San Diego Foundation Grants $270,000 To Increase Child Tax Credit Enrollment

By Debbie L. Sklar, Times of San Diego

November 5, 2021

The San Diego Foundation awarded $270,000 in grants to 13 local nonprofits intended to support them in increasing federal Child Tax Credit applications, it was announced Friday.

The organizations to receive grants are all members of the San Diego County Community Health Worker Coalition, created by San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency.

“These nonprofit partners came together during COVID-19 to support health equity in under-resourced communities,” said Katie Rast, director of community impact at The San Diego Foundation. “With their expertise as trusted community health workers and promotoras, we hope more families will access the Child Tax Credit to help them through the pandemic and beyond.”

A promotora is a Latino community member who receives specialized training to provide basic health education in the community without being a professional health care worker.

Each organization received $20,000 to support their outreach and enrollment efforts for the tax credit. Additionally, two of the grantees will receive an additional $5,000 award to increase their existing resources for free tax preparation assistance.

The two nonprofits to receive $25,000 are Chicano Federation of San Diego County and the SBCS Corporation, while the 11 to receive $20,000 are Casa Familiar, Cooperative Housing Foundation/Global Communities, La Maestra Family Clinic Inc., Mental Health Association of San Diego County, Multicultural Health Foundation, North County Health Project Inc./TrueCare, San Diego American Indian Health Center, Somali Family Service of San Diego, Union of Pan Asian Communities, United Women of East Africa Support Team with San Diego Refugee Communities Coalition and Vista Community Clinic.

According to the San Diego Foundation, the grantees will support outreach and application assistance in more than 36 different languages and dialects to more than an estimated 16,000 local families.

The grant funding is focused on the March 2021 increase in the federal Child Tax Credit intended to provide up to $300 per month per child under age 6, and up to $250 per month per child ages 6 to 17.

According to findings from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, San Diego County has more than 25,000 children at risk of missing the expanded tax credit money — up to $140 million, the California Policy Lab estimated.

Enroll for the Child Tax Credit at GetCTC.org/SanDiego. Families that didn’t file taxes in 2021 can apply for advance payments through Nov. 15. After that date families will need to file a tax return in 2022 to receive their payment.

Funding for this grants came from a $200,000 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, $50,000 from the EITC Funders Network and $20,000 from The San Diego Foundation.

Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.