INCOME & WORK SUPPORTS UPDATE
AUGUST 2021

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) will help families breathe a little easier.

"People experiencing poverty are thought of, or labeled as, ‘impulsive,’ ‘lacking budgeting skills,’ or ‘making bad choices’. The reality is, there are no ‘good choices’ in front of you. The societal judgment placed on people in poverty for ‘making bad choices’ doesn’t take into account the mental bandwidth it takes to survive on a daily basis in poverty... The CTC will help families breathe a little easier by lessening hard choices,” writes Maryann Broxton, a member of CLASP’s Community Partnership Group (CPG).

Lawmakers Must Invest in SSI to Promote Disability Justice

Our society doesn’t talk about disabilities a lot, rather people with disabilities are often pitied, feared, infantilized, or ignored. But the truth is, one in four adults in the U.S. have a disability and the rates increase as people age. When our economy is rooted in someone’s ability to work, many people with disabilities will fall through the cracks. In the upcoming economic recovery package, lawmakers have another opportunity to support people with disabilities through reforms to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Understanding State Contexts for Benefit Administration

The United States’ core benefit programs are operated with substantial federal funding and oversight, but there is still extensive variation at the state (and in some cases, county) level. In this project, we sought to understand the factors that produce variation in state administration of benefit programs. Some of these factors can be measured through available public data, while others require consultations or analysis for each individual state. For other factors, the data we have collected provides a starting point, but additional research would be needed to fully understand the context.

In the News

JULY 16, 2021 | THE DURANGO HERALD

Monthly expanded child tax credit payments begin this week

JULY 15, 2021 | CHALKBEAT

Expanded child tax credits mean more money for NYC families—and their kids may do better in school

JULY 14, 2021 | SALUD AMERICA

What Latino Parents Should Know about the New Child Tax Credit

JULY 10, 2021 | BLOOMBERG

Democrats Make Politically Risky Bet on Monthly Child Tax Credit

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IWS Updates

On July 15, 2021, the first round of advance monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments was distributed to the families of nearly 60 million children. Eligible families can receive up to $300 per month per child ages 0 to 5 and up to $250 per month per child ages 6 to 17. The IWS team and the Community Partnership Group (CPG) mobilized to raise awareness, through social media videos and blogs, that the CTC payments were being distributed, how families could sign up for them , and how important the CTC will be for children. We also updated our “10 Things to Know about the Expanded CTC” blog to provide information on the CTC and its impact on families. The next round of payments will be distributed on August 13, 2021. It’s not too late for parents to sign up for the advance CTC payments on the IRS website! You can learn more at childtaxcredit.gov.

These payments come at a critical moment for the over 6 million families who are behind on rent. Days after the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium expired, the Biden-Harris Administration ordered a more limited moratorium that applies only to renters living in communities experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. However, few tenants have been fortunate enough to benefit from some debt relief their debts relieved through their state or local Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program. Even fewer reside in states with strong laws that protect tenants, leaving the people who receive ERA vulnerable to eviction.

Along with the U.S. District Court in Houston, TX issuing a decision that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program is unlawful, thereby partially halting it, the events of the past month illuminate the need for the Biden-Harris Administration to be proactive and bold in their efforts to achieve economic, racial, and immigrant justice. We will be working through the month of August and beyond to ensure that the federal relief dollars funneled to states for purposes related to housing security are used to create or strengthen protections for renters and a path to citizenship for DACA recipients is included in the budget reconciliation package.

The IWS team is hiring a Policy Analyst. The job posting can be found here! If you are interested, we would encourage you to apply or share with your networks. We particularly welcome applications from people with direct experience—whether it be through participation or discriminatory exclusion—with the benefit programs we advocate to improve. Please apply soon, though, as we’re getting ready to select our interview pool.