Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas

Since 2004, the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation (CPRF) has been providing free tax services for low-income families, most of whom include workers with disabilities. They are currently serving in six communities across the United States:  Wichita, KS; Pensacola, FL; Boston, MA; Lansing, MI; Denver, CO; and Seattle, WA.

With several new initiatives, CPRF sites had their most successful year in 2010. They were able to develop a national partnership with the NISH Institute for Economic Empowerment, which facilitated local partnerships with community rehabilitation programs in the six cities.

An AmeriCorps member who is deaf and trained to prepare returns for deaf taxpayers chats with an IRS official using his assistive technology.

CPRF originally planned for 60-80 clients per site, but each of the six sites served an average of almost 300 clients, leading to $2.1 million in tax refunds.  Despite this increase, Bob Hull, Vice President for Research, said that CPRF continues to look for ways to expand.  “We are trying to reach people who are working steadily but do not make enough money to owe taxes.  Many times, these individuals are told they do not need to file their taxes, and miss the opportunity to get their EITC.  Our typical client has an average adjusted gross income of just over $15,000 and we want to make sure they take advantage of any tax credit they’re eligible for.”

In 2010, CPRF also started utilizing AmeriCorps members.  This was a key decision that allowed CPRF to build its capacity and serve additional clients.  Each of CPRF’s six sites has five incredibly dedicated AmeriCorps members who provide tax assistance.  The comprehensive training that CPRF members provide is a big reason that preparers have such a successful accuracy rate. 

In addition to a talented staff, the AmeriCorps members, according to Hull, are what make CPRF such a success.  “Our AmeriCorps members have really increased our ability to make such a big impact,” said Hull.  AmeriCorps members are trained to provide tax services, disability benefit screening, social security benefit screening, financial education classes, and one-on-one counseling.  Some sites offered the opportunity for clients to make deposits to savings accounts and purchase savings bonds in 2010.  More sites will offer this service in 2011. 

In 2010, one AmeriCorps member in particular stood out for Hull.  He was a young AmeriCorps member who happened to be deaf.  “He overcame tremendous technological and logistical obstacles and became one of our best income tax assistants,” said Hull.  “He was trained to serve deaf clients, but in the end, he was able to serve many of our hearing clients as well.”

Even with all the success of CPRF in 2010, Hull thinks the future is even brighter.  CPRF recently received a grant from the local Bank of America to expand their reach even further. One issue in particular will be a main focus for CPRF in 2011. Hull said that the IRS Intake Sheet asks clients whether someone in their family has a disability, but TaxWise does not record the information so that it can be viewed in the reporting feature. “We’d like to see that in the reporting feature so we can analyze exactly how workers with disabilities are being served by our VITA sites.” Hull said he plans to take the issue to the IRS and will continue working with Johnette Hartnett, Director of Strategic Partnership Development at the National Disability Institute and NCTC Steering Committee member, who has also been working on this issue.  Hull said he also plans to continue to reach out to independent living centers to increase access to VITA sites for the disability community.