Benefits Journey: Outreach + Awareness
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Project ELSA
Easy Localization System Access (ELSA) is an Open Source continuous translation and localization system that ensures all content is automatically and continuously kept up to date in the 11 languages most commonly spoken by New Yorkers, using a combination of Neural Machine Translation (NMT) and human Localization vendors.
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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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Making Our Systems See People
Code for America CEO introduces the Safety Net Innovation Lab in a TED Talk, their initiative to work with state governments to reimagine and rebuild delivery of accessible and equitable benefits. This article also includes the video of Renteria’s talk and a transcript.
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Ten Ways Customer Experience Can Improve Equitable Access and System Integrity for Unemployment Insurance
This publication shares ten ways states can improve start-to-finish customer experience for unemployment insurance claimants. These approaches can increase overall equitable access and system integrity for UI administration.
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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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Balancing at the Edge of the Cliff: Experiences and Calculations of Benefit Cliffs, Plateaus, and Trade-Offs
This Urban Institute report explores the impact of benefit cliffs, plateaus, and trade-offs on families receiving public assistance, examining how changes in earnings affect access to essential benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and housing subsidies.
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Want to design policies that really work? Test them on the users who need them first
A step-by-step guide to how New Jersey used plain language and user-testing to improve the state’s paid family and medical leave program
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Data Coordination at SNAP and Medicaid Agencies: A National Landscape Analysis
Benefits Data Trust (BDT), in collaboration with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), conducted a nationwide analysis of how states coordinate across Medicaid and SNAP programs to streamline access to benefits.
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Does Administrative Burden Influence Public Support for Government Programs? Evidence from a Survey Experiment
This study examines how providing information about administrative burden influences public support for government programs like TANF, showing that awareness of these burdens can increase favorability toward the programs and their recipients.
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How Louisiana Rapidly Scaled Pilot Solutions to Combat COVID-19
In response to exploding demand for social services during COVID-19, the Louisiana Department of children and Family services implemented text-message alerts and reminders for the state’s entire SNAP caseload, launched a text-based public campaign to help people understand and apply for SNAP benefits, and hired SNAP recipients to provide client feedback on communications and policy decisions.
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Helping More Than 1.3 Million Schoolchildren Access Pandemic EBT—in Just One Week
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the federal government authorized a new emergency program, Pandemic EBT (P-EBT), to replace school meals with money for groceries while schools are closed. Code for America describes its efforts to launch an accessible, online P-EBT application under an accelerated timeline due to to immense demand caused by the pandemic.
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Implementing Paid Family and Medical Leave: Lessons for State Administrators from Research in New Jersey
The "Implementing Paid Family and Medical Leave" report examines New Jersey's experience with paid leave programs, offering insights and recommendations for effective policy design and implementation.