Son muchas las familias trabajadoras de California las que tienen a su disposición casi 5 mil dólares por recuperación de impuestos, bajo el programa "Earned Income Tax Credit" (Crédito al Impuesto por Ingresos Ganados); y un reporte del Children's Defense Fund (Fondo para la Defensa de los Niños) emitido hoy lunes muestra que las familias elegibles para este crédito están en la mira de las compañías que ofrecen anticipos sobre este reembolso: los préstamos, cheques y servicios que ofrecen ya le dieron una mordida de más de 24 millones de dólares a los reembolsos de las familias californianas, según las últimas cifras.
Este dinero llegaría más que oportuno a las familias trabajadoras de California, durante esta recesión. Eso es precisamente lo que persigue el Crédito al Impuesto EITC: llevar con este dinero un alivio a las familias de trabajadores con ingresos de bajos a moderados. Pero en el camino este dinero se ve disminuido por los prestamistas que también ofrecen servicios de llenado de formas, según nos explica Ed Shelleby, del Children's Defense Fund. Dice que las familias de California pierden, en manos de estos prestadores de servicios, una buena parte de su recuperación por el Crédito al Impuesto EITC.
"Lo que comúnmente se esconde es que hay muchos cargos agregados, y puedes perder una porción significativa de lo que es tu reembolso neto."
Esas compañías y personas que prestan dinero y servicios para llenar formas del EITC dicen que su función es muy valiosa para las familias que necesitan tener ese dinero pronto, y también para quienes se sienten abrumados con el papeleo. Al respecto, el Children's Defense Fund, también hace un llamado para que las leyes federales protejan a las familias de estos depredadores, y haya una expansión de los servicios gratuitos para preparar la declaración de impuestos.
Shelleby dice que venderle servicios a las familias del EITC es un negocio redituable – pero uno, agrega, que roba el dinero a las familias que necesitan hasta el último dólar, especialmente este año.
"Aún antes de esta recesión, estos centros de preparación de impuestos se quedaban con más de tres billones de dólares de las familias de bajos ingresos… dinero que necesita estar en los bolsillos de esas familias."
Shelleby destaca, por último, que hay un servicio gratuito para llenar esas formas, además del depósito directo de los reembolsos, a través del Programa de Asistencia Voluntaria del EITC, dentro del IRS, y que cuentan con oficinas en todo el estado. Las ubicaciones pueden ser consultadas al teléfono 1-800-829-1040.
El reporte completo "Avoiding the Pitfalls of Refund Anticipation Loans", (Evitando los peligros de los préstamos anticipados contra el reembolso) está en las páginas de internet del Children's Defense Fund:
www.childrensdefense.org.
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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a recent study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about life prospects.
The study, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found students who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about both academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.
Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.
"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."
Maryland requires county boards of education to track and report on bullying. This year's report showed there were more than 7,800 incidences of bullying reported during the 2022-23 school year, an increase of 25% over the year prior.
Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Earlier research showed relational victimization had negative effects on elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also an educational priority.
"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence based large scale school interventions for bullying."
Maryland's State Department of Education adopted a model policy to address bullying, harassment and intimidation in 2009 and has updated it in the years since. Last year the department began offering an online introduction to bullying prevention for educators.
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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a new study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about their future.
Researchers found adolescents who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.
Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.
"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."
The study began with more than 300 9th graders at 38 different high schools across Michigan. Students completed online surveys multiple times per year over three years.
Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Prior research established relational victimization affected elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also as an educational priority.
"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti-bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence-based large-scale school interventions for bullying."
She added it is important to have strong communication between researchers, policymakers and administrators to address bullying so it is not too burdensome for schools and is backed by what researchers have learned.
Disclosure: Wayne State University contributes to our fund for reporting on Civic Engagement, Education, Environment, and Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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The biannual Pro-Kid Scorecard from the Children Now Action Fund was released today.
In it, 12 state Assembly members and seven state Senators earned a 100% rating.
Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research at the nonprofit Children Now Action Fund, said the scoring reflects more than how lawmakers vote.
"They voted the right way on health and child welfare, child care, education," Hardy outlined. "They also supported kids in the budget, which is not always an easy thing to do when we've got budget deficits."
The lowest scores hovered around 48%, awarded to lawmakers who voted against certain bills but also voted for proposals like forced outing policies for LGBTQ+ students in schools.
Hardy noted the report is intended to inform voters as they head to the ballot box next month.
"Kids may not vote but we want to elect legislators who do their best to support kids," Hardy explained.
California ranks 35th in the nation for child well-being, according to the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation report and is just above the national average for per-pupil spending on K-12 education.
Disclosure: Children Now/Kids Count contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, and Youth Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
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