United Way of California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2020

Contact: Unai Montes-Irueste, Communications Director, United Ways of California, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 213 476 8742

United Ways of California Praise Governor Newsom and Legislative Leaders for Expanding Earned Income Tax Credit to Immigrant Workers with Young Children; Call for Urgent Full Inclusion
“Great Start, Right Direction, More to Do”

(Los Angeles, CA) – After years of advocacy, especially on behalf of low-income workers, United Ways of California applauds Governor Newsom and the California Legislature for extending the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) to working taxpayers whose households include filers who use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and have young children under 6 years of age. This is a good step, but there is more California needs to do to meet the urgent needs of low-income working families. The expansion agreed to by the Governor and Legislature will reach approximately 32,000 to 46,000 tax filers and their families, leaving out a vast majority of ITIN filers, including over 178,000 children. With income disparities growing throughout the state, California’s advocates have been pushing for an inclusive CalEITC for over five years. Now, with a looming recession, California needs this inclusive policy to protect the state’s nearly 600,000 individuals and their families, who are excluded from federal pandemic support, from falling deeper into poverty, and also to boost spending to help local economies recover.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 22, 2020


Contact: Unai Montes-Irueste, Communications Director, United Ways of California, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Sumeet Bal, Communications Director, California Immigrant Policy Center, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Shimica Gaskins, Executive Director, Children’s Defense Fund California, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 


California Advocates Praise Legislative Leaders on Earned Income Tax Credit Inclusion  for Immigrant Workers with Young Children; Call for Urgent Full Inclusion 


(Los Angeles, CA) – California’s Legislature took a stand for children today by insisting the final state budget deal agreed upon with Governor Newsom includes filers who use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and have children under 6 in the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC). During a time of budget deficits, this win was hard-fought for immigrant workers and families who too often are excluded from the most basic public support. 

Today the CalEITC Advocacy Coalition recognizes the work of so many leaders critical to ensuring this milestone was reached, including community voices, Legislative Budget Leadership, Legislative Caucuses, big-city Mayors, and economic experts. This partial inclusion will reach approximately 32,000 to 46,000 immigrant tax filers and their families – families who are bearing a disproportionate share of COVID-19-related job losses. We cannot overstate the impact that expanding the most powerful poverty-fighting tool will have for families with young children who for too long have been working and paying into a tax system that discriminates against them, simply for the number they use to file taxes. 

(Statewide statement on behalf of our network of California United Ways) — Californians from every background and generation are braving a global pandemic to march for racial justice. All across the Golden State, we are saying the names George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many more Black Americans who have been unjustifiably killed by police.
 
California’s United Ways share in the deep sorrow and anger of our neighbors, and we stand in solidarity with those demanding justice and change in order to overcome the continued loss and devaluing of Black lives, rooted in a deeply painful history of violence and police brutality against our communities of color, particularly our Black communities.

United Way’s mission is to fight for the education, health, and financial stability of every person in every community. Everyone deserves the opportunity to be healthy, to learn, and to live with dignity. Our society has an obligation to work to remove barriers for and provide support for all people. We must work for concrete changes in policy and policing to reduce risk to Black and Brown lives. We must fight for equity, recognize that our communities of color deserve more than life, they deserve hopes and dreams, the right to access quality schools, safe and affordable neighborhoods, jobs and careers with economic mobility.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 29, 2020 

Contact: Unai Montes, (213) 476-8742, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

United Ways of California Rolls Out KinshipCareCA.org, a Kinship Navigator, to Celebrate World Foster Day on May 31
New statewide website offers kinship and foster families access to critical resources, services and live help call specialists

(Los Angeles, CA) — Preparing for World Foster Day on May 31, United Ways of California, the state network of California United Ways, and California Department of Social Services today announce plans to roll out a new website, KinshipCareCA.org, a free, one-stop navigator to meet the immediate needs of kinship caregivers and foster parents, helping them locate nearby resources, access benefits, and/or receive general support via its online search feature and dedicated team of highly trained call specialists. The website is aimed to increase the capacity of kinship caregivers in providing safe, stable, and nurturing homes for children in their care.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 14, 2020

Contact: Unai Montes, (213) 476-8742, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Economic Justice Advocates Respond to Governor’s May Revise: Stop Excluding Californians From CalEITC; Critical to COVID-19 Recovery

United Ways of California together with a coalition of 60 organizations make urgent plea, highlight need for outreach to eligible households to access poverty-fighting power of earned income tax credit

(Los Angeles, CA) — In response to the Governor’s May Revision to the proposed 2020-2021 state budget announced today, United Ways of California and a coalition of 60 organizations thank Governor Newsom for continuing the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) program, but call out continuing to exclude hundreds of thousands of working taxpayers from anti-poverty tax credits designed to reward work.            

“Now more than ever we need to make California, a California for all,” says Peter Manzo, President and CEO of United Ways of California. “While we applaud the Governor for keeping the CalEITC in the budget, all hard-working, tax-paying Californians regardless of their immigration status deserve equitable treatment, most especially during this pandemic,” Manzo added.