With sneakers on her feet, a take-out cup of coffee in hand, and fliers tucked under her arm, Karla Velasquez hit the streets of the South Bronx with a mission: to get more money into the pockets of families who need it.

As director of financial empowerment at the nonprofit BronxWorks, she leads programs that help low-income families get on more stable financial footing through tax preparation assistance, and providing guidance for chipping away at their debt and boosting their credit scores. This year, her job also entails going to where kids and families are to spread the word about a historic expansion of child tax credits.

Sometimes described as guaranteed income for families or social security for children, the tax credits are a centerpiece of massive increases in government aid during the pandemic. Coupled with more food aid and jobless benefits, they have the potential to drive poverty in America down to the lowest level recorded. The sharpest declines are expected among children. And with more money in their parents’ pockets, research suggests many children could wind up performing better in school.

But before any of that can be true, people like Velasquez have to make sure the benefits reach everyone who qualifies.

“We’re trying to be everywhere in the Bronx,” she said.

Approved as part of the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan, the expanded tax credits are bigger — up to $1,600 more per year for younger children and $1,000 more for those up to age 17. They also now extend to families who previously did not earn enough to file taxes. Not only are these families off the radar of the Internal Revenue Service, which is administering the credits, they might not be known by local organizations like BronxWorks, which this year helped 6,500 people file their taxes.

Read the full article about expanded child tax credits by Christina Veiga at Chalkbeat.