The Expansion of State-Level Tax Credits to Improve Outcomes for Immigrant Youth and their Families

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

This year’s APPAM meeting theme focuses on state policy variation and impacts, noting the importance of state policy as the role of the federal government shrinks. This roundtable session brings together researchers representing three projects funded by the William T. Grant Foundation to discuss different approaches to studying how the expansion of child and family policies at the state level can improve outcomes for immigrant youth and their families. Maria Cancian will facilitate a discussion about the speakers’ funded studies (particularly their data, operationalization, and methods), their plans to engage state-level policymakers, and their perspectives on the role of state policy in this historical moment. One project is a rapid response research grant that supports the Institute for Equity in Child Opportunity & Healthy Development at the Boston University School of Social Work and the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at the Columbia University School of Social Work in partnering with Children’s HealthWatch to review and collate evidence to inform efforts to expand the inclusion of children in immigrant families in state-level tax credits. HealthWatch will lead the development and deployment of an evidence-based advocacy strategy to build support for the expansion of the Massachusetts Earned Income Tax Credit and Child and Family Tax Credit. Key strategies include testifying, creating accessible one-pagers about the impact of tax credit expansions on immigrant children and families, cultivating legislative champions, and holding educational meetings. Another project is a research study that will use quasi-experimental methods to examine recent state policy changes to assess whether making tax credits more inclusive for immigrants narrows disparities in youth economic, educational, and health outcomes and which immigrant subgroups benefit most. Findings will offer evidence on the efficacy of tax policy to improve outcomes for immigrant youth and their families, which could inform state-level policy changes in the near future and federal policy in the longer term. The final project is a mixed-methods study to examine how Child Tax Credit policies can be redesigned to better meet the needs of Black, Latinx, and mixed-immigration-status families. Researchers at the Urban Institute will convene advisory boards of Black, Latinx and mixed-status families with low incomes in two states to explore their perspectives on what would make the CTC more accessible and effective in alleviating economic inequality. Based on qualitative findings, the team will develop at least three alternative policy designs and use the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center’s microsimulation model to examine whether different iterations would better serve Black and Latinx families. Findings can provide insight into how tax policies can better reduce racial and economic inequalities at a critical political moment.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Moderator

• Maria Cancian, Georgetown University McCourt School

Organizer

• Jenny Irons, William T. Grant Foundation

Speakers

• Elaine M Maag, Urban Institute

• Rita Hamad, Harvard University

• Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Boston University