We are especially proud to sponsor this year’s summer grant recipient Lukas Burger. In his application that received high praise from alumni, Lukas described an important part of his journey at Yale. You can read his application here.
Here’s the link to CreditClaim.
Lukas, in his own words:
This project began with the question of how I could make reentry into society an easier process for incarcerated people. One of the most important factors in this transition is how quickly people can find a job, so I decided to target employment. After reading the relevant resources, speaking to reentry agencies, and employers who hire people with criminal records, I found that there is a federal tax credit which can be redeemed for hiring people convicted of felonies. The credit is called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and applies to people with felonies, veterans, and a number of target groups. Unfortunately, it is underutilized and popularized.
This tax credit proved to be an exciting opportunity, because it provides a financial incentive for hiring formerly incarcerated people. Technology could be used to streamline the process of applying for the tax credit and making it more available to people across the US. Following this line of thinking, I decided to build a web app, in which an employer could enter their information in a simple web form and invite their applicants to enter their information and sign the form. At the end of this process the employer can either print out and file the forms themselves or have the form filed programmatically.
Through building this web app, I honed my frontend, backend, and dev-op skills. My tech stack consisted of a ReactJS frontend powered by NextJS, an Express backend with a MongoDB database hosted on Heroku. I leveraged the SignEasy API to handle signatures in a legally binding way. These technologies culminated in a web app able to handle lots of users and pump out Work Opportunity Tax Credit forms ready to be sent out.
I want to thank the Keidel family for the chance to work on this project over the summer. It was a great learning experience and an amazing opportunity.
