Child Tax Credit

Introducing our Policy Platform

At our core, Springboard is an organization helping families in affordable housing reach their goals in school, work, and life. But we’ve known since the beginning that it takes more than individual programs and services to lift families out of poverty. It requires real and significant policy change.

While policy and advocacy have always been a part of Springboard’s model, in the last few years, we have doubled down on our commitment to advocate for better systems where all our residents are able to thrive. Today, we are excited to launch our own policy platform. Designed in partnership with our families, we have identified core values, principles, and priority areas that center dignity, equity, and trust within our systems and create a better world for all people.

Like all of Springboard To Opportunities’ work, our policy work is grounded in our radically resident-driven mission. We believe that policies work best when they are informed by the voices and wisdom of families who are most affected by the policies. No one knows what is needed to help families move out of poverty better than families experiencing poverty themselves. We continue to elevate the stories of our families and the way our current policies and systems have prevented them from being able to reach their goals or achieve economic mobility. Unless we have more inclusive, people-centered approaches to policymaking, our systems will continue to fail families.

We believe that poverty is a policy choice, rather than an individual failing. Our community programming, from housing stability initiatives to The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, is always meant to model what could be possible if our social safety net and support programs were actually designed and implemented with community input and recognizing families as the experts on their own lives. And we have shown again and again that when we center the voices of families and ground programs in trust and dignity, everyone is better for it.

Highlights from our policy platform overview are below and you can view the full document plus more detailed documents on each priority area on our website. We hope you’ll take some time to explore them more today and join us in advocating for more people-centered policies that can move us toward more equitable systems for all people.

View our Policy Platform

A Coalition of Mothers Urge Biden: Make the Child Tax Credit Permanent

Marshall Plan for Moms, Magnolia Mother’s Trust and Income Movement have organized 50 women from 50 states to advocate for the extension of the child tax credit.

It Takes a Nation

At Springboard To Opportunities, we believe that poverty – especially the persistent and widespread poverty seen in the United States in comparison to other wealthy countries – is the result of policy choices rather than personal decisions or individual moral failings.

Over the past several years, we have watched this play out in real-time. The bolstered family security policies enacted in 2021, most notably the expanded federal Child Tax Credit, reduced child poverty by almost 30%. However, the following year, after failing to pass the American Families Plan and, despite an increasingly strong labor market as well as an increase in parents’ employment, the number of children living in families with inadequate incomes went right back to the where it had been.

But today, we’re excited to release a new report created in partnership with the Center for Economic and Policy Research called It Takes a Nation. Guided by the voices of Springboard families and utilizing their definition of a prosperous and successful life, this report traces the history of economic security policies within modern US history, noting the way that state-based policies – particularly in the South – have failed to provide the means necessary for families to earn an adequate income.

Using the original provisions of the American Families Plan, which ultimately failed to pass by just one vote in the Senate, and the groundbreaking work and findings of our own Magnolia Mother’s Trust, It Takes a Nation proposes a federal plan for family economic security that would include:

A universal and unified child allowance that brings together the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit as a monthly, automatic payment.
Paid family and medical leave that includes equitable income support for new parents, disability insurance, and wage replacement for workers caring for family members with serious health conditions.
Supplemental security income for caregivers that ensures unpaid caregivers who lack recent employment necessary to qualify for paid leave receive a caregiver allowance.
Assured child support in advance that decouples support for means-tested programs and ensures solo parents who seek public child support services are able to receive funds even in cases where the noncustodial parent does not pay or pays late.

Following the lead of MMT and pandemic-era programs, this plan would reduce burdensome requirements and administrative overload, allowing families easier access to benefits and reducing the barriers to access.

We recognize that this a bold and ambitious plan, but it’s also very possible. The truth is, we can make different policy choices – in fact, we did in 2021 and saw the overwhelmingly positive results. We hope you’ll take some time to read the report and join us in calling on our elected officials and leaders to make some new, courageous policy choices for families again today.

The Child Tax Credit is Here!

Over the past few months, we’ve been sharing our excitement about the newly expanded Child Tax Credit. Starting this Thursday, July 15th, families with children will receive regular, monthly payments that can be used as they see fit. Child care, groceries, rent, bill — all these expenses add up fast for families, especially those in low-wage jobs and with limited incomes like the families we work with each day. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) not only offers support and relief, but also isn’t tied to work requirements or limiting vouchers that have historically harmed, rather than helped, low-income families move out of poverty.

We know from our experience with The Magnolia Mother’s Trust that cash works and can provide families with the means necessary to meet their basic needs, care for their families, and begin to work toward their goals. That’s why we’ve been doing all we can to make sure our families are prepared for the CTC to begin! Our staff has been in communities, knocking on doors, and providing information to families about what these payments are and when they can expect them. Additionally, they’ve been helping families who might not have filed taxes recently due to disability or unemployment get registered in the IRS system.

But unfortunately, even some of the best intended policies can still leave out the voices of low-income families or fail to recognize their potential to further inequities. That’s why we have been especially excited to work alongside national organizations, such as Community Change, to uplift the voices of our families and make sure they are being heard ahead of the July 15th rollout. Their team has shared the stories and experiences our families have had with the user portal and generally understanding the CTC directly with the White House, helping the administration refine the portal and adjust their fact sheets to meet the needs of all families and ensure payments are able to reach the families who need them the most.

It’s also why we are proud to co-sponsor alongside 30 other organizations, Family Matters: A Virtual Celebration of the Child Tax Credit on July 15th at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET, featuring keynote remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris! The celebration, co-hosted by the Economic Security Project and Building Back Together, will be emceed live by Dorian Warren and Melissa Harris Perry.

The celebration, in an effort to maximize awareness and show how transformative the Child Tax Credit is, will feature parents and families from around America and includes special appearances by: Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Raphael Warnock, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Robert Griffin III, Reverend William Barber II, Ai-jen Poo, Rashad Robinson, Sara Nelson, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Natalie Foster, Addisu Demissie, and more.

Family Matters will stream live on Facebook.com/EconomicSecProj and at markham.live/childtaxcredit starting at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET on July 15th and you can RSVP here: https://p2a.co/n9crzFJ

We truly believe the Child Tax Credit provides an opportunity to restructure the social safety net in our country in a way that centers the needs of families and recognizes that families themselves know better than anyone else what is is that they need to thrive. We look forward to sharing the stories of the impact the Child Tax Credit will have on our families, and we hope you’ll join us in celebrating this momentous policy moment and help spread the word about it in your own community!