Michigan DHS Earned Income Tax Credit Demonstration Project Year Two October – May, 2009

Michigan connects people with information and resources to build healthy, safe communities

Get Help Give Help

About 2-1-1: provides Information and Referrals 24/7/365 Calls typically last 3 – 5 minutes Our Information and Referral Specialists: –Help the callers tell their story, understand and prioritize their needs. –Identify and offer them appropriate resources. –Provide advocacy for those needing extra support to access services. –Follow up on 100% of crisis calls, such as those for emergency shelter or housing assistance, and 10% of non-crisis calls.

My child is on drugs I want to kill myself I need to find childcare I want to volunteer We can’t help with that I don’t know, please hold. I’ll try to transfer you to an agency who can help We only do senior daycare We don’t serve your area I can’t pay my rent We don’t need volunteers I don’t know about those resources We only know about domestic violence programs

2-1-1 I can’t pay my rent My child is on drugs I want to kill myself I need to find childcare I want to volunteer Suicide Prevention Hotline Child Care Resource And Referral Rental Assistance Program Volunteer Center Drug Rehabilitation Center 2-1-1, how may I help you? Yes, I can connect you with someone who can help…

Community Organizations Government Services Faith Based Services Problem Solving I & R Detailed Resources is: Free Confidential Professional Multilingual Available 24/7 How Does Work? Advocacy / Empowerment

Current coverage 2009 Projects Projects in process Workgroup forming Today and in the Future

Earned Income Tax Credit Project or toll-free access to free tax assistance preparation sites throughout Michigan 11,575 EITC referrals 345 free tax preparation sites in database (VITA, AAS, AARP, CAA & more) 87 Call Specialists trained to screen and identify callers that could be eligible for the EITC & CTC Publicizing EITC, pre-screening for eligibility, referring tax volunteers, collecting data

Tax Sites in Databases

Number of Tax Assistance Callers

EITC Callers by Gender

Unmet needs* * Unmet needs are recorded when a caller cannot be referred. Reasons for unmet needs range from a service being full or unavailable to having no transportation to access the service to being ineligible for the program.

Number of Tax Site Volunteer Inquiries

Added value - comprehensive service to callers callers requesting financial assistance or help with basic needs were offered the opportunity to learn about the EITC Callers requesting information about EITC were assessed for referrals to additional community resources such as health care access, food, mortgage foreclosure assistance and any of the thousands of resources in Call Center databases 2,852 EITC callers referred to asset building programs Trained Call Specialists work with callers using creative problem-solving techniques to identify both short and long-term solutions

Potential EITC refunds captured by using Based upon 2007 average EITC refund of $1,975 If just 80% of callers pre-screened and referred to free tax assistance sites completed filings, then: $18,288,500 in Federal EITC refunds would enter the Michigan economy plus $1,828,850 in Michigan EITC Compare to 2008 with $6,788,477 anticipated

Michigan Call Centers C.A.L.L Central Michigan Gryphon Place Hands On Battle Creek Heart of West Michigan United Way’s United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s UPCAP Coming soon: United Way 2-1-1: Midland Call Center

Questions?? Please contact: Sherry Miller, Director Michigan Michigan Association of United Ways