Minnesota and Hew Hampshire: Two tour cities describe how they bring best practices to asset building for people with disabilities.

Minnesota
AccountAbility Minnesota (AAM) tax and accounting services offers the following for taxpayers with disabilities:

Individual Tax Organizer
AccountAbility Minnesota has developed a special tool to increase access to free tax assistance for persons with disabilities living in assisted living facilities or group homes.  The Individual Tax Organizer (ITO) is a one page form that can be used by single taxpayers without dependents living in residential facilities or on their own.  The ITO allows taxpayers to send their tax information to AAM (through a caseworker or the mail), have their return completed and returned to them for signature.  AAM electronically files the returns once signatures are received.  In 2007 AAM volunteers assisted over 1,600 persons with disabilities with free tax assistance and 736 used the ITO.  (A sample of the ITO and the process that is used with residential facilities is attached to this article.)

Highlights of the AAM 2007 Disability program accomplishments:
1,600 persons with disabilities received free tax assistance in 2007

• 864 customers at tax clinics self-identified as disabled
• 736 customers used Individual Tax Organizer
• $499,547 total refunds
• 59% of federal refunds was the EITC

Marketing
AccountAbility Minnesota does a targeted mailing to over 100 agencies, group homes, independent living services and others that assist persons with disabilities.  Workshops are held at the AAM Headquarters and residential facilities to train workers on the Earned Income Tax Credit and the procedure to complete the ITO.

The ITO process not only helps AccountAbility Minnesota serve many more persons with disabilities than it would otherwise, it is an efficient way to utilize volunteers.  Volunteers can complete the ITO tax returns at anytime at the AAM Headquarters working at times convenient for their schedules.

For more information, please visit www.accountabilitymn.org:
Bonnie Esposito, Executive Director AccountAbility Minnesota
2300 Myrtle Ave W. Suite 180 / St. Paul, MN 55114
651-287-0187 ex. 105 /besposito@accountabilitymn.org

New Hampshire

The three programs below are examples of how New Hampshire brings asset building to people with disabilities:

Financial Fitness Open House
The Center for Community Economic Development & Disability at South New Hampshire University School of Community Economic Development with support from the Real Economic Impact Tour sponsored a Financial Fitness Open House in February 2007.  This involved assembling numerous state and local agencies to showcase financial resources available to improve financial well-being and employment outcomes for persons with disabilities. The target audience included people with disabilities and service providers and was hosted on the SNUH campus with interpreter services offered by Northeast Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Transportation for the event was provided with Part B funds from the Independent Living Center. These agencies included Greater Manchester Asset Building Coalition members, VITA sites, AARP, Social Security and Medicaid Work incentives specialist, employment agencies, Special Needs Trust Administrators, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, New Hampshire Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication (SPEC) office, Independent Living Centers, housing organizations, New Hampshire Rural Development, managers of Family Self Sufficiency Programs, and credit unions.  Participating agencies hosted short workshops on a variety of topics, including money management, building credit, utilizing tax credits, youth transition and work incentives, job training resources and asset building.   Those in attendance had the opportunity to have their taxes prepared by the SNHU VITA Program, and many of the participating vendors had appointments available to prepare applications or provide services.  The event received high marks by people with disabilities, many of whom requested that the Open House be offered on an annual basis.

Mobile Tax Site
As the Family Resource Center in Gorham and Northern Human Services (NHS) demonstrated, VITA sites can partner very effectively with non-profits that support people with disabilities so that everyone wins.  After a half day introductory training facilitated by the Center for CED & Disability, it became clear that people in the Berlin/Gorham region of New Hampshire could benefit by working together. It was agreed that Northern Human Services, a non-profit specializing in services for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities would invite their clients to have their taxes prepared for free by the VITA site. Staff at NHS did all of the “behind the scenes”, working with individuals and families to organize tax documents for filing and designating space and logistics for the mobile tax clinic. With only three volunteers, in one day, the VITA site was able to complete 40 returns for people with disabilities – most of whom had never claimed the EITC before. This practice worked because everyone did their share to make it a success! This year they are looking to expand the program to additional locations in the region.

Community TV
Through the support of the Real Economic Impact Tour, a community TV program broadcasted a series of shows focused on asset building and financial well-being for people with disabilities.  Each show reached approximately 30,000 viewers.  Topics including credit management, EITC, AARP Tax Aide program, and asset building where covered during the show.  The station also marketed each of the programs to viewers.