Real Economic Impact

1
Real Economic Impact

• Building a New Model for
• Community Economic Development and Asset Building
  
• for
• Persons with Disabilities

Johnette Hartnett, Ed.D. NCB Capital
Impact Washington, DC
2
Real Economic ImpactMission

• Set a new agenda for the 21st Century that
  empowers people with disabilities to access
  mainstream tax knowledge to improve their
  economic well being.

3
Real Economic ImpactDisability Definitions
Who are individuals with disabilities?
4
Real Economic ImpactChallenges

• One in five Americans have a disability
• 20 million families have at least one member with
  a disability
• 38 of working-age PWD have annual income 15,000
• 30 unbanked
• High school drop-out rates
• Entry level jobs
• 63 un- or under- employed compared to 6.4
  people without disabilities

• Lack of familiarity with tax credits
• 83 never claimed a deduction related to
  employment or disability
• Less than half claim home mortgage deductions
• 25 have loans with financial institutions
• 46 have savings accounts

5
Real Economic ImpactChallenges

• High asset poverty
• 36 of PWD are from diverse cultures (Black and
  Hispanic)
• Lack of filing often due to fear of benefit loss
• 16.4 of filers 79,923 (VITA sites) in 2002
  reported that they required special assistance
  filing a tax return.

6
Real Economic ImpactGoals

• To build awareness, knowledge, and utilization of
  favorable tax provisions.
• To expand tax and financial education to advance
  self-directed economic security. (New Freedom
  Initiative)
• To increase knowledge about working with persons
  with disabilities (access, accommodation and
  specific categories of disabilities.)

7
Real Economic ImpactAssumptions

• Ownership of assets creates good life outcomes
• Underutilization of tax credits is due to lack of
  information and access
• Demographics predict rise in disability
  population over next 30 in under and over 65 year
  old population

• Financial service products need retooling to meet
  growing needs of PWD
• Persons with disabilities living longer life
  expectancy increase across several disabilities
• Post ADA Era People with disabilities will be
  working and will need access to tax knowledge
  and filing

8
Real Economic ImpactInputs and Infrastructure

• Established outreach strategy for pilot year with
  eleven existing IRS tax prep sites
• Convened disability working groups within
  coalitions
• Provided four web/audio education programs during
  filing year 2005 to over 1,000 people (IRS/SPEC,
  NCBDC, FDIC, and Office on Disability, HHS).
• Opened website www.realeconomicimpact.org
• Designed materials Life Cycle Brochure and
  others.

9
Real Economic ImpactACTIVITIES

• 2005 Filing Seasons 7,600 persons with
  disabilities filed!!!
• Created relationships with community-based
  disability organizations (Goodwill Easter Seals
  State VR and BPOAs Deaf and Blind Schools SSI
  Venture House Program etc.)
• Disseminated information to community
  organizations that overlap with the disability
  community as well as direct distribution of
  information to disability groups.

10
Real Economic ImpactACTIVITIES

• Expanded effective outreach strategies (given
  limited resources) to include persons with
  disabilities PSAs, TV and radio and flyers,
  United Ways 211 telephone line.
• Presented tax filing information to state
  disability benefit counselors (BPAO and VR
  Counselors) about the availability of tax
  preparation sites and utilization of valuable
  information on the internet.
• Participated in national education web/audio TAX
  FACTS series over 1,000 registered.
• Implemented environmental and programmatic scan
  of tax prep sites for accessibility

11
Real Economic ImpactOutcomes

• SHORT-TERM
• Increase education and outreach about tax
  benefits to persons with disabilities through
  local tax coalitions in 36 cities over three
  years
• Build national awareness of need and benefits of
  outreach to PWD
• Build trusting relationships between between
  local tax coalition and local disability
  organizations
• Disseminate and build educational materials that
  address unique issues of tax filers with
  disabilities

12
Real Economic ImpactOutcomes

• LONG-TERM
• Increase tax benefit knowledge for individuals,
  families and employers of persons with
  disabilities
• Increase education and outreach to national VITA
  coalitions about working with persons with
  disabilities
• Increase the number of first-time filers on
  government benefits
• Increase participation of PWD in IDAs, banking
  services, home ownership, borrowing, pensions,
  and employment
• Improve the economic well- being of individuals
  and families with disabilities

13
Real Economic Impact

• Enhance consumer choice
• Foster Self determination
• Put more in local communities
• Reduce dependence on public benefits

14
Real Economic Impact

• Move low-income disability culture from income
  maintenance to asset ownership through
• Integrate a disability strategy into mature EITC
  coalitions over the next four years.
• Create new generation of knowledge about tax
  benefits for PWD

15
Real Economic ImpactLINKS

• Private Sector Groups
• Real Economic Impact Webpage
• www.realeconomicimpact.org
• The New America Foundations AssetBuilding.org
  www.assetbuilding.org
• The Corporation for Economic Development
  www.cfed.org
• CFEDs IDA Network www.idanetwork.org

16
Real Economic ImpactLINKS

• Private Sector Groups, cont.
• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  www.cbpp.org
• National Community Tax Coalition
  www.tax-coalition.org
• National Cooperative Bank Capital Impact
  www.ncbdc.org

17
Real Economic ImpactLINKS

• Research Centers Email Newsletters
• Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center of the
  University of Iowa Disability.law.uiowa.edu
• One-Stop Toolkit www.onestoptoolkit.org
• Resources of the Week e-newsletterwww.onestoptool
  kit.org/resourceoftheweek.cfm
• The World Institute on Disability www.wid.org
• Equity e-Newsletter -- www.wid.org/publications/?p
  ageequity

18
Real Economic ImpactLINKS

• Federal Government Sites
• The Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov
• Earned Income Tax Credit information --
  www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id96466,00.htm
  l
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  www.fdic.gov
• The Money Smart Program www.fdic.gov/consumers/co
  nsumer/moneysmart/index.html

19
Real Economic ImpactCommunication

• Johnette T. Hartnett, Ed.D.
• Director of Research
• National Disability Institute
• 1667 K Street, Suite 640
• Washington, DC 20006
• www.ndi-inc.org
• and
• Law,Health Policy Disability Center
• University of Iowa, College of Law
• http//www.university.uiowa.edu/law/
• 202-296-2043
• 202-296-2047 Fax