Amplifying Parent Voice and Priorities in Systems and Policy Change: A Snapshot About LIFT

This snapshot is part of a larger study on family-serving organizations or direct service organizations participating in policy and systems change work. This snapshot focuses on LIFT, a nonprofit organization that offers one-on-one financial and goal-setting coaching for parents in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. In 2024, directed by the priorities of parents, LIFT decided to advocate for DC’s Child Tax Credit (CTC) which would return much needed cash to low-income families’ pockets. Leading up to a DC City Council hearing on the CTC, LIFT worked with its members, trained them, and connected them with decisionmakers to share their experiences. As a result of LIFT and its members’ work, the DC CTC not only received a hearing but was eventually written into the 2025 city budget.