INCOME & WORK SUPPORTS UPDATE
JUNE 2021

IWS staff and members of the Community Partnership Group (CPG) discuss barriers to program access at MCAP’s Community Action Month Symposium. Read the agenda and speaker bios here.

The Child Tax Credit and Mixed Immigration-Status Families

Children must have a Social Security number to be eligible for the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Parents, on the other hand, are not required to have an SSN and can claim the CTC on their 2020 tax returns with just an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). This frequently asked question (FAQ) aims to help families with mixed-immigration status check their eligibility and apply for the CTC. The Spanish translation can be found here.

Federal Solution Needed to Close Medicaid Coverage Gap. Missouri Shows Us Why.

For years, policymakers who refused to close the Medicaid coverage gap claimed the cost of expansion was prohibitive. With millions of federal dollars now on the table, it’s clearer than ever that the reluctance is actually rooted in racism and antagonism toward anyone who isn’t fortunate enough to be offered health insurance through an employer. We need federal action in Missouri and elsewhere.

3 Ways Advocates Can Improve Emergency Rental Assistance Programs

The Treasury Department recently published guidance that calls on Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) administrators to reevaluate their programs. This new guidance--which recognizes the need to deliver assistance directly to renters and leverage self-attestation--signals an opportunity for advocates to influence how local programs adapt to the stronger requirements.

IWS Updates

May 25 marked one year since the murder of George Floyd. We send our condolences to his family and all those who cared for him. His death accelerated a movement to end police brutality and other forms of systemic violence against Black lives in the United States. Our team continues to engage deeply around what this racial reckoning means for our work, which includes the policies we advocate for, as well as how we structure our work, what we prioritize, the language we use, who we partner with, and who determines what anti-poverty policies we advocate for. In that same vein, the New Deal for Youth (ND4Y) initiative--a youth-led collaboration between Changemakers, CLASP, and partners--unveiled the Changemakers' demands for the Biden-Harris Administration on May 26, 2021. We encourage each of you to listen. As always, we’d love to hear how your work has changed since last summer or answer any questions you have about the IWS team and CLASP’s larger commitment to confronting anti-Blackness in the workplace and the United States.

Right now, lawmakers have an opportunity to dramatically expand the federal government’s commitment to a more inclusive and just idea of economic security. If enacted, the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan would set in motion the largest changes in public benefits and health insurance affordability since the Great Society, extending the improvements to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), creating national paid family and medical leave, and expanding access to affordable child care, pre-k, and college. However, none of this is guaranteed to make it through Congress, and we and many others are fighting to ensure that the proposals are not watered down. In fact, we know that more is needed--including a permanent extension of the CTC and inclusion of all children, regardless of immigrant status, a subsidized jobs program that reconnects those left out by discrimination and the labor market, SSI improvements so that recipients are not left in poverty, and a plan to provide health care to those left in the Medicaid coverage gap. At the same time, we are working to ensure the successful implementation of the American Rescue Plan. The work is exciting, overwhelming, and at times exhausting. We are deeply grateful for all your partnership.