This course is designed to help public professionals accelerate the process of finding and implementing urgently-needed evidence-based solutions to public problems.
This guide highlights approachable ideas for state and local public benefits agencies to improve applications, renewals, and correspondence. As outlined in this resource, even small improvements can be transformative for residents and caseworkers alike.
In this brief, they present a definition of HCD that is applicable to the context of human services delivery, differentiate HCD from similar design and problem-solving approaches, and describe how HCD is being used in human services.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
This article explores how AI and Rules as Code are turning law into automated systems, including how governance focused on transparency, explainability, and risk management can ensure these digital legal frameworks stay reliable and fair.
An updated guide for public sector and civic data users to embed racial equity and community voice throughout the data life cycle—from planning to dissemination.
This case study details the development of a document extraction prototype to streamline benefits application processing through automated data capture and classification.
The article explains that for government agencies to successfully use Agile software development with vendors, they need to make changes in staffing—specifically by creating roles like a product owner and technical lead within the agency.
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.
Through the ACCESS project, key collaborators have shared insights into current and future opportunities for alignment within their agencies, including potential enablers for and barriers to alignment activities.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Minnesota is a good example of an organization that started small in its drive to integrate benefits programs. For instance, its recent statewide rollout of its online integrated benefit application website, MNbenefits.mn.gov, started as a pilot in 2020 with Code for America. The pilot encompassed two counties including Hennepin County, where Minneapolis is located. The pilot later expanded to four counties, then 16 and a tribal nation. The final roll out, which took 12 months to implement, included the state’s 87 counties and three tribal nations.
