Author: American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
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Policy 
Paving the Road to ACCESS: Early Insights from the Aligned Customer-Centered Ecosystem of Supports & Services (ACCESS) Initiative
In the early stages of the Aligned Customer-Centered Ecosystem of Supports & Services (ACCESS) Initiative, professionals in the health, human services, and labor sectors overwhelmingly expressed a deep desire for alignment to increase workforce capacity, streamline processes, and, above all, improve service delivery to those accessing services and programs. Through the ACCESS project, key collaborators have shared insights into current and future opportunities for alignment within their agencies, including potential enablers for and barriers to alignment activities.
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Diversity, Equity + Inclusion 
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina’s Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report
Through the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, Mecklenburg County, NC leveraged a Food Security Navigator model and data analysis to increase access to nutrition supports. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.
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Data 
Michigan’s Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, together with the Food Bank Council of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Education developed a comprehensive Food Insecurity Map and a closed-loop referral system for nutrition and economic supports. The goal of these initiatives was to leverage cross-sector data to inform policy decisions, streamline access to food assistance, and reduce administrative burden. This report documents lessons learned and outcomes of their project.
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Data 
New Mexico’s Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Support Impact Report
The New Mexico Human Services Department and Department of Health, as part of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, leveraged data sharing to align SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, and WIC. Their new online interface automates the referral process, making it easier for families to access the nutrition and economic supports they are eligible for.
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Data 
Kansas’ Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report
Kansas' Department for Children and Families and Department of Health and Environment partnered with Delivering Change as part of cohort 1 of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program to enhance SNAP and WIC access in seven key counties through innovative data sharing and targeted outreach to identify and enroll eligible individuals. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.
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Data 
Hawai’i’s Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report
As part of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, Hawai’i's Department of Human Services, Department of Health, and the Children’s Healthy Living Center at the University of Hawai’i have advanced interagency collaboration to deliver nutrition benefits more effectively to families with young children. This project streamlined data sharing between SNAP and WIC, enhancing cross-enrollment processes. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.
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Data 
New Jersey’s Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report
The New Jersey Department of Human Services and New Jersey Department of Health collaborated in their Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports project to enhance the enrollment and coordination of SNAP and WIC programs. By developing the NJ Nutritional Data Hub and an innovative webservice, the project identified and reached out to families receiving SNAP but not WIC, and vice versa, significantly streamlining the adjunctive eligibility process. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.
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Data 
Leveraging Cross-Program Data to Modernize Outreach & Enrollment in SNAP and Connected Benefits
This resource outlines three data sharing models tested during the first cohort of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports grant program
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Data 
CSNS Kansas: Forming Connections Between SNAP and WIC to Tackle Food Insecurity
Together, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) are working to design and build a sustainable process to improve cross-enrollment for families eligible for both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This report outlines how Kansas will integrate data matches between SNAP and WIC—as well as targeted outreach— within the ongoing business processes of the agencies to help streamline the experience of accessing nutrition supports for clients. These functions will contribute to the agencies’ shared goal of reducing rates of food insecurity in Kansas.
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CSNS New Mexico: Improving Online Infrastructure to Expand WIC’s Reach
This report outlines how the New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) and Department of Health (NMDOH) are working to maximize WIC participation among SNAP families through automated referrals and streamlined application and enrollment across agencies.
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Policy 
Aligning Systems to Advance Family and Community Well-Being: A Partnership Playbook for Community Action and Human Services Agencies
This playbook outlines the ways Community Action and human services agencies worked together to meet the pandemic challenge—what worked well, obstacles and difficulties, and lessons learned to inform the path forward, partnering to achieve a more equitable recovery. It also explains how communities have leveraged opportunities to partner on approaches that hold the promise of deeper, longer lasting changes for families—work shaped by families’ wishes and strengths and designed to advance both family-level and systems-level change.
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Data 
CSNS Hawaii: Building a Data-Driven Foundation to Help Hunger in Hawai’i
The Hawai‘i Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) and the Children’s Healthy Living Center of Excellence (CHL Center) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, is building foundational capacity to share and analyze administrative data across the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This groundwork will enable Hawai‘i to increase access to nutrition support programs, in alignment with Hawai‘i’s ‘Ohana Nui framework, which aims to dismantle intergenerational poverty.