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EITC, the Earned Income Tax Credit, sometimes called EIC is a tax credit to help you keep more of what you earned. refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. When EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.

AFI is a demonstration program established to investigate new strategies for helping low-income families become economically self-sufficient. To better evaluate effective projects, the Office of Community Services is financing a long-term national process and impact evaluation of the program. Each AFI Project provides annual information for the study, and the program evaluation team conducts intensive data collection and interviews at a small but representative number of projects. The evaluation also includes information about the impact of the program on a group of approximately 600 individual project participants.

Guidance on required procedures and timelines for completing and finalizing AFI Grants.

AFI² is a Web-based project management tool that AFI provides to all grantees. It makes project administration and IDA record keeping simple and fast. AFI² not only helps AFI grantees, it also creates a database for on-going research and evaluation of the effects of IDAs and related services.
 

Many low-income individuals and families who are eligible for AFI-funded IDA projects are also eligible to receive benefits from Federal refundable tax credits. These include the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, American Opportunity Credit, and the Making Work Pay Credit.

The Office of Community Services (OCS) and the Office of Grants Management (OGM) jointly administer the AFI Program grants. These two offices have separate and complementary roles. The OCS team is responsible for programmatic aspects of the grant, such as issuing the AFI funding opportunity announcement, reviewing grant proposals, and providing guidance and interpretations on program topics such as eligibility issues, project design matters, and the like. OCS also operates the AFI Resource Center, which provides training and technical assistance in a variety of formats to grantees. The OGM staff is charged with awarding grants and providing fiscal monitoring. OGM also assists with drawdown procedures.

Sign-in to the AFI Grantee Gateway to access the Annual AFI Data Report forms.
 

Even as grantees are closing out at the end of their Assets for Independence (AFI) project periods, the Office of Community Services is there to help. Grantees can contact the AFI Resource Center at any time to talk about their closeout or how to request an extension.