No images? Click here Featured in this IssueUpcoming Webinars Feb 2021 - Mar 2021 FOC Spotlight: Tax Time Planning Additional FOC Resources FOC NewsLISC Family Income and Wealth Building periodically offers webinars and in-person/virtual training on a variety of topics connected to Financial Opportunity Centers such as Salesforce data entry, program management, financial coaching, workforce development, and much more. This newsletter will keep you posted on all upcoming events. The FOC network resource website has a new look! If you haven't seen it yet, check out the new resources and all the webinars you may have missed. Upcoming FOC Events** Note: All webinars are listed in Central Standard Time** March 2021March 16 | 1 PM CST | 60 minutes | A Tax Season Like No Other: Navigating Tax Time and Financial Coaching during COVID-19 Tax season 2021 has launched and brings unprecedented changes and challenges for taxpayers, tax preparers, and FOC financial coaches: many workers’ 2020 income is likely to be significantly different from 2019 due to the pandemic’s economic disruption; coronavirus-related relief legislation passed by Congress includes key changes to the tax law for the tax year 2020, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program sites are shifting their operations to accommodate health and social distancing protocols. Join LISC and experienced VITA and financial coaching practitioners to hear how FOCs are adjusting to all of these changes and continuing to advance the important work of helping their community members access the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other tax credits that provide a critical income boost to working families. March 29 | 1 PM CST | 60 Minutes | FOC Digital Intake via the Arc Tool The Arc Tool is a client-facing digital intake combined with a financial assessment that is integrated with Salesforce. The tool’s primary goal is to connect clients and coaches using a digital approach to complement financial counseling services. Join us to see how it works and how you can begin to use it at your FOC. Reoccurring Webinars March 01 & 15 | 1 PM CST | 60 Minutes | Salesforce Support Hour Salesforce Support Hours are held on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month (excluding holidays). Drop into the Salesforce support hour to have ALL of your Salesforce questions answered, from data entry to reporting. This session is an informal setting that allows attendees to join in at any point during the time period. Come with questions or just join to listen to others' questions. * No registration required. March 04 & 18 | 1 PM CST | 60 minutes | Esusu Biweekly Check-in Hosted on a biweekly basis, this is an informal meeting to allow space for coaches to ask questions specific to Twin Account™ via Esusu. Stop by with all your questions or join in to hear from other coaches and the work that they are doing. FOC Spotlight: Tax Time Planning Financial Opportunity Center sites are crucial partners working with members of their communities to navigate resources and plan for the unexpected—perhaps more so now during this extended global health and economic crisis than ever before. As the 2021 tax-filing season kicks off, tax credits—including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC)—will likely provide an especially critical refund and income boost to many working individuals and families. At the same time, income fluctuations in 2020 (due to layoffs, reductions or increases in work hours depending on the industry or job, and receipt of unemployment insurance benefits for those laid-off workers who qualified) and pandemic-related changes in tax law will add complexities to this year’s tax season. For example, a special “lookback” provision passed by Congress allows eligible taxpayers to use either their 2019 or 2020 income—whichever is more favorable—as the basis for calculating the EITC and CTC on their 2020 tax returns. Some taxpayers who didn’t receive the Economic Impact Payment (aka “stimulus check”) to which they were entitled in 2020 will also use the 2020 tax returns that they file this spring to claim that credit. The members of LISC’s FOC network play an important role at tax time, either in offering free tax preparation through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program or partnering with other local nonprofits that provide this much-needed service. Additionally, this year a new online resource—Get Your Refund (GYR)—offers self-filing and assisted virtual options for taxpayers with income under $66,000, using trained VITA volunteers (and with information also provided in Spanish); GYR could serve as a helpful free resource for FOC clients who may not otherwise be able to access a VITA site safely or conveniently in-person. By integrating financial coaching with tax preparation services (or, incorporating tax-time conversations into the coaching sessions, for FOCs that don’t operate their own VITA sites), FOCs can help their community members ensure that they’re claiming all of the tax benefits for which they may qualify and making a plan to effectively use a tax refund toward expenses, savings, or asset building goals. Summary of resources: Additional FOC Resources|We have a variety of tools, products and resource to support your FOC to maximize your impact. Check them out!
Arc Tool | The Arc Tool is a client-facing digital intake with the primary goal of connecting clients and coaches. To learn more about this tool join the upcoming webinar by registering above or click here for more to learn more.Prepaid Cards | In partnership with Citi Inclusive Finance, LISC groups have access to No Fee Prepaid Cards to support client cash assistance. To learn more, click here to contact Laura D'alessandro and indicate your interest.Twin Accounts | This is an innovative financial product that uses behavioral economics principles to help low- to moderate-income people save money while building credit at the same time. Click here to learn more on how to connect your clients to this product.Accenture LX | This platform connects FOC with over 100 online digital skill-building, career, and financial education courses for free. If you are interested in learning more, click here to review our virtual learning webinar series. Texting via Mogli | LISC has re-launched a network-wide text-messaging application in Salesforce. With this feature, staff are able to send individual messages directly from a client's case record or bulk messages to a group of clients. All active Salesforce users automatically have access to this feature at no additional cost. Click here to learn more. Thank you!LISC would like to send a special thank you to all of our guest speakers from our FOC network. |