We urge Congress to protect the size and scope of the package and the critical investments that will reduce food insecurity, poverty, and racial disparities and improve nutrition in this country.
USDA's authority to provide a nationwide waiver, even if it increases program costs, is set to expire on September 30, 2021. We, the undersigned organizations, ask Congress to extend USDA’s nationwide waiver authority to September 30, 2022 to ensure they have the flexibility needed to respond to the pandemic and ensure that the federal child nutrition programs continue to operate and provide healthy snacks and meals to the students who need them.
In early September, the House Ways and Means Committee approved their portion of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), which includes and extension of the American Rescue Plan Act’s Child Tax Credit (CTC) through 2025. While this proposal falls short of making the program permanent, the plan includes many substantial and important improvements to the CTC. Unfortunately, these improvements are at risk of being weakened as Congress negotiates the Build Back Better package. Congress must not weaken this plan, as these critical changes are necessary to ensure families are able to rely on and benefit from this program for years to come.
Exempting QRTPs from the IMD exclusion would undermine the goals of Family First, weakening the standards of quality and leading more children to be placed in large-scale institutions, rather than promoting placements with family, as the law intends.
To help families meet their children’s basic needs, Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for 2021. Families will receive $3,600 per child up to age 5 and $3,00 per child 6 to 17, half of which is paid out in monthly checks. If you haven’t filed taxes recently, you can use the new, simplified CTC Non-Filer Sign Up Tool to sign up.
The CTC reached 59.3 million children and reduced child poverty in July by 25 percent. If every eligible child had received the benefit, the CTC would have reduced child poverty by about 40 percent.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a key economic support program to help families with children who have very low incomes through a variety of services. TANF marks 25 years in August 2021, a landmark which invites both reflection and reckoning.
Institutional racism disproportionately denies Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children access to healthy food at home and in their communities.
The American Rescue Plan includes a significant, one-year expansion to the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Millions of newly eligible children and their families will benefit from this major expansion, and successful implementation is now key to realizing a significant reduction in child poverty, building racial equity, and creating a public investment for the good of all children. Here’s what you need to know about the expanded CTC.
To help families meet their children’s basic needs, Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for 2021. Families will receive $3,600 per child up to age 5 and $3,00 per child 6 to 17, half of which is paid out in monthly checks. If you haven’t filed taxes recently, you can use the CTC Non-Filer Sign Up Tool to sign up.