The COVID-era child tax credit gave Torrington resident Barbara Channels a needed boost to help her grandson, whom she adopted, feel comfortable at school.
“There's extras throughout the year that children are required to either purchase or not purchase, but just to have the child feel a part of school,” Channels said. “When they're 10 years old, they're looking to be accepted among their peers. So they need that extra money to be able to fund stuff like that.”
Channels is still trying to recover from the financial burdens of the pandemic, and supports making a permanent Connecticut child tax credit.
“One more boost would just be something that Connecticut can be proud of and use to their full potential, and have these children go on in life with their full potential, instead of being held back because of a money crisis,” Channels said.
State child welfare advocates are reinvigorating a call to bring back the expanded federal child tax credit.
The federal child tax credit, expanded during the pandemic, was created to provide financial relief for low- and middle-income families.
The Connecticut Child Tax Credit Coalition, led by the United Way of Connecticut formed a petition in July calling for the state to consider instating a permanent child tax credit. The petition’s garnered nearly 600 signatures.
The extra money is particularly helpful for families who need to pay for childcare and buy back-to-school supplies, United Way of Connecticut director of advocacy Daniel Fitzmaurice said.
“Summer is an expensive time to be a parent. There's no school, there's no yellow buses,” Fitzmaurice said. “You're driving your kids back and forth to summer camp. You're paying for the summer camp or additional child care of some kind.”
Connecticut had a temporary child tax credit for qualifying low-income families. The program was funded by COVID relief dollars and expired in 2021.
The temporary credit provided income-qualified families a rebate of up to a maximum of $750, or $250 annually per child up to three children.
Recipients often use the funds to go toward basic needs, including housing.
Alongside a permanent state credit, advocates say housing needs to be made more affordable.
“We know from last session, when we did some polling, that 73% of people in this state, even if they don't have children, believe this is a policy we should enact for the benefit of our community, the benefit of our economy, the benefit of our children's future,” Fitzmaurice said.
While the pandemic-era child tax credit provided tremendous financial support for families , its lapse contributed to a 7 percent increase in Connecticut child poverty.
Federally, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 doubled the child tax credit to $2,000 and made limits to the refundable amount of up to $1,400 per child.
Fitzmaurice hopes families speak out in the next legislative session, urging elected officials to make the child tax credit permanent.
“I hope that they hear more and more from parents next session about how challenging it is for them to get child care, to keep the food in the fridge and to just survive on their housing,” Fitzmaurice said. “If we can make that case really clear to every state legislator, then I think the child tax credit becomes the likely solution, to move all of that forward.”
Similar to statewide credits, the federal child tax credit was temporarily increased during the height of the pandemic.
“The economy is not what it should be or can be, and every little bit helps. I hope that it passes and stays,” Channels said.
