Benefits Program: Housing
-
Project Snapshot: ACCESS NYC & Benefits Screening API
The NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity) developed the NYC Benefits Platform, including ACCESS NYC, to help residents easily discover and check eligibility for over 80 social programs.
-
The Government Is Helping People Pay Rent, But Something’s Gone Wrong
This report describes the rent relief challenges during the pandemic, as well as a few possible fixes to help the next round of aid distribution.
-
Project Snapshot: MyFile NYC: Establishing Eligibility for Public Benefits Through Document Management Services
MyFile NYC is a digital platform that allows New York City residents experiencing homelessness to securely store, share, and manage vital documents with the Department of Homeless Services, streamlining the process of establishing eligibility for public benefits. This pilot, launched in 2022, aims to improve service access by reducing barriers like communication and documentation challenges, while allowing users control over their information.
-
Project Snapshot: Comprehensive Careers and Supports for Households (CCASH)â„¢
MITRE developed the Comprehensive Careers and Supports for Households (CCASHâ„¢) tool to help individuals understand and manage federal benefits and employment services, transitioning from a consumer-focused tool to a policy analytics system. By integrating data from sources like the U.S. Census and the Policy Rules Database, MITRE created a model that allows users to analyze and compare benefits eligibility across states, supporting evidence-based policymaking.
-
STH Resource Guide for Families and Students in Temporary Housing
A guide to navigating New York City’s public services. It was made with and for families of students living in temporary housing or experiencing homelessness and the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Students in Temporary Housing (STH).
-
Tackling the Time Tax: How the Federal Government Is Reducing Burdens to Accessing Critical Benefits and Services
This report summarizes progress made with agencies and members of the public to identify and reduce burdens that individuals, families, and small businesses face every day when interacting with government programs.
-
Screened & Scored in the District of Columbia
This report by EPIC investigates how automated decision-making (ADM) systems are used across Washington, D.C.’s public services and the resulting impacts on equity, privacy, and access to benefits.
-
Benefits Cliffs Coaching with the Atlanta Fed’s CLIFF Tools: Implementation Evaluation of the National Pilot
The Atlanta Fed’s CLIFF tools provide greater transparency to workers about potential public assistance losses when their earnings increase. We find three broad themes in organization-level implementation of the CLIFF tools: identifying the tar- get population of users; integrating the tool into existing operations; and integrating the tool into coaching sessions.
-
Generation NYC
NYC's official resource for teens and young adults, including: peer & professional support, family support, education, health care, housing, employment, and other resources to help young people thrive.
-
Project Snapshot: Trauma-Informed Homelessness Service Interactions and Strategy
The report highlights a project to improve the Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services' (OHS) prevention and intake processes by implementing trauma-informed practices. In collaboration with staff, participants, and trauma experts, the project aimed to reduce distress for those accessing services while equipping staff with tools and training to better manage trauma-related interactions, creating a more supportive and empathetic service environment.
-
Project Snapshot: Policy Rules Database
The Policy Rules Database (PRD), developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the National Center for Children in Poverty, consolidates complex rules for major U.S. federal and state benefit programs and tax policies into a standardized, easy-to-use format. This database allows researchers to model public assistance impacts, simulate policy changes, and analyze benefits cliffs across various household scenarios using common rules and language across different programming platforms.
-
How Do Children and Society Benefit from Public Investments in Children?
This Urban Institute report examines how public investments in children's health, education, and welfare yield significant short- and long-term benefits for both individuals and society.