Family Connection Partnership News

FCP Pilots Campaign to Help Families Become More Self-sufficient

By DIANE COUSINEAU

Family Connection Partnership is leading a three-county effort in Georgia to help eligible, working rural families and individuals become more self-sufficient through the benefits of a federal tax credit. Family Connection collaboratives in Baker, Greene and Warren counties are participating in the Earned Income Tax Credit initiative, a pilot program funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

What is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a federal tax benefit designed to help low-income workers increase their financial stability. Its goals are to reduce taxes for these workers, supplement their wages, and make work more attractive than welfare.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, indicate that in 1999, the EITC lifted 4.7 million people above the federal poverty line, including 2.6 million children of low-income workers. In 2000, more than 19.2 million working families and individuals received the credit.

Who benefits from the EITC?

According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, those who benefit are:

• Working families with children.
  
• Low-income workers, even if they do not have a qualifying child.
  
• State and local economies.

What is Family Connection Partnership's role in the EITC campaign?

• Expanding knowledge of the Earned Income Tax Credit through outreach and education.
  
• Helping low-income families take advantage of the value of the EITC by supporting free tax filing assistance.
  
• Developing activities that assist individuals to build personal financial assets.

What commitment have the three participating Family Connection county collaboratives made?

• Substantially increase the number of individuals benefiting from the EITC.
  
• Assist low- and moderate-income individuals by developing and supporting free tax preparation sites.
  
• Provide outreach and education about the benefits of the EITC.
  
• Develop and provide services focused on linking working individuals and families with financial institutions to provide banking services for families who have none.
  
• Provide training in financial literacy, assist individuals with setting financial goals for education and training, and begin to develop initiatives to move individuals toward home ownership.
  
• Stimulate the local economy with the strengthened purchasing and saving power of families and individuals benefiting from the EITC.

Statewide Support for the EITC

Family Connection Partnership is staffing a technical advisory team as a steering committee to provide support at a statewide level. The Partnership also organized and handled the logistics and operations for a Casey Learning Exchange to familiarize participants from Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina with the EITC and the role that that Annie E. Casey Foundation is playing nationally.

National Support for the EITC

Georgia's work with the Annie E. Casey Foundation is part of a larger national initiative - the Annie E. Casey Foundation National Tax Assistance Campaign for Working Families. Georgia's pilot counties are using the national logo, have access to national marketing materials, and receive technical assistance around the use of the marketing materials and data collection.

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