The New Tribal VITAs
With the establishment of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) centers, CCDO is taking the first step toward giving low- to moderate-income families in Indian Country a leg up.
By helping residents get their full share of tax credits and refunds, VITA centers can play a crucial role in reducing poverty in Weed and Seed sites. To ensure that tribal communities can participate in this newest asset-building strategy, CCDO collaborated across bureaus of the Office of Justice Programs to provide tribal communities with VITA sites. CCDO Director Dennis Greenhouse worked with Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator J. Robert Flores to ensure that OJJDP tribal youth program grantees could participate in the VITA program, showing OJP's continuing commitment to tribal issues.
VITA centers provide free tax preparation assistance to families that earn less than $38,000 per year, saving them an average of $350 in tax preparation fees. The centers encourage taxpayers to use the earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit, both of which support low- to moderate-income families and which, together, constitute the largest antipoverty program in the country. EITC returns up to $4,500 for a working family of 4 earning under the $38,000 cap, and child tax credits provide an additional $1,000 per child (limit 2).
During 2005, the first year of the VITA technical assistance project, 50 Weed and Seed sites processed over 11,000 returns worth more than $15 million in tax credits and refunds. This year, for the first time, tribes also were selected to launch VITA centers. They are the—
- Blackfeet Tribe, Browning, MT;
- Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac du Flambeau, WI;
- Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Port Angeles, WA;
- Pascua Yacqui Tribe, Tucson, AZ;
- Quinault Indian Nation, Taholah, WA; and
- Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie, MI.
These six tribes will receive training and a computer lab to facilitate e-filing of tax returns in time for the 2007 tax season. Each tribe will strive to process at least 100 tax returns during the initial year of operation.
How VITA centers will work for some tribes is determined by location. For the Pascua Yacqui, most of the 16,000 members live in and around Tucson and near Phoenix, while only about one-third of the tribe lives on the reservation. Because members are scattered over a fairly large urban area, the tribe is looking to supplement their VITA computer lab with mobile resources—such as laptops—to meet the needs of their population. The computer lab will be located in the tribe's education department and also will be used to expand after-school support, tutoring, and job skills training opportunities.
"As with many tribes, our members suffer from economic hardship, unemployment, and lack of support services," said Len Goeller, Economic Development Manager for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. "We particularly wish to connect our members with the EITC and child tax credit programs, as those are not easily accessed by members in rural, agriculture-based communities."
Wisconsin's Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians also has found that partnerships are important to the success of VITA centers. The Lac du Flambeau Juvenile Justice Program, an OJJDP tribal youth grantee, is partnering with the Lac du Flambeau Housing Authority to deliver VITA services at three locations during the next tax season. Six volunteers worked with the Housing Authority to launch the VITA program last year, and they processed 289 tax returns, totaling $264,000 in federal refunds and tax credits.
The new partnership will allow the Tribal Planning Council and the Family Resource Center to serve as VITA sites. The tribe's goal for its VITA sites next tax season is to process 450 returns. The tribal government is currently working with local banks to make it easier for tribal members to open bank accounts that allow direct deposit of tax refunds.
Like the Pascua Yacqui of Arizona, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippew Indians will also be using the VITA computer resources to enhance other services at the three locations, including tutoring, home schooling, financial counseling, and general use by the public. Tribal leaders also are leveraging the casino and tribal marketing departments to conduct outreach and recruit volunteers and to educate tribal members about EITC and free tax preparation through the VITA sites.
Reducing poverty is an essential element of the Weed and Seed strategy. When the poverty rate in a neighborhood goes down, the risk that its young people will engage in delinquent or criminal behavior goes down, as does its crime rate. Ultimately, a reduction in the number of families living in poverty can transform a community.
For more information, contact:
Len Goeller
Economic Development Manager
Pascua Yaqui Tribe
520-879-6346
John Young
Lac du Flambeau Juvenile Justice Program Coordinator
715-588-1511
Colleen Copple, CCDO Consultant, contributed to this article. Contact her at colleen.copple@usdoj.gov or 202-353-4317.
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