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.
This case study highlights how states used data sharing and targeted outreach to boost WIC enrollment among Medicaid and SNAP participants, improving program reach and reducing disparities.
This report describes C-Stat 2.0, an updated version of the the Colorado Department of Human Services’ performance-based analysis strategy that allows them to better focus on and improve performance outcomes that enhance people’s lives.
Digitizing public benefits policy will make the biggest impact for administrators and Americans, but only if it happens at the highest level of government.
This playbook outlines the ways Community Action and human services agencies worked together to meet the pandemic challenge—what worked well, obstacles and difficulties, and lessons learned to inform the path forward, partnering to achieve a more equitable recovery. It also explains how communities have leveraged opportunities to partner on approaches that hold the promise of deeper, longer lasting changes for families—work shaped by families’ wishes and strengths and designed to advance both family-level and systems-level change.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
The NYC Benefits Screening API provides machine-readable calculations and criteria for benefits screening that power the ACCESS NYC screening questionnaire.
In December 2024, the Digital Benefits Network released an updated open dataset on authentication and identity proofing requirements across various public benefits applications to highlight best practices and areas for improvement in identity management.
This case study details the development of a document extraction prototype to streamline benefits application processing through automated data capture and classification.
This report examines how recent federal spending cuts and policy changes are shifting costs onto county governments, potentially burdening local budgets and services.
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.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
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.
