StreetCred at Boston Medical Center

Financial strain, debt, and poor credit is often associated with poorer health outcomes. As the United States is now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment rates have skyrocketed, pushing many families into poverty and increasing overall financial stress. Poverty has been linked to sub-optimal maternal and child health outcomes. Boston Medical Center (BMC) provides the full continuum of care to Boston’s low-income and minority populations. The StreetCred program, embedded within the BMC Department of Pediatrics, provides clinic-based tax preparation, enrollment in college savings accounts, and employment opportunity services for families of our pediatric patients. StreetCred focuses on increasing access to policies like tax credits as a way to advance racial economic equity and mitigate the current effects of financial instability on families’ and children’s well-being.