353 Organizations Sign-On to Letter Urging Lawmakers to Expand the Child Tax Credit

View a PDF of the letter here.

December 11, 2023

Dear Senator/Representative:

We the undersigned 353 organizations are writing to strongly urge you to prioritize expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC), focusing on low-income children. This is particularly important to address increases in child poverty rates, and timely given efforts to pass a bipartisan tax agreement before the end of the year.

There are currently 19 million children excluded from the full credit because of the structure of the CTC. In deliberating a potential year-end or early 2024 tax package, Congress has an opportunity to improve the CTC for the lowest income families currently left out of the full benefit. When Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit in 2021, child poverty fell by 46%, lifting 716,000 Black, 820,000 White, and 1.2 million Hispanic children out of poverty in just one year— a stunning achievement. Research shows that most low-income families spent the expanded CTC on basic necessities like food, utilities, and rent or mortgage payments, as well as education. But when the CTC expansion was allowed to expire, the proportion of children in poverty more than doubled, from 5.2 percent to 12.4 percent – much of this because of the expanded CTC.

Congress must act given dramatic increases in child poverty. Unacceptable levels of hardship are increasing — just before Thanksgiving, 16 percent of people with children reported sometimes or often not having enough to eat in the past week, up from 10.4% in the summer of 2021. Some do not understand that the vast majority of children whose families are left out of the full CTC are working – but their families do not make enough to get the full CTC. Children in families with incomes above the federal poverty line have better school performance, better health outcomes, and are more mentally and emotionally well-adjusted. Ensuring that the full Child Tax Credit reaches the lowest-income children who need it most will have immeasurable benefits to families and our society for generations to come.

We hope you’ll do the right thing and expand the Child Tax Credit, focused on reducing child poverty in a way that will benefit 19 million children who struggle the most to have their basic needs met, in any forthcoming tax package. This is an important opportunity to include improvements to the CTC that could help lift many children in the lowest income families in this country out of poverty and provide the maximum credit to those children currently left out. This is an urgent opportunity as families struggle to put food on the table and meet basic needs, and we rapidly approach a new tax filing season. We are counting on Congress to seize this opportunity.

Sincerely,

1,000 Days, an initiative of FHI 360 Global Nutrition
20/20 Vision
About Fresh
ACA Consumer Advocacy
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
ACCESS
ADAP Advocacy
Advocacy Institute
Advocates for Children of NJ
Aerie EDI Group
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Albuquerque RESULTS
Allegheny Valley Association of Churches Food Bank
Alliance to End Hunger
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Pediatrics, DC Chapter
American Association of University Women
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers
Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children
Arizona Food Bank Network
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
B J Enterprises CACFP
Benedictine Sisters of FL
Beyond Housing
Big Cities Health Coalition
Boston Medical Center
Brazelton Touchpoints Project, Inc.
Bread for the World
Brightpoint
Buen Vecino
California Association of Food Banks
Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee
Campaign for Working Families, Inc.
CAN-DO (Citizens for Affordable Housing in Newton Development Organization,
Inc.)
CAP Services
CAP Tulsa
Care Income Now
Caring Across Generations
Catholics for Peace and Justice
CCRC
CCWRO
CENTER FOR EMPLOYMENT TRAINING
Center for Energy Poverty and Climate
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Popular Democracy
Center for the Study of Social Policy
CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers
Central Coast Early Childhood Advocacy Network
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
CESA 2
Chapel of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Campus Ministry
Chicago Jobs Council
Child Care Resource Center (CCRC)
Child Welfare League of America
Children’s Defense Fund
Children’s Advocacy Institute
Children’s Aid
Children’s HealthWatch
Church World Service
Citizen Action of New York
City Harvest
Clover
Coalition on Human Needs
Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition
Common Sense Media
Common Threads
Community Action of Orleans and Genesee
Community Action Partnership of Utah
Community Bridges
Community Change Action
Compass Family Services
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Connecticut Voices for Children
Contreras Family Child Care
Corridor Community Action Network
Council of Administrators of Special Education
Courage California
Covering Kids & Families of Indiana
Creative Dude
DC Action
DC Hunger Solutions
Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC)
Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa Peace and Justice Office
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
Earthjustice
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership
EcoC2S
Economic Policy Institute
Economic Security Project Action
ECS
Educare Learning Network
Education Reform Now
End Hunger Connecticut!
Epiphany United Church of Christ
Episcopal Community Services
Faces of HUD Housing of HOMER
Family and Home Network
Family Centered Treatment Foundation
Family Crisis Resource Center, Inc.
Family Voices NJ
Family Voices of California
FamilyAid Boston
Feeding America
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin
Feeding New York State
Feeding Texas
Fellowship Baptist Church of Wyandanch
FIND Food Bank
First 5 Alameda County
First 5 Monterey County
First 5 Orange County
First 5 San Bernardino
First 5 San Diego
First Focus Campaign for Children
FL National Organization for Women
Florida Impact
Food Bank For New York City
Food Bank of Central New York
Food Bank of Northern Nevada
Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
Food for People
Food Gatherers
Food Research & Action Center
Forum for Youth Investment
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Full Plates Full Potential
Fulton County Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities
Futures Without Violence
GA Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Generations United
Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
GLIDE
Global Women’s Strike
Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont
GRACE/End Child Poverty in California
Great Lakes ADA of Michigan
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Hattie Palmer Staton Senior Center of Excellence
Hawaii Children’s Action Network Speaks!
Healthy Teen Network
Henry Street Settlement
Hocking Athens Perry Community Action
Home Grown
Honest Arizona
Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative
Hunger Action Los Angeles Inc
Hunger Free America
Hunger Free Colorado
Hunger Solutions Consulting
Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force
Impact Fund
Imperial County Children and Families Frist Commission
Inland Equity Community Land Trust
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Iowa Hunger Coalition
Island Harvest Food Bank
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Jewish Women International
John Burton Advocates for Youth
John Graham Housing & Services
Johnson Park Center (JPC)
Lafayette Urban Ministry
Lakeside Community Committee
Latino Community Foundation
Least Of These, Inc.
Legal Aid Justice Center
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
Main Street Alliance
Maine Center for Economic Policy
Maine Equal Justice
Making A Difference Foundation
Manna Food Center
March of Dimes
Mary House, Inc.
Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence
Maternity Care Coalition
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Meals on Wheels California, Inc
Meals4Families
Mendocino Food & Nutrition Program dba Fort Bragg Food Bank
Mental Health America
Metro New York Health Care for All
Metropolitan Community Churches
Mexico Food Pantry (NY)
Miami Valley Community Action Partnership
Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative
Missouri Budget Project
MLPB
Mohawk Valley CAA
MomsRising
Montgomery County, Maryland Community Action Board
My Sisters’ Place
NAACP
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of Counsel for Children
National Association of Social Workers
National Community Action Partnership
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Jewish Women, PA
National Diaper Bank Network
National Disability Institute
National Employment Law Project
National Energy Assistance Directors Association
National Family Support Network
National Homelessness Law Center
National League for Nursing
National Network to End Domestic Violence
National Parents Union
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
Navajo County Superintendent of Schools
NC WAT
Nebraska Appleseed
Neighbor to Family, INC
Neighborhood Improvement Association
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies
New Hampshire Hunger Solutions
New Jersey Association on Correction
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
New York State Public Health Association
Newton Housing Authority
Niagara Community Action Program, Inc
North Carolina Budget & Tax Center
North Carolina Justice Center
Nourish California
OC Food Bank – Community Action Partnership of Orange County
Ohio Association of Foodbanks
Ohio Domestic Violence Network
Oklahoma Policy Institute
Operation Food Search
Oregon Food Bank
Orting Food Bank
Oxfam America
Parents as Teachers
ParentsTogether Action
Partners for Faith & Justice
Path to Progress
PAVE
Payday men’s network
Pennsylvania State PTA
People Power United
PFLAG National
Philabundance
Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
Preble Street
Prepare + Prosper
Presbytery of the Western Reserve
Prevent Child Abuse Illinois
Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina
Prosperity Now
Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
Public Health Solutions
Public Justice Center
Red Jen Ford Health & Wellness
Regional Food Bank of NENY
RESULTS
RESULTS – Houston
RESULTS – Dallas Global
RESULTS – DC/MD
RESULTS – Iowa
RESULTS – Kansas City
RESULTS – SIlicon Valley Group
RESULTS – Virginia
Resurrection House
Rhode Island Community Food Bank
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT
RI Association for the Education of Young Children
Safe States Alliance
San Diego for Every Child
San Diego Hunger Coalition
San Juan Center
Save the Children
School-Based Health Alliance
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
SF-Marin Food Bank
Share The Wealth Productions
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Congregational Leadership
Sisters of Charity, BVM
Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque, Iowa
Social Current
Society for Public Health Education
Sojourners-SojoAction
South Florida Institute on Aging
Southwest Fair Housing Council
St. Lawrence County Community Development Program, Inc.
Stand for Children
SW WA RESULTS chapter
The Children’s Agenda
The Children’s Partnership
The Education Trust
The Greater Boston Food Bank
The Gubbio Project
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The Magic Charities Foundation
The Mom & Dad Project
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect
The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
The Parents’ Place of MD
The Womxn Project
The Workers Circle
Thrive Alliance
TOOTRIS Child Care On-Demand
True Colors United
U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph
Ujima Inc., The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black
Community
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Way of Illinois
United Way of King County
United Way of Northern NJ
United Way of San Diego County
United Way of Southeast Louisiana
United Ways of California
United Women in Faith
Uniting Citizens for Housing Affordability in Newton
Universal Income Project
Urban Strategies Council
URI Feinstein Hunger Center
Utahns Against Hunger
Victor Valley College
VOICES for Alabama’s Children
Voices for Vermont’s Children
Voices of Hope, Inc.
Washington Defender Association
We All Rise AARC
West Chester Food Cupboard
WIC Association of NYS
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
Women Employed
Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike
WomenRising, Inc.
Women’s Rights Information Center
Worcester County Food Bank
Young Invincibles
Youth Law Center
YWCA Kalamazoo
YWCA La Crosse
YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts
YWCA Southwestern Illinois
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