Led by the Digital Benefits Network in partnership with Public Policy Lab, the Digital Doorways research project amplifies the lived experiences of beneficiaries to provide new insights into people’s experiences with digital identity processes and technology in public benefits. This report details the project’s findings, directly highlighting the voices of beneficiaries through videos and photos.
In this updated primer, the DBN describes how identity proofing and authentication show up in public benefits applications and outlines equity and security concerns raised by common identity proofing and authentication methods.
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.
This handbook provides local governments with practical guidelines, best practices, and ethical considerations for adopting and using AI tools, emphasizing transparency, human oversight, and risk management.
In this summary, the authors use WBNS data to provide updated estimates of chilling effects in 2023 among immigrant families (i.e., in which the respondent or a family member living with them was not born in the US).
This panel discussion from the Academy's 2025 Policy Summit explores the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and public benefits, examining how technological advancements are influencing policy decisions and the delivery of social services.
This report documents four experiments exploring if AI can be used to expedite the translation of SNAP and Medicaid policies into software code for implementation in public benefits eligibility and enrollment systems under a Rules as Code approach.
This toolkit outlines actionable changes for government practitioners looking to improve the accuracy and accessibility of the questions on their forms that collect information about a user’s gender.
This report highlights key findings from the Rules as Code Community of Practice, including practitioners' challenges with complex policies, their desire to share knowledge and resources, the need for increased training and support, and a collective interest in developing open standards and a shared code library.
A recent study challenges the common belief that income support programs like SNAP reduce employment, finding that for individuals with a work history, receiving SNAP benefits can actually increase long-term employment.
NYC's My File NYC and New Jersey's unemployment insurance system improvements demonstrate how successful digital innovations can be scaled across various programs, leveraging trust-building, open-source technology, and strategic partnerships.
