INCOME & WORK SUPPORTS NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2021
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CTC Work Requirements Would Reduce Access for Many
Attaching work requirements to the expanded CTC benefits would deny the credit to many families who need greater financial support, including children of workers who are paid low wages in the gig economy, college student parents, and people with disabilities. All caregivers deserve support to help them raise their kids, and all children deserve financial support, regardless of parents’ work circumstances and ability to work. Read more [[link removed]]

Recommendations to Increase Program Participation by Coordinating Outreach and Enrollment Opportunities
Public benefit programs provide critical supports to help people meet their basic needs, but too often, individuals and families are unable to connect with and enroll in multiple programs for which they are eligible. This brief offers recommendations to help federal policymakers, state and local leaders, and the philanthropic community strategically leverage and coordinate outreach and enrollment assistance funding streams to increase cross-program enrollment. Read more [[link removed]]

Beyond Reducing Rental Debt: ERAP Programs Can Support Right to Counsel
To help tenants stay in their homes, local and federal policymakers must advance effective solutions like right-to-counsel programs, which Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds can support. Such programs help tenants secure representation to fight evictions, a step toward equity that many local governments have shown can reduce housing instability and save money for communities. Read more [[link removed]]

In the News
September 14, 2021 | CNBC
Hispanic families were less likely than white ones to have received stimulus payments or the child tax credit last year [[link removed]]

September 15, 2021 | The Washington Post
Child tax credit less likely to have been claimed by parents without high school degree, survey shows [[link removed]]

September 17, 2021 | Marketplace
Some low-income families may not be receiving child tax credit money [[link removed]]

September 30, 2021 | Ms. Magazine
Congress Can Transform Caregiving for American Families [[link removed]]

IWS Update
As we write, the House and Senate are working feverishly to come to agreement on the Build Back Better legislative package. The House of Representatives has put together a truly transformational package that would go a long way toward meeting fundamental and urgent needs and pave the way for a true economic recovery that fully includes people of color and people with low incomes in our country. And these investments would be largely paid for by improvements in tax enforcement and increases in taxes for the wealthy as well as controlling prescription drug costs. As negotiations continue, now is the time to weigh in with members of Congress to make clear the urgency of passing a bill that will fulfill the promises of making meaningful improvements in the lives of Americans with low and moderate incomes, improving our economy as a whole, and increasing racial equity.

On September 30, both chambers of Congress passed a continuing resolution to allow for appropriated government spending to continue through December 3, 2021, thus avoiding a government shutdown. Importantly, this bill also extended the TANF block grant, which would otherwise have expired. The next critical deadline is the October 18 date when the Treasury Department estimates that the nation will not have the funds to pay its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised or suspended. Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize any new spending but allows the U.S. to meet the commitments already made–including Social Security payments, the advance child tax credits, payments to Medicaid providers, as well as interest on the money borrowed previously. Outrageously, Senate Minority Leader McConnell has said that the limit must be raised, but that Republicans will neither provide any votes to do so, nor allow it to be passed by unanimous consent.

Key Blog Posts and Publications
September 13, 2021 | CLASP
Child Tax Credit Shows Early Success and Popularity, But Racial Disparities Persist [[link removed]]
CLASP partnered with the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), the University of California Berkeley, and other partner organizations to distribute a national survey about families’ awareness of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and their tax filing behavior. The survey found that the vast majority of eligible families reported awareness of the CTC and claimed it in their tax filings, but there were gaps for Hispanic families and those without a college degree.

September 15, 2021 | CLASP
CLASP 2020 - 2021 Impact Report [[link removed]]

September 22, 2021 | Christine Johnson-Staub and Isha Weerasinghe
Supporting Mental Health Policies and Practices through the American Rescue Plan [[link removed]]

September 15, 2021 | Hannah Matthews and Priya Pandey
Census Data Demonstrate Success of Federal Investments to Address Poverty [[link removed]]

September 24, 2021 | Children Thrive Action Network (CTAN)
Child Tax Credit State Fact Sheets [[link removed]]

READ MORE [[link removed]]

What We're Reading
Benefits Data Trust
Medicaid Churn Toolkit [[link removed]]

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The Impact of the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recession on Families With Low Incomes [[link removed]]

MDRC
Paving the Way Home: An Evaluation of the Returning Citizens Stimulus Program [[link removed]]

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Earnings Requirement Would Undermine Child Tax Credit’s Poverty-Reducing Impact While Doing Virtually Nothing to Boost Parents’ Employment [[link removed]]

Chicago Reader
Medicaid has been good to my body, but it has abandoned my brain [[link removed]]


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