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Human-Centered Design Tackling the Time Tax: How the Federal Government Is Reducing Burdens to Accessing Critical Benefits and Services: 2024 Edition
OIRA publishes an annual progress report on the burden reduction initiative, summarizing initiatives across all of government, and providing in-depth case studies of various burden reduction efforts, including their impact on individuals, families, and small businesses.
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Policy Paving the Road to ACCESS: Early Insights from the Aligned Customer-Centered Ecosystem of Supports & Services (ACCESS) Initiative
In the early stages of the Aligned Customer-Centered Ecosystem of Supports & Services (ACCESS) Initiative, professionals in the health, human services, and labor sectors overwhelmingly expressed a deep desire for alignment to increase workforce capacity, streamline processes, and, above all, improve service delivery to those accessing services and programs. 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.
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Policy Building and Sustaining Data Analytics Capacity: The TANF Data Collaborative Pilot Initiative Final Report
In 2017, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began the TANF Data Innovation (TDI) project. Its goal was to expand TANF agencies use of TANF administrative and employment data to improve program services and outcomes for families with low incomes. This report focuses on the TANF Data Collaborative (TDC) component of the TDI. TDC provided technical assistance (TA) and learning opportunities to two groups: all TANF agencies serving families on or eligible for TANF, and a select few agencies chosen for the TDC Pilot Initiative.
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Policy Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence-Based Policymaking
This Blueprint is a whole-of-government effort that aims to provide a resource to assist federal decisionmakers in leveraging social and behavioral science to improve policy and program design and delivery.
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Policy SNAP Keys to Application Processing Timeliness
This document provides guidance on strategies to achieve and maintain acceptable timeliness rates for SNAP benefit approval and delivery.
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Policy Measuring psychological burdens in access to U.S. social programs
This report contributes to the quantitative measurement of psychological burdens by examining a case study of a single social program: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by considering new quantitative measures of the psychological burdens faced by SNAP applicants.
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Policy Creating a More Dynamic Unemployment Insurance System: The Case for Eliminating Experience Rating
Policy analysis and recommendations for eliminating the experience rating system in UI.
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Data Transforming Administrative Data into a Resource for Evidence Building
This brief describes TDI’s efforts to transform federal TANF and employment data into an integrated resource for program management and evidence building. This challenging project required the resolution of multiple technical, legal, and data security issues. Lessons learned may be useful for audiences interested in unlocking the potential of administrative data, including members of federal and state agencies, researchers, and advocates of evidence-informed policymaking.
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Policy Building Resilience: A Plan for Transforming Unemployment Insurance
The GAO placed the UI system on its High Risk List in June 2022, leading the DOL to develop a transformation plan detailing activities and strategies for building a resilient UI system capable of responding effectively to future economic challenges.
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Data SNAP Community Characteristics Dashboard Congressional District Explorer
This exploratory tool was built to share information about SNAP participation, income, and household demographics within each congressional district. Users may select their own district, along with any other district of interest, and can compare two districts at once within a given state.
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Policy Building a Stronger Foundation for American Families: Options for Child Tax Credit Reform
Our existing maze of family tax benefits — including the CTC, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), and head of household (HoH) filing status — has several structural deficiencies that make overhauling the system a prerequisite for any effort to boost support for families with children. The report offers several options for expanding and streamlining family tax benefits to address these issues.
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Policy Evaluation of the USDA Summer EBT Demonstrations: Lessons Learned From More Than a Decade of Research
FNS conducted evaluations of multiple pilot programs to strengthen access to food during the summer when school is out of session. Evaluations found that Summer EBT reduces childhood food insecurity by a significant amount, including the most severe form of food insecurity; some eligible households do not redeem some or any of their benefits; and parents and caregivers have positive opinions of Summer EBT.