U-M Poverty Solutions is teaming up with the City of Detroit and other organizations to ensure that families are aware that they can qualify for an expansion of the Child Tax Credit program. The campaign, led by United Way for Southeastern Michigan, also includes Community Development Advocates of Detroit, Accounting Aid Society, Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, the Kresge and Skillman foundations, and the Ballmer Group. Luke Shaefer, director of Poverty Solutions, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy and associate dean for research and policy engagement, commented on the impact the expansion could have.
"We are at a transformative moment in history where this could be an anomaly, and we could go back to the ways that we deal with child poverty precisely like we were doing before it, or this could be made permanent and we could go into a very, very different future," he said. "The principles are simple: Raising kids is expensive, and society has a reason to help parents in that work."
