Increasing Use of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in New Mexico

NCT04961177 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 21-123
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 91
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Purpose of the Proposed Project. The literature makes clear that poverty and financial hardship and lack of social support are significant risk factors that create a household environment conducive to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The purpose of the project is to reduce ACEs-related risk factors that threaten child wellbeing in the homes of low-income families by maximizing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) claims among populations of focus in Bernalillo County, and disseminating successful strategies for risk-reduction throughout the state. The project team will do this by integrating outreach and education regarding ACEs and EITC benefits across a group of community-based initiatives, training programs, networks, and collaborators that work with frontline health workers \[Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Medical Assistants (MAs)\].

Conditions

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Keywords

EITC; Poverty; ACEs; Frontline Health Workers; Community Health Workers (CHWs)

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• A: Financial strain and insecurity.

  We will measure change in financial strain, financial insecurity, and economic instability among clients who are at high risk for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and who submit an EITC claim as a result of assistance from this project. Financial strain, financial insecurity, and economic instability will be measured as demonstrated by a minimum of a 0.77 point change on the In Charge Financial Distress/Financial Well-being Scale (IFDFW), with an expected change of 1.5 - 2 points.

  4 months

• B: Informational Social Support

  We will measure change in informational support that occurs as a result of frontline health workers providing outreach, education, and screening for EITC, and referral for free tax help. We will measure change in informational support using the MOS-SSS Informational Support subscale. We hypothesize a minimum change of 1.5 points.

  4 months

Study Arms (3)

EITC & ACEs Training

OTHER

Trainings for frontline health workers about EITC and ACEs.

Other: EITC & ACEs Training

EITC Outreach and Screening

OTHER

Our partners will implement EITC outreach events and EITC screening with clients.

Other: EITC Outreach & Screening

EITC Assistance

OTHER

Our partners will screen clients for EITC and refer those who qualify for free tax preparation assistance and assistance submitting their tax returns.

Other: Assistance with EITC

Interventions

EITC & ACEs Training OTHER

We will deliver up to 56 trainings to 65 frontline health workers and 25 staff of our partner organizations. The training will include: 1.) Information about what ACEs are, and the risk and protective factors associated with ACEs and 2.) Information regarding EITC benefits, eligibility, application procedure and logistics, referrals for free tax preparation assistance, and use of EITC tools., and 3.) frontline health workers will receive additional training in protocols for reporting to support Objective #2.

EITC & ACEs Training

EITC Outreach & Screening OTHER

Our partners will screen and refer a minimum of 5200 clients (65 CHWs x 10 clients per quarter x 2 years) for EITC. Our evaluation team will track the number of individuals screened, the number found to be eligible/not eligible, the number referred out and to which free tax prep service, and if available, the number who use the free tax prep service, the number who file a tax claim for EITC, the number who receive EITC benefits, and the amount of the benefit. We will conduct community-level EIT outreach by integrating EITC outreach and education into planned community events in the neighborhoods and service areas of our partners. The events will provide information about the EITC to the public. We will have a minimum of 48 events to reach a minimum of 480 potential filers (48 events x 10 participants each).

EITC Outreach and Screening

Assistance with EITC OTHER

We will conduct a statistical analysis of the impact of EITC funds on ACEs risk and protective factors in the lives of EITC benefit recipients. Project CHW team members will invite 200 clients who qualify to receive EITC benefits to participate in the study using an approved recruitment script. With those who agree to participate, the CHW team member will obtain consent and administer a baseline survey. A post-survey will be administered at 4 months. In addition, we will gather qualitative data to help us understand impacts of this project. The post-survey will contain an open/qualitative response question asking participants to describe how the EITC benefit impacted them, how they felt when they received it, how important it was, and what they did with the funds. In Y2, the Research Team will conduct interviews with a subset of 20 clients who participated in the pre/post survey.

EITC Assistance

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adult, 18 or over
• Speak English or Spanish
• Work as a frontline health worker or staff at one of our partner agencies who takes our training
• Be a client of one of the frontline health workers of our partner agencies who qualifies for EITC who has not submitted an EITC claim in the past 12 months and is interested in receiving assistance to submit an EITC claim through our project

You may not qualify if:

• Children --individuals younger than 18
• Fetuses
• Individuals unable to provide consent
• Individuals who are incarcerated

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of New Mexico: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Mass Screening; Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Health Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Diagnostic Services; Preventive Health Services; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Public Health; Environment and Public Health; Public Health Practice; Insemination, Artificial; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; Reproductive Techniques; Therapeutics; Insemination; Reproduction; Reproductive Physiological Phenomena; Reproductive and Urinary Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Janet Page-Reeves, PhD

  University of New Mexico

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: The proposed intervention will have five components: 1. We will conduct trainings for our partner agencies and their frontline health workers to increase knowledge and understanding of: 1.) Risk/protective factors for ACEs and 2.) Eligibility criteria and filing requirements and procedures for EITC. 2. Working with our partners, we will also conduct EITC educational outreach and information sessions targeted to potential EITC filers. 3. We will track program level EITC data regarding screening and assistance provided to clients by CHWs in our network and the number of clients who submit EITC claims and the amounts received. 4. We will conduct a pre/post survey with clients who submit EITC claims to determine whether EITC reduces risk factors and increases protective factors for ACEs. 5. We will disseminate this model throughout the state.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 22, 2021
• First Posted: July 14, 2021
• Study Start: September 29, 2020
• Primary Completion: August 29, 2023
• Study Completion: September 29, 2023
• Last Updated: May 8, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)