This toolkit is designed to help state and local WIC agencies leverage data from Medicaid and SNAP to measure enrollment gaps and increase enrollment using tools to plan, launch, and/or strengthen data matching and targeted outreach to eligible families who are not receiving WIC 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.
With the extension and expansion of P-EBT during COVID and the Food and Nutrition Service releasing new guidance, states have an opportunity to effectively deliver essential resources to children and families. Code for America built this toolkit of resources to share recommendations and promising practices around the implementation of P-EBT and to support state agencies and partners tasked with the development of P-EBT programs.
The purpose of this document is to outline possible technical approaches to supporting a cash assistance program. The report aims to both capture individual approaches as well as overarching insights taken from across the approaches taken by different organizations.
Code for America describes its work building GetCTC, an e-filer that allows people to file simplified tax returns as specified in the revenue procedure required for the Child Tax Credit.
Code for America’s Integrated Benefits Initiative has been working in partnership with the State of Colorado to demonstrate how user-centered approaches lead to measurably better delivery of safety net programs. This article describes their work with the state of Colorado in simplifying how clients report common life changes that can affect their eligibility.
This article describes how Code for America conducted qualitative research within its GetCalFresh application by asking families to tell them about their familial, housing, and financial situations. From client messages, they gathered information regarding how to make changes to their product to keep their work people-centered.
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.
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.
Code for America describes its work building the P-EBT online application and the consulting it provided to 10 states regarding implementing the program in a quick, effective, and human-centered way. Despite herculean efforts among human services and education agencies to get P-EBT off the ground, there were a few key technological, operational, and logistical barriers that consistently got in the way and hampered a smooth rollout of the program across the country.
Code for America explores the systems at play and the individuals experience of participants in WIC. By investigating overall quantitative trends in coverage, redemption, and retention rates, they use the data as a guide to build out a qualitative research plan that explains why such trends are occurring.
