People who don’t have to file taxes need to sign up online with the federal government to get their enhanced child tax credit starting next month.

If you have children, you’re probably about to get an extra monthly check from the federal government. The enhanced child tax credit from President Joe Biden’s federal stimulus kicks in next month.

It can be worth up to $300 per month in extra cash per child.

But low-income families who need the money most may miss out because the government doesn’t know they’re there. Advocates are scrambling to get the word out.

The new child tax credit – and why families with the lowest incomes won’t get it automatically – isn’t easy to wrap your head around.

“It’s been really hard,” says Rebecca Bammert, director of case management at North Country Ministry in Warren County. “I actually spent two days just looking at it trying to figure it out so I could explain it.”

The child tax credit’s been around since the 1990s. But under the American Recovery Plan, passed by the Democratic Congress and signed into law by President Biden, the tax credit is bigger now, and more families are eligible.

In particular, families whose income was so low they didn’t have to file taxes can now claim it. But they have to sign up with the Internal Revenue Service. Hundreds or thousands of families in the North Country could be affected.

So when Bammert advises her clients, she asks if they got a pandemic stimulus check, another benefit delivered by the IRS. If they didn’t get one, she’ll advise them to do so, and then they’ll be eligible to get the new child tax credit.

“And they’ll say, ‘what’s that?’ And I say, ‘it’s like 300 dollars a month.’ And they go, ‘OK!'”

North Country Ministry and other not-for-profits have been reaching out to people on low incomes, including young families, people with disabilities, the elderly, so they sign up in time to get the checks.

But Bammert says it’s not easy. “There is a distrust in the North Country of the government. I do find there are a lot of people who are like, I don’t want the government to know my business,” she says.

There are also people with limited internet access, or problems reading and writing. So Bammert says direct reach out on how the child tax credit can make a difference in people’s lives is key.

“‘You’ve been having a lot of troubles with your truck. And if you have transportation, you can get to work. This extra funding can make a big change for your family.’ Then, they’re a little more open to going through those steps.”

The new child tax credit kicks in in mid-July and comes monthly until the end of the year. Some lawmakers want to make it permanent. There’s a link online to make sure you’re signed up. Advocates are pushing hard to help people take that step.