1. The Difference Filing Taxes Can Make
Get Your Benefits! Helping Health Care Providers Understand the Importance of Diagnosing and Treating Poverty
Noralou Roos, Sharon Macdonald, Eileen Boriskewich, Ruth Bond, *Community Partners
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Project Description
Outcomes
The Difference Filing Taxes Can Make
To develop initiatives to help low-income Manitobans obtain government benefits and access services for which they are eligible.
In , over 20,000 Get Your Benefits booklets have been distributed in Manitoba in addition to over 13,000 in backorders
Increase refunds to Manitobans earning under $40,000/year by encouraging the filing of tax returns (In $21million was returned to 9100 filers)
Engage physicians and health care providers to screen for low income and inform patients of benefits for which they may be eligible
Encourage policies to ensure children are registered at birth for a Social Insurance Number - essential for eligibility in many programs and benefits
Goals
Communicate the importance of diagnosing and treating poverty
Work with health care providers, educators, government to help low- income residents gain access to benefits for which they may be eligible
Distribute materials including "Get Your Benefits" booklets listing benefits and other resource information
Create a website to enable users to navigate to the resources listed in the booklet
Collaborate with community agencies to encourage tax filing as a means to access government benefits
*Community Partners
Sustainability
Manitoba Financial Empowerment Network Steering Committee (which is chaired by Community Financial Counselling Services (CFCS) and Supporting Employment & Economic Development (SEED)) and includes members from United Way, Services Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Assiniboine Credit Union, Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council, Winnipeg Boldness Project, Royal Bank of Canada, Immigrant and Refugee Organization of Manitoba, Winnipeg Boldness Project, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Menno Simmons College, Community Futures, Manitoba Families, City of Winnipeg, Consumers Association of Canada and the Public Interest Law Centre
Understand and address potential barriers in using the Get Your Benefits materials using feedback received from focus groups, interviews and/or short surveys
Continue collaboration with government agencies to share the costs of updating the booklets, including design, printing and distribution
Continue to work with Regional Health Authorities, Manitoba College of Family Physicians, Department of Pediatrics and others to engage health care providers
We acknowledge the financial support of the Winnipeg Foundation and the Government of Manitoba. The results and conclusions are those of the authors and no official endorsement by the Government of Manitoba is intended or should be inferred.