This brief highlights the complex journey that older adults experience when applying for and enrolling in SNAP, including the major barriers and solutions that improve access along the way.
This overview journey map of street homeless outreach reflects the complexity of the service journey from first contact on street to placement in permanent housing.
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.
Alluma is a nonprofit that provides digital solutions to simplify eligibility screening and enrollment for social benefit programs, supporting cross-benefit access in 45 counties and two states. Their One-x-Connection product suite streamlines Medicaid and SNAP applications using a business rules engine, with a focus on human-centered design and anonymous, simplified eligibility checks, having helped screen over 10 million individuals and submitted over 67 million applications.
While millions of workers have gained access to PFML, the lack of uniformity in mandatory PFML programs created a growing patchwork of state laws, differing on nearly 30 policy components across four key areas: substantive benefits, financing, eligibility, and administrative requirements.
This report examines the extent to which proposed options included in the Student Food Security Act, Let Students Eat proposal, and the EATS Act impact specific demographics of students, either by increasing access or by streamlining the process for qualifying students to demonstrate eligibility.
Michigan's UIA director, Julia Dale, is leading the agency through transition by prioritizing lived experience, hope, grit, and values. Virginia's SNAP Program Manager, Michele Thomas, highlighted the success of Sun Bucks, a summer EBT child nutrition program that fed over 700,000 kids in its first year.
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 presentation was recorded at the Texting and Notification Working Group meeting coordinated in part by the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program on February 28, 2024.
This report details the development and deployment of My File, an open-source digital document management tool designed to help individuals securely store and share documents needed to access public services.
An outline of the opportunities for modernizing SNAP to better meet participant needs by streamlining enrollment, improving digital access, and enhancing coordination with other safety net services.
In response to COVID-19, the Workers Lab and Steady developed the "Income Passport" to streamline gig workers' unemployment benefit applications by pulling income data directly from gig platforms and financial accounts. This tool reduced manual verification time, helped prevent fraud, and improved workers' access to full benefits, with successful tests in Alabama and Louisiana demonstrating significant time savings and improved service delivery.
