Grant Will Help Build Capacity to Expand Commonwealth of Virginia’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Initiatives
Date: July 24, 2008
The State Information Technology Consortium (SITC) announced that it has been awarded a 3-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services. In partnership with the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) and the Virginia Community Action Partnership (VACAP), SITC will help build the capacity of local departments of social services, community action agencies, and local coalitions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia to increase the total number of low-income individuals and TANF recipients approved for the EITC.
The federal EITC credit helps low-income working families meet immediate needs like food and housing. In 2006, a recipient family in Virginia received an average EITC credit of $2,250. Recipients will be encouraged to use part of their EITC credit to create assets through savings in the Virginia Individual Development Account (VIDA) program.
Each year of the grant, SITC will work with its partners to develop and host 12 live Webinars, 3 on-demand Webcasts, and an online course to train participants from Virginia’s local departments of social services, community action agencies, and local coalitions to build and expand their EITC efforts. A total of 2,200 agency personnel and volunteers will receive training and technical assistance each year.
David Popovich, SITC’s Vice-President and General Manager, stated, “SITC is delighted with this opportunity to partner with the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) and the Virginia Community Action Partnership in their much-needed efforts to improve their clients’ self-sufficiency. This project exemplifies SITC’s mission to help governments and their stakeholders improve service delivery and the efficiency of their operations through innovative information technology solutions.”
