In recent years, there has been a deliberate shift to move our public systems that support child and family well-being upstream. These efforts reflect the growing consensus that true and lasting progress toward a nation where everyone can thrive requires we get to the root of the barriers that keep people and communities from achieving their potential. A foundational building block of this effort is the work happening to advance prevention strategies within child welfare agencies. In this brief, we focus on the challenges and opportunities that the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First) offers to accelerate the shift toward a prevention-oriented child well-being system.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
This bill authorizes the U.S. Digital Service to make a grant to a state, Indian tribe, or local government to establish or support a team of relevant experts dedicated to modernizing the delivery of government services to the public through information technology. A state, tribe, or local government may receive up to two such grants.
In this report, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation examines benefits cliffs – the loss of eligibility for public safety-net programs and benefits they provide as income rises above eligibility limits.
The article analyzes the impacts of Arkansas's Medicaid work requirements, finding that while coverage losses were reversed after the policy was halted, it did not improve employment and led to negative consequences such as increased medical debt and delayed care.
This report explores innovative solutions and insights from CMS Innovation Center's Hackathon series to address the unique healthcare challenges faced by rural, Tribal, and geographically isolated communities.
A research brief explaining how work requirements in programs like Medicaid and SNAP reduce coverage, increase administrative costs, and push eligible people deeper into poverty without improving employment outcomes.
This report highlights the agency's role in transforming federal digital services through human-centered design, agile technology, and cross-agency collaboration.
A report examining how risk assessment tools are used to improve payment accuracy in nutrition assistance programs and identifying effective practices for their design and implementation.
This article provides an overview of the Medicaid Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) program and examines how the 2025 budget reconciliation law introduces new federal funding reductions for states that exceed specific eligibility error thresholds.
Handbook by 18F designed for executives, budget specialists, legislators, and other “non-technical” decision-makers who fund or oversee state government technology projects that receive federal funding and implement the necessary technology to support federal programs. It aids in setting projects up for success by asking the right questions, identifying the right outcomes, and equally important, empowering decision-makers with a basic knowledge of the fundamental principles of modern software design.
Github repository for Policy Rules Database, which encodes up-to-date rules and provisions for all major federal and state public assistance programs, taxes, and tax credits.
