Optimizing benefits for families
By the Numbers
Reduction in food insecurity among low-income families who received the Child Tax Credit
People used ChildTaxCredit.gov to find free tax filing services and receive expanded tax benefits
The Challenge
The American Rescue Plan, signed by President Biden in March 2021, created unprecedented tax relief for millions of families through expanded tax credits, both for families who file their taxes and also for those who typically don’t file their taxes. As the global COVID-19 pandemic upended finances for many parents, this expansion made many more families eligible for additional credits while also sending monthly, advance payments for the first time.
But families that didn’t earn enough income in 2020 to require a tax filing – the people who needed the tax credits the most – were largely unaware of the economic assistance or that they needed to submit a tax return to qualify.
The Solution
The U.S. Digital Service partnered with The Department of Treasury and the White House to build ChildTaxCredit.gov. The website launched in January 2022 to educate families about the expanded Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit and to encourage eligible families to file a tax return in order to receive the funds. Additionally, the website provides a free tool to find tax assistance.
Working alongside our agency partners, the USDS team interviewed local governments, advocacy groups, non-profits, and tax filers to understand how these credits affected people’s lives. We learned that misinformation and confusion kept some families from taking the necessary steps to receive the tax credits. We launched the site to address the many needs we heard from user research, including that the site should be accessible, easy-to-read, and provide resources to find free tax filing services.
As a result of user tests that included people with different levels of English proficiency and accessibility needs, the site is mobile-friendly, available in Spanish, and reads at an eighth-grade level. Its clarity and accessibility reduce the need for people to seek information via other overburdened channels, such as IRS hotlines.
The Impact
The 2021 Child Tax Credit helps all families succeed and will reach nearly 40 million families representing 65 million children. The U.S. Treasury estimates the families of 26 million children will now receive the full, expanded amount of this credit. Under previous rules, they would only receive a partial credit because their incomes were too low.
These expanded benefits reduced food insufficiency among low-income families by 25% and helped bring child poverty to record lows in 2021, including record low Black and Hispanic child poverty.
ChildTaxCredit.gov has helped close to 50,000 taxpayers file their taxes for free across a number of free services found in the lookup tool.
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More projects
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Cross-agency
Optimizing benefits for families
Working alongside The Department of Treasury and the White House, we built ChildTaxCredit.gov to educate families about the expanded Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit. The USDS team relied on in-depth research to create a site that is accessible, easy-to-read, and provides resources to find free tax services.
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Health and Human Services
Critical code: building COVID-19 vaccine finder tools
With the American public eager for COVID-19 vaccinations, The White House partnered with the U.S. Digital Service, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the Department of Health & Human Services, and Boston Children’s Hospital to launch a fleet of tools connecting people to life-saving vaccines.
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Veterans Affairs
Simplifying Veteran‑facing services through VA.gov
Each month, over 10 million people attempt to access the digital tools and content at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and have historically struggled to find what they’re looking for. Digital modernization efforts needed to focus on improving the user experience.
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Health and Human Services
Empowering beneficiaries with their own health data
Leveraging CMS APIs, providers can view of their patients’ full healthcare history without patient intervention. Providers save valuable time that they can better spend talking to patients and preventing conflicts or gaps in care.
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Health and Human Services
Modernizing the Medicare Payment System
Eight million lines of COBOL and 2.5 million lines of assembly running on 15 mainframes. 4.5 percent of the entire American economy is fueled by Medicare payments and 53 million people depend on it for their healthcare.
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Cross-agency
Changing how the government hires technical talent
We helped develop a process that allows HR to leverage subject matter experts to evaluate candidates for specialized roles. The result restores fair and open access for all applicants, shortens the hiring timeline, and ensures applicants are truly qualified.