, ECFC hosted a funder discussion with Shelley Waters Boots, SWB Strategic Solutions, Simone Brody, Senior Advisor to The White House ARP Implementation Team, and Jonathan Hui, Program Officer – Detroit, The Kresge Foundation to discuss White House efforts to promote the CTC, national funder collaborations to promote and advocate for extending the CTC, and how local funders can support CTC outreach in their communities.
Learn more below about the impact of the CTC on children and families, and how philanthropy and other community based partners can help enroll families and advocate for extending the CTC and making it permanent. Visit our Upcoming Events calendar for related events for funders to learn more about how philanthropy can support CTC outreach and enrollment.
Event Takeaways
Our discussion touched on: the return on investment for philanthropy engaged in promoting CTC enrollment initiatives in their communities; the need for trusted messengers to help families navigate the enrollment process; and the struggle to reach families that did not file taxes and are not in the IRS system, and examples of national funders coming together to support a faith-based effort with places of worship, and to support local foundations working to enroll families.
The Kresge Foundation joined us to share their place based strategies for CTC outreach, and parallel population-based strategies to reach children and families that may be missed by place-based strategies, such as working with: organizations that serve citizen children of undocumented parents; homeless advocacy groups; Get Out the Vote advocates who have substantial community engagement; Youth Sports groups; and other community partners that serve children and families. View Jonathon Hui’s slide deck and the Detroit CTC outreach toolkit in partnership with the United Way of Southeast Michigan for an example of how these place based funders are supporting CTC outreach. Related: SKDK, has also developed CTC Topline Message Guide and Attack and Response Guide for advocates (both will be updated as needed).
Learn more about how the impact of the CTC and other tax credits on children and families:
-  The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Social Policy Institute at Washington University have compiled state fact sheets with data on how families are using their Child Tax Credit payments. The first set includes AZ, CO, FL, GA, IL, IA, KS, MI, MN, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NY, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WV. The remainder will be forthcoming.
- This Center for Budget and Policy Priorities brief looks at the reductions in food insecurity we're already seeing among children in families receiving the CTC, in After Child Tax Credit Payments Begin, Over 3 Million Families Have Enough to Eat
- This Brookings Institute podcast explores how and why, if extended, the CDC substantially reduce child poverty.
- A new report from the Niskana Center on Measuring the Child Tax Credit’s Economic and Community Impact, looks at the local/state level impact of the CTC.
- Kids get a better start in life. Higher EITC refunds are linked to more prenatal care, less maternal stress, and signs of better infant health. CBBP Chart Book: Chart Book: The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit (2016)
- Children excel in school. Young students whose families receive higher EITC refunds score better on tests in school, particularly in math. EITC and Child Tax Credit Promote Work, Reduce Poverty, and Support Children’s Development, Research Finds, CBPP (2015)
- Two Generation Approaches to Poverty Reduction and the EITC, comprehensive review of outcome data related to EITC, GIST & EITC Funders Network, 2015
Special thanks to our speakers and to Ami Nagle at the EITC Funders Network for helping shape our call and curate these events and resources!