Forward Alliance Workgroup

Ginny Powell & Ed LeahyOmaha EITC Coalition

Goodwill’s InvolvementGoodwill’s Mission: Goodwill Changes Lives and Strengthens Communities through Education, Training, and Work.

Services & Programs• Customer Connect: customer service training program for

unemployed and underemployed adults

• Workforce Solution Center: Through Heartland Workforce Solutions, provides assistance to youth, adult, and dislocated workers seeking training and employment

• Work Experience: on-the-job training for high school youth with disabilities

• R.E.A.D.Y. : Job readiness classes and 1:1 assistance open to all

• Ability One: Supportive employment for persons with significant disabilities

Goodwill Industries

•Relationship to Coalition▫Goodwill Industries is an agency partner in

the Omaha EITC Coalition▫Goodwill staff serve as an Advisory Board

member, subcommittee chair, volunteer trainer and tax preparer

▫Give and receive complimentary, not competing services

▫Provide meeting space for Coalition meetings, subcommittees, and special events

• Mission: The Omaha EITC Coalition promotes the claiming of tax credits through quality volunteer tax return preparation with a goal of providing educational tools and community resources for family asset development.

• Vision: The Coalition promotes financial stability through empowered customers who use tax credits and tax refunds to own and maintain assets.

• Values: Inclusiveness, Non-partisanship, Customer Empowerment, and Quality Service

Omaha EITC CoalitionBuilding Assets One Taxpayer at a Time!

VITA Impact in the Metro Area

Turning a Transaction into a Relationship

Came Last YR

Media Family/Friend

Referred

Walked By

Other0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Site Recognition

201020092008

White22%

Native Amer-ican2%

Black21%

African7%

Latino45%

Asian2%

Pacific Islander0%

Multi-ethnic1%

2010 Ethnicity

Caucasian 43%

Hispanic30%

African

Amer-ican 20%

Native American5%

Other 2%

Figure 2- Race

An individuals minority status can effect their income. The median weekly earnings of full time white

workers is $850, however, African Americans make a median of $633, Asians $936, and Latinos $560.

As these statistics indicate although people of all races are long-term unemployed the minorities are

likely to have a smaller income, resulting in less ability to save for hard times such as unemployment

white

Native American

Black

Latino

Multirace

18003

6463

15974

18151

4842

Figure 3- Average AGI by Race

Ethnicity for Persons with DisabilitiesWhit

e33%

Black41%

Latino

26%

2008 2009 20100

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

Banked un-Banked

Two-Year Comparison of Banked PWD

2010

2009

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

BankUn-Banked

White Black Latino0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Bank Participation

BankedUnbanked

Bank on the Heartland

•Coalition was a founding partner •VITA provides the most meaning outreach

of the effort to connect people to banks and credit unions

Utility Pay Day Loans

Student Loans

Mort/Rent0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Troublesome Bills

WhiteBlackLatino

Cu

stom

ers

PWD Troublesome BillsPast due utility bills

16%

Credit cards7% Back child support

1%

Medical bills8%

Car loan2%

Student loans2%

Mortgage or back rent7%

Not having trouble w/bills58%

Student Loan Debt by School

UNO

UNL

UNK

Wesylan

Creighton

Wayne State

5.3

2

3.6

1.4

1.5

6.4

Nebraska Colleges & Universities Student Loan Debt

White Black Latino Disabled0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Refund Use by Group

Pay BillsSave itSpend, Save, Invest

PWD Refund Use

Paid

Bills

Saved

it

Bough

t a ca

r or a

maj

or a

pplia

nce

Recre

atio

nal u

se o

r vac

atio

n

Spent

it

Spent

som

e, sa

ved

som

e, a

nd/ o

r inv

este

d so

me

Did n

ot g

et a

refu

nd

Owes

IRS

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

20092010

Tax Year 2010 PWD Refund Use

Pay d

own

cred

it ca

r or a

loan

Pay h

ouse

/rent

Pay u

tiliti

es (e

lect

ric, g

as, p

hone

)

Catch

up

on h

ouse

pay

men

ts/a

void

fore

clos

ure

Put in

exis

ting

acco

unt

Put in

C.D

Open

new s

avin

gs a

ccou

nt

Put in

oth

er in

vest

men

ts

Buy a

car o

r a m

ajor

app

lianc

e

Recre

atio

nal u

se o

r vac

atio

n

Spent

it

Spent

som

e, sa

ved

som

e, a

nd/ o

r inv

este

d so

me

Will

not

get

a re

fund

Owes

IRS

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

20050

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Tax Prep GrowthN

um

ber

of

Retu

rns

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Split

Ref

und

Bonds

Benefi

ts

Debit

Drugs

Bank

Acct

Credi

t

Amer

ica

Save

sID

A

Fin. E

d.

Coach

ing

Volun

teer

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Money Menu Services

VITA’s 2011 Value to Omaha

Service Process Value

Savings on Tax Prep Fees

5072 returns x $220 (average tax prep fee)

$1,115,840

EITC Refund Impact $2,467,084 x $1.50 (estimated economic impact per EIC dollar)

$3,700,626

Total Refunds Most often spent to reduce debt, pay bills, or buy a major appliance.

$8,261,321

Volunteer Hours 6159 hours x $21.36 (value of volunteer time)

$131,556

Credit Report Counseling

196 x $100 (cost to pull score, counsel client)

$19,600

Bank Accounts $100 x 85 accounts $8,500

ITIN Applications $75 x 126 accounts $9,450

Total $13,246,893

Intersection of Tax Preparation and Taxpayer Education

Educational Interview &

Personal Financial

Goals

Significant Taxpayer Involveme

nt at Every Step

Promotion of Services, Referrals,

and Broader Financial Education

Using Tax Credits to Increase Financial StabilityShow me the Money!...and how to make the most of it

Non-Refundable Credits Defined

•Non-refundable credits are sums of money for eligible taxpayers who have certain expenses, conditions, or contributions that reduce tax

•The credits figure based on income tax ▫No tax=no credit

•The skill of the tax preparer can help manipulate the credits to maximize the refund

Refundable Credits Defined•Refundable Credits are sums of money for

eligible taxpayers who have certain expenses, conditions, or contributions that reduce tax and are applied as payments to any tax owed

•The remaining difference between tax and payment is added to the refund

•Sometimes, these amounts can be in the thousands of dollars

We Look for Every Credit, Every Dollar for Working People

• Additional Standard Deductions (age, blindness, disability)• Itemized Deductions and Adjustments to Income to reduce tax• Foreign Tax Credit• Credit for Elderly and Disabled• Credit for Dependent Care• Retirement Savings Credit• American Opportunity Education Credit• Lifetime Learning Education Credit• Child Tax Credit• Residential Energy Credit• Adoption Credit• Earned Income Credit• Refundable American Opportunity Credit• Refundable Child Tax Credit

Talking the FactsPolicy Outreach on issues of importance to our customers

The Knowledge Economy• A marketplace demand for employees to demonstrate a

variety of skills and document the training and education level necessary to meet the job description before an employment offer is made

• A degree of acceptance that long-term unemployment will be a feature of the next few years of transition into the full implementation of the knowledge economy model which indicates a shift from government-driven economics to market-driven reliance on necessary public policy changes

• An emerging battle against traditional economic protections that have been a hallmark of the labor market including, but not limited to, the suppression of unionism, easing of environmental regulations, and favorable tax laws to allow for large-scale business development

Knowledge Economy (cont)

•A demand for quality amenities in public spaces at the expense of local governments such as recreation areas, sporting venues, quality restaurants, clubs, and entertainment venues.

•Many of these changes can be seen in Omaha:▫Convention center ▫3 major sport and entertainment facilities

Job training • Job training outside of the formal education venue is not

only essential, but must reflect some of the priorities of the knowledge economy to give middle to low wage earners the best opportunities to succeed.

• While some are comfortable repeating the Scriptural phrase, “The poor you will always have;” we are not. Instead, we believe that as jobs begin demanding more skills, closing the resulting economic gap will increasingly require employees to provide documentation of quality multi-skills.

• “I have an engineering degree but one of the many barriers I face is that I recently graduated into a suffering economy. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s definitely much harder to get a job right after you graduate.”-Omaha EITC Coalition Focus Group participant

Long-term Unemployment •Defined as being out of work for 6 months or

more. •45% of the those currently unemployed are

long-term unemployed. •Majority of those have been out of work for

over a year.•“When I apply [for a job] they look at me and

think, ‘Why have you been out of work so long?’ I think it puts a flag by my name”

-Leslie, EITC Customer

But all is not bleak…• The midlands has over come many barriers faced

in other parts of the country • Solutions are at hand:

▫Bridge Programs ▫LB 1144 ▫School grading revisions to include “employability

factors” such as in Council Bluffs based on: Participation Work Completion Behavior Working with others

Solutions• We advocate for more financial and

technological education into job training programs.

• The changing economy offers many challenges• Low to middle income individuals need

assistance to learn how to navigate these changes

• There are several job training programs in place that offer a good start, but changes are necessary to effectively help our community during this time

Forward AllianceWork group on persons with disabilities

Forward Alliance Campaign• Raise Awareness of the Needs of Persons with Disabilities

▫ Sensitivity Training for our Members▫ Public Outreach at VITA Sites

• Persons with Disabilities are a year-round focus▫ Over 5 years, 10% of our customers are Persons with

Disabilities▫ Research shows 83% of Persons with Disabilities never

filed for a tax credit• Connect Taxpayers with Resources

▫ Free tax preparation▫ Screening for Public Benefits Eligibility▫ Awareness of Drug Assistance Programs▫ Housing Programs & Education

Asset Poverty

• 23% of Americans (18% of Nebraskans) live in asset poverty

• 14% of Americans (12% of Nebraskans) live in extreme asset poverty = ZERO assets

Accessed from: http://scorecard.cfed.org/state_data/nebraska.php

Asset-Poverty in Persons with Disabilities•Unemployment rate: 17% in persons with

disabilities ▫versus 9% of general population.

•Income gap of $22, 600.

•30% are unbanked.

•60,000 persons with disabilities living in Douglas County.

Our Asset Definition

The Omaha EITC Coalition understands asset development to be a universal process whereby people of all income levels aspire to accumulate, maintain and preserve economic resources to build lasting wealth and participate fully in the community as empowered and educated owners with increased financial knowledge and capability, access to credit, savings and investments

Persons with Disabilities Campaign

What we’ve learned:• Service providers overwhelmed with caseloads

and attending to basic needs.▫Asset-building not always on their radar.

• Fear of losing federal benefits with finding work or declaring taxes.

• Lack of service coordination of financial services.

 

Public Benefits EligibilityAccess Nebraska

Prescription Drug AssistanceEvery penny counts

Campaign-Action Steps• Improved Volunteer Training on Disability

Issues

• Incorporated outreach activities year-round

• Increase VITA sites in disability agencies

• Formalized Forward Alliance Committee, developing a more intentional relationship with NDI, and expanding membership in Forward Alliance

You: A Solution

•Refer Your Clients!▫Who you gonna call?: 2-1-1

•Refer Volunteers

•Join the Coalition and/or Forward Alliance

•Help plan an Asset Summit

At Your Service

Ed LeahyDirectorOmaha EITC Coalition3605 Q StOmaha, NE 68107C: (402) 250-9781O: (402) 546-1013, ext. 6210F: (402) 734-8887omahaeitc@cox.net

www.fhasinc.orgwww.facebook.com/OmahaEITC

Ginny PowellCustomer Connect ManagerGoodwill Industries4805 N 72nd StreetOmaha, NE 68134O: 402-231-1939vpowell@goodwillomaha.org

www.goodwillomaha.org