Tax Preparation Pilot

Boston Medical Center (BMC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Maternal Distress; Financial Stress

Treatments: Other: Navigator assisted tax preparation services at BMC; Other: Referral for tax preparation services

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04135469

H-38575

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study to understand what percentage of families in the pediatric clinic at Boston Medical Center (BMC) currently file taxes and use free tax preparation and would accept and use referral to a free tax preparation service. The investigators specifically want to understand which of two methods of connecting to free tax preparation (referral versus navigated connection) is more effective. Also studied will be the feasibility of using surveys on financial wellness and other health indicators to track participants' health.

These pilot findings will be used to design a larger study that aims to assess whether integrating free tax preparation services into a pediatric clinic can increase tax filing rates and, as a result, the amount of money families receive in tax refunds. Additionally, the investigators hope to understand whether receiving this service impacts parental stress as well as how parents and babies are using the healthcare system.

Enrollment: 69 patients

Sex: All

Ages: Under 5 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Guardian of a child 0-5 years
• English, Spanish, or Haitian-Creole -speaking
• Child is a Boston Medical Center pediatric primary care patient

Exclusion criteria

• Guardian not present at time of clinic visit
• Have no taxable income for the calendar year
• Not using BMC for pediatric primary care
• Have already filed their taxes for 2020

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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69 participants in 2 patient groups

Referral for tax preparation

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will be given contact information on financial services, including all the free tax preparation services in the city, including Boston Medical Center.

Treatment:

Other: Referral for tax preparation services

BMC tax preparation

Experimental group

Description:

A navigator will help the participants with using free tax preparation services located at Boston Medical Center or a service located elsewhere in the city.

Treatment:

Other: Referral for tax preparation services

Other: Navigator assisted tax preparation services at BMC