Code for America offers government agencies a general overview of getting started with implementing text messaging services for clear, responsive communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
This data playbook created by the California Health and Human services agencies discusses five plays designed to help Departments utilize data to inform program and policy development.
California Health and Human Services Agency (Cal HHS)
Code for America describes its work building the P-EBT online application and the consulting it provided to 10 states regarding implementing the program in a quick, effective, and human-centered way. Despite herculean efforts among human services and education agencies to get P-EBT off the ground, there were a few key technological, operational, and logistical barriers that consistently got in the way and hampered a smooth rollout of the program across the country.
Dana Chisnell describes work leading a team of researchers to interview people from across the US on their experiences applying for unemployment and other benefits during the pandemic.
Propel describes how its mobile app outreach campaign helped millions of Medicaid enrollees navigate renewal during the post-pandemic “unwinding” by driving action through notifications, messaging, and in-app tools.
An online hub that connects WIC agencies and their partners through a national Data Matching Community of Practice, offering quarterly virtual convenings to share best practices, case studies, and peer learning on strategies to improve WIC outreach and enrollment.
Code for America helped expand GetCalFresh (a service that guides Californians through the SNAP application process and helps government deliver food assistance to people in need) from a small pilot into a statewide service. They also recently concluded a similar pilot in Michigan along with Civilla and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The New Mexico Human Services Department and Department of Health, as part of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, leveraged data sharing to align SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, and WIC.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
