Findings from the Michigan EITC Access Project: ACEs Prevention Through Economic Intervention

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a promising anti-poverty strategy in the United States (Hoynes & Patel, 2018). It has protective effects against adverse childhood experiences including child maltreatment (Berger et al., 2017; Biehl & Hill, 2018; Klevens et al., 2017; Rostad et al., 2020), intimate partner violence (Spencer et al., 2020), and parental mental health problems (Boyd-Swan et al., 2016; Evans & Garthwaite, 2014). Despite these positive impacts, approximately one in five families eligible for EITC does not receive it (Internal Revenue Service, 2019). The EITC Access Project involves intensive, one-on-one home visiting (delivered in conjunction with Parents As Teachers) that includes financial empowerment and education surrounding EITC across nine counties in the State of Michigan. Using paired t-tests, this study examines the outcomes of the EITC Access Project including knowledge of, application for, receipt of, and barriers to applying the EITC, and finds initial evidence that it may increase knowledge and uptake of EITC while decreasing neglect.