New London — A local push to sign up eligible people for the child tax credit is in its last days, as the deadline to apply for the credit is July 31.

With about 300,000 eligible families in the state — and as of Wednesday, slightly more than 200,000 people have signed up — politicians are concerned news of the credit isn’t reaching those who need it.

“I just got off the phone with the Department of Revenue Services; I’ve been trying to see what else they’re doing because I’m finding out we have a lot of people who are not informed ...,” state Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London, said Wednesday.

Connecticut families could apply for the tax credit — worth $250 per child and capped at $750 per household — starting June 1. State residents who meet income requirements and can claim one or more dependent children younger than 18 years old are eligible for the rebate.

Applicants must make $100,000 or less if single or married and filing separately, $169,000 or less if head of household and $200,000 or less if married and filing jointly. The credit accounts for about $150 million in tax relief. People can apply online by going to portal.ct.gov/DRS and clicking on "2022 CT Child Tax Rebate."

Nolan said he’s talked to hundreds of people from throughout the state and was concerned whether the information is reaching everybody and “especially our non-English-speaking residents.”

“We’ll work with you, bring your tax returns, we’ll help you fill the stuff out,” said Deb Monahan, executive director and CEO of the regional nonprofit social services agency Thames Valley Council for Community Action. “All of our programs have been contacting the families that we serve who we know would qualify for the child tax credit. Bring your tax returns in, we can sit with you, we can complete these applications. We’re making ourselves available for anyone who needs assistance so that they can take advantage of this because the deadline is rapidly approaching.”

Despite an outreach campaign from state Democratic leaders that included a tour of cities and a mass mailing of postcards to eligible households, Nolan and Monahan are concerned that many people who need to know about the tax credit don’t.

“I’m trying to call the people in charge of our housing to make sure they’re going down to Huntington Towers or the Mohican to make sure that’s a discussion,” Nolan said. “At 127 Hempstead it’s the same thing — people have heard about it, but they’re saying, ’It’s OK, I’ll get it when it comes.’ I say, ‘No you have to literally sign up for it,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh!’”

Monahan also spoke to why she feels many families haven’t signed up for the credit, saying she thinks people are busy.

“We’ve tried to reach out with so many of our programs, word of mouth ... Maybe people think, ‘I won’t do it now, I’ll take care of it later,’” she said. “They might not understand this is a one-time opportunity right now ... People also think, ‘I’ll do that with my taxes.’ Either they aren’t aware of it, or they think it’s going to be available longer than it really is.”

The TVCCA and Nolan hosted a workshop to help people apply for the tax credit Thursday at the New London Public Library.

While Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont has thrown his support behind the tax credit and touted it as part of a 2023 budget adjustment that includes about $600 million in tax cuts, his Republican opponent Bob Stefanowski criticized the rollout of the tax credit.

“He went about it the wrong way ... He has all the data, he knows what people make, he knows how many dependents they have, he knows their address,” Stefanowski told The Day on Tuesday. “Why wouldn’t we just be giving those credits to people who qualify for it?”

“There are only a couple of days left to apply for this state tax rebate, and I strongly urge all families who claimed at least one dependent child on their federal income tax return to submit an application as soon as possible,” Lamont said in a statement Thursday.

s.spinella@theday.com