Author: Eric Giannella
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Automation + AI 
Popular Support for Balancing Equity and Efficiency in Resource Allocation
This article explores how online advertising algorithms bias between Spanish and English speakers for SNAP in California.
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Human-Centered Design 
What Happens When People Feel Ownership Over Their Benefits
An interview with Wendy De La Rosa, assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. De La Rosa discusses how the concept of “psychological ownership” can encourage people to take up benefits they are eligible for.
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Human-Centered Design 
Overcoming Barriers: Helping Self-Employed Applicants Access Their Full CalFresh Benefit
People who are self-employed can receive a higher CalFresh benefit amount because of a 40% automatic deduction for expenses. Yet, many who would be considered self-employed for the purpose of CalFresh don’t think of themselves as self-employed. Code for America researched how to help CalFresh applicants correctly identify themselves as self-employed. This article describes their various experiments and efforts to help people understand their status as self-employed.
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Human-Centered Design 
Overcoming Barriers: Finding Better Ways to Ask GetCalFresh Applicants About Income
County workers typically spend most of their time trying to get income information right during eligibility interviews. This article provides several recommendations for asking about income, accounting for cognitive biases, under-reporting, and complexities in reporting income.
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Human-Centered Design 
Why Californians need food assistance: The stories behind the numbers
Californians who receive food assistance come from all backgrounds, but many share a similar story: they were barely getting by financially when they were tipped into crisis by an unexpected expense or loss of income. This site shares their stories.
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Moving Child Care Assistance Applications Online Means More Families Get the Help They Deserve
Hennepin County, Minnesota, partnered with Code for America to develop a six-month long experiment where participants were given the option to submit the normal paper-based application or opt into an online application.