StreetCred at Boston Medical Center (MA)

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.