If you’re a direct-care worker or you work with direct-care workers, you may want to help spread the word about the earned income tax credit (EITC). Direct-care workers who file a federal tax return this season could be eligible for thousands of dollars in state and federal credits and refunds, mainly through the federal EITC, which will return up to $4,716 per person to eligible low-income taxpayers. But as much as a quarter of all EITC funds go unclaimed each year because so many people don’t know they’re entitled to them.
Direct-care workers who file a federal return may also be eligible for an EITC from their state or for one of the economic stimulus payments being made this year by the federal government. The economic stimulus payments will generally range from $300 to $600 for individuals and from $600 to $1,200 for joint filers, plus $300 for each qualifying child.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website has a useful section on the national EITC. Its online toolkit includes a calculator to estimate how much of a return to expect and tips on how to get taxes prepared free of charge, how to file electronically to get your money back fast, and more.
Another useful website is I-CAN, an online tax filing system that helps low-income taxpayers file their federal forms free of charge and includes information about the EITC. Taxpayers in California, Michigan, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania can also file their state taxes free through I-CAN.
Please forward any and all needed information for requirements to qualify for this field! I’ve been doing this work for 13 years, with Quads, Parapoligics, Tetrapoligics! Have had trainning in bowl care, inhalation, range of motion, and dietary.
Hi there, Charles
I’m not sure I know what you’re asking, since it sounds like you’ve been in this field for a long time. Do you want to switch to a different kind of direct-care work?
If so, here are a couple things that you might find helpful:
The Right Start describes what certain types of direct-care workers do and what training federal and state governments require to do the job: http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/download/Rightstart.pdf
State Nurse Aide Training Requirements, 2007 tells you how many hours each state requires as a minimum for people training to be CNAs. http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/download/StateNurseAide_TrainingRequirements2007.pdf
some states will let you become a CNA without taking any training if you can pass the certification test without training, though, and you might be able to do that, since you’ve done this kind of work for so long. So if that’s the switch you’re thinking of making, you might want to check with your state’s nurse aide registry and see if it’s one of those states. Or you might want to take the training anyhow, since you’d likely learn some useful things even if you already know most of it.
If that’s not what you were looking for, please let me know.