The Office of Minority Health awarded the Greater Flint Health Coalition a three year cooperative agreement to implement the CASES Project to serve low-income working families disproportionately at risk for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including racial and ethnic minorities residing in Flint and Genesee County, Michigan. This initiative seeks to (1) increase Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) awareness and receipt, (2) reduce financial stress on Flint and Genesee County families, and (3) decrease risk factors for ACEs to support stronger, healthier, and more equitable communities.
The GFHC will collaborate with a broad collection of multi-sector partners to implement a tiered outreach and education strategy to increase awareness and receipt of the EITC, focusing on individual, community, and system level education and awareness initiatives. Additional activities will also be put into place to decrease barriers to receiving the EITC and increase communitywide awareness of risk and protective factors for ACEs.
Key partnerships include the Genesee Health Plan (local health plan), Michigan United (non-profit organization), Flint Registry (community-based program), United Way of Genesee County (non-profit organization), and Michigan State University (evaluation partner) as well as a multi-sector Outreach Strategy Collaborative that consists of representatives from social services agencies, early childhood providers, mental health and substance use treatment providers, business/labor organizations, faith-based organizations, government agencies, and other community-based organizations.
The successful implementation of the project will lead to increased awareness of EITC and protective factors for ACEs as well increased EITC receipt, which will create a measurable impact on community-wide risk factors for ACEs and improve health outcomes. We expect more than 50,000 community residents will be engaged as part of the activities proposed by the Flint & Genesee County Strengthening Economic Supports for Working Families Project.