Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services

Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services consisted of two main features. First, like the Paycheck Plus intervention described elsewhere on this site, it allowed eligible individuals to receive up to $2,000 in income-based tax credits, including the federal EITC and the supplemental credit from the Paycheck Plus program. In the 2017 tax year, a single adult worker would lose eligibility for the federal EITC after his or her earnings reached about $15,000, and the maximum credit was $510. Paycheck Plus increased the maximum credit for single adults to $2,000 and expanded eligibility so that individuals earning up to $29,900 qualified for some benefit. Second, the program also offered participants information about, and referrals to, employment services in their area. The program provided this information through mailings and in-person meetings. Program staff would commonly refer participants to local American Job Centers and would make follow-up calls to encourage participants to visit job centers. The process for applying for the Paycheck Plus supplemental credit was similar to applying for the federal EITC. The program provided referrals over several months in each tax year, and participants could receive the Paycheck Plus credit for up to three years.

Individuals were eligible for Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services if they were not married, had a valid Social Security number, were not planning to claim a dependent child on their taxes in the subsequent year, were between the ages of 21 and 64, had earned less than $10,000 in the prior year, and were not receiving or applying for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance. Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services was implemented in New York City, NY, and Atlanta, GA. The evaluation of Paycheck Plus: Employment Referral Services also studied Paycheck Plus, a variation of the intervention that did not include employment services information and referrals.