I received money last year for my dependents and this year im not. are things changed now?

When you claim dependents, your refund is based on a number of variables.  First, you must have income.  If you had more taxes withheld than your tax liability, some of the money withheld from your pay will be refunded to you. Your tax lability can be reduced by the non-refundable Child Tax Credit. (The amount of the Child Tax Credit does not come to you as a refund) In order to qualify for any of the refundable credits your income must have been earned by working.  You might qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Credit. If you qualify for either of these, TT automatically calculates and adds them to your refund.  The amount you receive is based on how much you earned and how many children you are claiming . You do not always get “thousands”  back in your refund. If you are receiving Earned Income Credit, you can look at a table showing how your EIC was calculated by going to page 30 of the IRS publication 596. 

www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf