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UNITED WAY OF CONNECTICUT | |
The hard truth is that more than 550,000 households cannot afford the cost of living in CT. The 2024 legislative session is our chance to make things right for CT families. We will be advocating to (1) create a permanent, fully refundable CT Child Tax Credit, (2) expand healthy, no-cost school meals and (3) increase investment in CT 211 Information & Referral Services. Learn more as we unpack each of these important issues here. |
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Connecticut residents have made it clear: they are struggling and need solutions NOW. That’s why Connecticut United Ways support a permanent, fully refundable CT Child Tax Credit, no cost school meals and funding for more resources and services for CT residents.
Are you struggling too? Are you willing to take action and lend your voice to these issues? If so,
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Our kids are telling us that they should have what they need to learn – that none of them should sit hungry in a classroom. Providing them with adequate nutrition is essential for success in school, just like school buses, textbooks and Chromebooks. That’s why we’re advocating to continue free, healthy school breakfasts for all Connecticut students and to leverage federal funds to expand no-cost school meals.
Do you agree?
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Virtual Conversation with Matthew Desmond | |
Tuesday, February 27
Time: 12:00 noon
Connecticut United Ways are joining together to offer a virtual conversation with Pulitzer Prize winner Matthew Desmond, followed by continued learning with a five-day Abolishing Poverty Equity Challenge!
Matthew Desmond, Poverty Abolitionist and Best-Selling Author of Evicted and Poverty, By America, will discuss his work which exposes American history, research and original reporting on systemic poverty in America.
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“Tens of millions of Americans do not end up poor by a mistake of history or personal conduct. Poverty persists because some wish and will it to.” —Matthew Desmond | |
Equity Challenge: Abolishing Poverty | |
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After the virtual conversation, you will have the opportunity to further your understanding and engage in your community by taking part in the EQUITY CHALLENGE: ABOLISHING POVERTY email series. This challenge will feature five days of materials to read, watch and listen to, taking a deeper dive into the causes of poverty, racism and financial inequity. You will also explore how YOU can take action toward meaningful change.
Commit to taking 10-15 minutes each day of the challenge to watch, listen to or read curated materials emailed each morning.
EQUITY CHALLENGE EMAIL DATES
Monday, March 4 – Friday, March 8
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SERENA LAWS
Assistant Professor of
Public Policy and Law
Trinity College
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New to her current role as Assistant Professor, Serena has worked at Trinity College for about 10 years as a lecturer of political science and American government. Her academic and personal life intersected in 2016, when she began volunteering at a free tax preparation site (VITA) in Hartford. Serena started her own VITA program at Trinity College about six years ago, with the goal of developing a teaching and learning-type workshop with smart and capable students who were part of her class. | |
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"I just was amazed by how much I learned as a VITA volunteer! I was a PhD who had read, was interested in and researched these issues, and yet through the process of doing their taxes I learned so much about the person and their struggle, as well as their interaction with multiple government programs. There was just so much from that tax return process I could connect to multiple points of social policy.”
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Serena has always been passionate about social issues, “I feel like when you study them, you find unexpected things.” While she was a social scientist in college, the turning point in her career happened while attending a workshop as an intern at the ACLU in Washington State. She heard a speaker say, “We're all talking about helping poor people with their legal issues and their struggles. But ‘Why are they poor?’ It's expensive to be poor. It's more expensive to be poor because you don't have access to the right kinds of financial products, and you can very quickly be taken advantage of.”
Serena was fascinated by that statement, became interested in the finances of low-income people and realized that she wanted to study and explore these issues by pursuing her PhD.
Now she shares, “After working in the VITA clinic for all these years, I see the importance of the tax refunds families receive. Our typical client makes $20,000 to $25,000 a year, and if they have children, they're often getting refunds that are a few thousand dollars. That’s actually a significant portion of their annual income coming at tax time. And as we know, a lot of that was coming because of two refundable federal credits, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.”
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“We have a very strong sense of how effective the Child Tax Credit is because of the recent experience of the expanded federal Child Tax Credit that reduced child poverty by almost half in the space of a year. It was an incredible policy and success at the federal level. Unfortunately, despite that success, there wasn't the political will to make that program permanent.”
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Serena further shares, “The Child Tax Credit is a way families can really get the assistance they need, with less bureaucracy, less administrative burden, no strings attached and in a form that they're already accustomed to. It helps a broader range of families than the EITC and, therefore, fills a really important gap. Plus, we've seen a lot of state policy success with very concrete health and education outcomes when families are receiving these credits than when they're not. When you have more resources, you do better. And your kids do better. In the meantime, a lot of states have looked at that success and said, ‘We offer a state EITC, we can also offer a state Child Tax Credit.’” | |
And Serena hopes that Connecticut follows suit because families really rely on their tax refunds. It’s part of the way they make ends meet. “At our VITA site people are chomping at the bit to make sure they can file their taxes right away. It’s really important and sobering to witness just how important even a few hundred dollars can be for a family because they desperately need help. Some need it for a car repair, to turn their utilities back on, make house repairs, pay their outstanding bills or a rent payment.” | |
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“These families are struggling to get by day to day, and their refund allows them to step back and think, ‘What do I need to put this toward?”
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Serena has also noticed that it's easier for certain voices to be heard than others. And legislators’ personal experiences may or may not align with the lowest income residents. These residents have life experience that is so relevant and a perspective that sometimes is not as loud or as present in the legislative process, especially if they have a child. “Most of our clients have five or six W2 forms - it is very difficult for them to take the time off from work - they work all the time just to make ends meet.” | |
“That’s why we’re so excited about the Liberal Arts Action Lab Project, a unique program at Trinity in which students, both from Trinity College and Capital Community College, come together each semester to do research projects that are proposed by community organizations,” says Serena. “This semester’s project with United Way of Connecticut and the Connecticut Nonprofit Child Tax Credit Coalition will allow these residents to express their opinions and be heard.”
When Serena is not working and advocating on important social issues, she spends time with her husband and two kids, in fourth and sixth grade. She also enjoys hiking, exercising and playing the cello in a small orchestra. While originally from central New York State, she now lives in West Hartford with her family and two cats.
There are two ways you can let your legislator know that a CT Child Tax Credit is important to you:
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Find your legislator and contact them now: | |
Share why a CT Child Tax Credit is so important to YOU and your family by scanning this QR code: | | |
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211 is an essential “one stop shop” connecting residents to multiple resources to meet their urgent needs.
| - Due to steep increases in prices and increased levels of need, Connecticut residents are turning to 211 for more help than ever. In fact, in 2023, 211 responded to more than 1.7 million inquiries from people seeking help and call volume is on the rise, especially for basic needs like food and clothing.
| - Due to flat funding since 2010, 211 has lost frontline staff needed to answer CT residents’ calls, decreasing the ability to serve more residents, and increasing hold times. Long wait times discourage callers and have a negative impact on 211’s ability to connect people with the essential assistance they need.
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Tell your legislator how important
211 is to you and your neighbors:
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