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Data Eligible Low-Income Children Missing Out on Crucial WIC Benefits During Pandemic
The share of WIC-eligible families participating in the program has declined, though the number of individuals eligible for WIC has likely grown substantially. By working together, state WIC, Medicaid, and SNAP leaders can use data to assess the extent to which WIC is reaching eligible families and enroll more of them.
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Digitizing Policy + Rules as Code Exploring a new way to make eligibility rules easier to implement
Programs like Medicaid and SNAP are managed at the federal level, administered at the state level, and often executed at the local level. Because there are so many in-betweens, there is significant duplicated effort, demonstrating the need to simplify eligibility rules to facilitate easier implementation.
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Human-Centered Design Mapping the Applicant Experience of Benefit Enrollment
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.
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ACCESS NYC Patterns
ACCESS NYC aims to increase the accessibility and convenience of discovering and enrolling in government benefits. These patterns support this work by defining the UI and behavior that New Yorkers experience as they use the site.
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Human-Centered Design Cell Phones as a Safety Net Lifeline
Eligible people struggle to maintain their case status for critical safety net services, often due to administrative hurdles and poor communication. Code for America piloted text message reminders to support Louisianans, which helped clients avoid costly churn. Text messages are an underrated, efficient solution for human service agencies to meet client expectations and improve case outcomes.
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Digitizing Policy + Rules as Code Rules as Code – Test, Learn, Repeat
The New South Wales government describes its efforts to connect with other Australian jurisdictions and international colleagues in its move towards making machine-consumable legislation and policy.
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Communications Accessible Benefits Information: Reducing Administrative Burden and Improving Equitable Access through Clear Communication About Safety Net Benefits
Complex benefits information creates unnecessary barriers for people trying to understand what’s relevant to them so that they can take immediate action to receive the benefits they need. As part of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation’s series on documenting best practices in social safety net benefits access and delivery, this guide to Accessible Benefits Information offers case studies that show how groups in Michigan, New York City, and San José use plain language, multilingual translation, co-creation and testing with residents, and technology tools to provide better information about benefits.
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Digitizing Policy + Rules as Code NYC Benefits Platform: Eligibility Screening API
The NYC Benefits Screening API provides machine-readable calculations and criteria for benefits screening that power the ACCESS NYC screening questionnaire.
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Human-Centered Design 18F Methods: Journey Mapping
18F describes journey mapping: a visualization of the major interactions shaping a user’s experience of a product or service. This allows design teams to view a service through the perspective of the user and incorporate their learnings throughout the development process.
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Human-Centered Design Designing for Connection: 5 Key Principles for IES Solutions That Put People First
Alluma outlines five key principles for a people-first approach to eligibility and enrollment systems.
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Digitizing Policy + Rules as Code Benefit Eligibility Rules as Code: Reducing the Gap Between Policy and Service Delivery for the Safety Net
The complexity of eligibility rules creates a burden for state and local government agencies, delivery organizations, and policymakers who interpret and implement policy to deliver benefits in their jurisdictions. This report explores how the U.S. federal government could improve the efficiency and equity of benefits delivery to Americans in need by applying new approaches to eligibility requirements for core safety net programs, and using a “rules as code” approach to improve digitization of legislation and policy documents.
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ACCESS NYC Github
Github page with ACCESS NYC’s code for benefits outreach and eligibility.