BECKLEY, W.Va. — The sixth and potentially final monthly payment from the Child Tax Credit program will hit the bank accounts of West Virginia parents Wednesday unless Congress renews the benefit, which is set to expire Dec. 31.
Families with children have been receiving $300 for each child under age 6 and $250 for each child ages 6 to 17 each month to help offset costs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jim McKay of TEAM for West Virginia Children was part of a roundtable discussion in Beckley Tuesday and said if the credit is not extended, millions of American children won’t receive additional monthly checks in 2022.
“People are really anxious. What happens when that child tax credit ends?” McKay said. “The child tax credit gives them what they need, so they can better access their own basic needs.”
McKay said the pandemic has exacerbated financial stresses for low-income families who are already struggling to put food on the table.
Tracy King of FMRS Community Mental Health Center in Beckley voiced the same concerns during Tuesday’s discussion.
“We’re seeing folks not only just trying to survive day-to-day, but actually now being able to feed their families and access transportation that, this time last year, they were really struggling with,” King said.
West Virginia has been challenged by economic distress that other parts of the country have not seen, McKay said.
“Our economic system in the state has shifted from manufacturing and mining to the service industry and retail. With that, there’s been a lot of people left behind,” he said.
King said the credit has helped families afford basics like food, rent and educational expenses.
“This child tax credit is actually helping to break that cycle of poverty, which then rolls down hill and affects everything else that we’re dealing with — substance abuse, early death due to things like cardiovascular disease,” she said.
A lot of grandparents in West Virginia are raising children, so the monthly checks have been a relief to them, King said.
“About a third of our youth that area coming for treatment are not living with their biological parents. They’re living with another family member and in most cases that’s a grandparent,” she said.
Families are also concerned about inflation this time of year, King said.
The enhanced Child Tax Credit was previously expanded through President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
The future of the benefit remains in limbo as Congress debates the Build Back Better Act, which would include a one-year extension of the monthly payments. The bill must be passed by Dec. 28th for payments to continue on schedule and land in accounts by Jan. 15, 2022.