Family Economic Success

CAHS works to strengthen Connecticut’s children, families and communities by improving public policies and helping the working poor create their own pathway to financial success.

In order for families to move on a path toward economic security, they must have access to basic needs like food, housing, child care, and health care. Work supports such as the federal and a state Earned Income Tax Credit greatly increases the ability of low-wage workers to provide for their family. Affordable, quality early care and education puts children on the path to be ready to learn when entering school and ready to succeed in the workforce. Financial education gives parents the tools to budget, plan, and build assets. Access to affordable workforce training and skills development enables lower-wage parents to move up the career ladder, increase their income and save for the future. Finally, an equitable, transparent, and sustainable tax policy will ensure that Connecticut has strong families, vibrant workforce, and a thriving economy.

All of these policies and practices, when put together, build a strong foundation for Connecticut’s children and families. CAHS advocates for policy change on many of these fronts.

Family Economic Success (FES) Network

CAHS informs, convenes and mobilizes the FES Network, a coalition of direct providers, advocates, and individuals committed to help families move out of poverty to economic security. We provide timely and relevant email informational updates about the state budget, policy issues, and action alerts. At our monthly meetings held in partnership with the Connecticut Alliance for Basic Human Needs (CABHN), we discuss policy issues and make strategic decisions to move policy forward.

State Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

CAHS spearheaded a campaign to enact a State EITC during the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Legislative Sessions, and came very close to its passage in the budget and revenue package in the final hours of each session. Due to the state budget crisis, CAHS has suspended the campaign, but will renew this effort when the state budget situation improves or when major tax reforms are considered.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)

VITA provides free tax preparation services to low-wage tax filers, ensuring they receive the federal EITC and other tax credits. VITA also serves as a vehicle to Connecticut low-wage workers with financial education and asset building resources. CAHS works with the National Community Tax Coalition to push for increased federal funding to support VITA sites across the county.

Financial Education

CAHS supports expanding state funding for financial education opportunities for low-wage individuals, and incorporating financial education into the middle- and high-school curriculum. In addition to our policy work, CAHS coordinates the Connecticut Money School.

Access to Benefits

Connecticut residents too often experience unnecessary difficulty and delays in accessing benefits for which they are eligible. The lack of a streamlined application process and electronic filing, and too few state employees to process benefits results in struggling families waiting for as much as 90 days to receive such supports as SNAP and Care 4 Kids. CAHS continues to push for a better system to ensure that families can put food on the table and enroll their children in quality early care and education so that parents can work and contribute to the economy.

Universal Health Care

CAHS advocated for passage of SustiNet as part of the healthcare4every1 campaign. CAHS supports full implementation of the SustiNet Plan, which will put Connecticut in a leadership position with roll out of national health care reform.

Paid Sick Days

Currently, about 40 percent of private-sector workers in Connecticut do not have any paid sick time. CAHS advocates, as part of the EverybodyBenefits campaign, to require employers with 50 or more employees to provide minimal paid time off.

Predatory Lending

In 2005, CAHS succeeded in passing legislation that would cap interest rates for Refund Anticipation Loans (RALS), which are primarily offered to low-income tax filers at tax time through paid tax preparers. The legislation was nationally recognized, but it was later overturned in federal court based on pre-emption laws. CAHS has successfully blocked efforts to make payday lending legal and to increase check cashing fees. We continue to monitor lending practices that exploit low-income wage earners.