Last month, GBPI joined more than 20 Georgia organizations in sending a letter to the state’s federal delegation urging them to make the CTC expansions permanent and fully inclusive in this next legislative package.
Dear Georgia Federal Delegation,
The expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) in the American Rescue Plan will help all families succeed, providing historic support to families to help with the ongoing costs of raising children, from food to rent to college savings. Thanks to the ARP, the CTC will lift millions of children out of poverty this year. Over the long term, the increased and fully refundable CTC has the potential to promote child and family well-being, boost family economic security, significantly advance racial equity, and ensure whole communities thrive. However, as you know, these expansions are temporary, and we risk eroding these achievements when they expire after this year.
As state and local community organizations who are committed to promoting the health and well-being of children, youth, and families, we know the importance of the expanded CTC. Our request to you is straightforward:
Now that you have lifted families up, do not let them down.
Help us secure our children’s futures.
Make the Child Tax Credit expansions permanent and fully inclusive.
A permanently expanded and fully inclusive CTC that reaches all children who need it, including immigrant children, will help families meet their children’s basic needs, weather unexpected expenses, and plan for the future. It will also help prevent involvement in intervening systems like child protective services, promote children’s healthy development and well-being, increase educational attainment, boost future earnings, and ensure all children across the income spectrum have the opportunity to pursue their goals. Not only that, a permanently expanded and fully inclusive CTC will boost our local economies and advance racial equity: families will spend the monthly credits on goods and services, and Black, Latinx and Hispanic, and Indigenous families and communities historically forced to the economic margins will be more economically secure.
As we work together to recover from the pandemic, the next step is clear: Let’s make the CTC expansions permanent and fully inclusive in this next legislative package. Our children and families are counting on you.
Signed,
9to5 Georgia
Atlanta Center for Self-Sufficiency, Inc.
Center for Pan Asian Community Services [Atlanta]
CivicGeorgia
Coastal Plain Area EOA
COVID Survivors for Change
Deep Center [Chatham County]
GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students
Georgia Black Constructors Association [Atlanta]
Georgia Budget & Policy Institute
Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda
Georgia Head Start Association
Georgia WAND [Atlanta]
Healthy Families [Cordele]
Jewish Family and Career Services of Atlanta
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
Moore, Valentine & Associates
Partnership for Southern Equity [Atlanta and Southeast]
Quality Care for Children, Inc.
Sheltering Arms [Atlanta]
SPLC Action Fund
The Southern Education Foundation [Atlanta]
Urban League of Greater Atlanta