Benefits Journey: Eligibility
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Applicant Experience Journey Map
Applicants to federal aid programs face numerous barriers in accessing benefits they are eligible for. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare conducted an extensive qualitative user research study to better understand applicant experience in enrolling in public assistance programs. Based on the results, the study emphasizes the need for simplified, streamlined and less burdensome application processes.
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ACCESS NYC
ACCESS NYC is an online public screening tool that residents can use to determine the City, State, and Federal health and human service benefit programs for which they are eligible.
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Ex Parte Options and Recommendations for the non-MAGI Medicaid Population to Reduce Churn
As a part of Benefit Data Trust (BDT)’s Medicaid Churn Learning Collaborative, BDT has created a memo describing policy options and state examples for Medicaid administrators to reduce churn for non-MAGI Medicaid enrollees when the federal public health emergency ends.
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Rules as Code Demo Day | Demo 3: Mes Aides | Thomas Guillet
The first half of Rules as Code Demo Day was wrapped up with Thomas Guillet who has contributed to Open Fisca France and beta.gouv. He demoed the code for Mes Aides—or My Benefits—which is France’s social benefit simulator that leverages open source rule models for over 600 benefits while keeping the displayed complexity to its minimum.
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Overcoming Barriers: Helping Self-Employed Applicants Access Their Full CalFresh Benefit
This article discusses how Code for America enhanced the CalFresh application process to better assist self-employed individuals in accessing their full benefits by clarifying self-employment definitions and simplifying income verification.
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Poverty Results from Structural Barriers, Not Personal Choices. Safety Net Programs Should Reflect That Fact
This Urban Institute article argues that poverty is driven by structural barriers rather than individual choices and advocates for safety net programs that address systemic inequities.
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Rules as Code Community of Practice
The DBN’s Rules as Code Community of Practice (RaC CoP) creates a shared learning and exchange space for people working on public benefits eligibility and enrollment systems — and specifically people tackling the issue of how policy becomes software code. The RaC CoP brings together cross-sector experts who share approaches, examples, and challenges. Participants are from state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal government agencies, nonprofit organizations, academia, and private sector companies. We host recurring roundtable conversations and an email group for asynchronous updates, insights, and assistance.
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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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GetCalFresh Demo Website
Demo website for GetCalFresh—Code for America and the state of California’s efforts to simplify the SNAP application process.
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Elevating Empathy Over Bureaucracy With AI Agents: A FormFest 2025 Profile
This FormFest profile highlights Riverside County’s pilot of AI-powered interviews that streamline benefit applications, reducing bureaucratic burden on families in crisis while freeing caseworkers to focus on human connection.
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Three Principles for Implementing Work Requirements in a Human-Centered Way
This article offers three human‑centered strategies to help state agencies implement expanded work reporting requirements in SNAP and Medicaid under H.R. 1 with minimal burden on clients and staff.
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Human Services Work Requirement Crosswalk as Impacted by the Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA/H.R. 1)
This crosswalk compares provisions in H.R. 1 with existing human services policies, focusing on how proposed federal work requirements could affect programs like TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid.