This report discusses the financial resilience strategies families used to manage gaps before benefits arrived, in addition to providing recommendations for how benefits can be better designed in the future to fit the financial lives of lower-income households.
Implementing an API standard for WIC Management Information Systems (MIS) would enable seamless integration of digital tools, enhancing service delivery and accessibility for participants and staff.
The Benefits Enrollment Field Guide looks at the landscape of America’s safety net benefits experience in 2023 and tracks the differences from our 2019 assessment based on expanded evaluation criteria. It also highlights successful paths to equitable, human-centered experiences. It examines online enrollment for Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), and WIC.
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.
A research brief explaining how work requirements in programs like Medicaid and SNAP reduce coverage, increase administrative costs, and push eligible people deeper into poverty without improving employment outcomes.
This document provides two Spanish language templates for SNAP agencies to use to communicate SNAP work requirement changes to participants who are newly subject to requirements.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
NYC's My File NYC and New Jersey's unemployment insurance system improvements demonstrate how successful digital innovations can be scaled across various programs, leveraging trust-building, open-source technology, and strategic partnerships.
This research used observational research with unemployment insurance (UI) claimants to identify pain points in the application process and inform customer experience improvements.
This document is the Spanish-language version of the Model WIC Online Application. It provides a full set of translated application questions and instructions for applying to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
This analysis outlines how the federal H.R. 1 legislation will reshape funding, eligibility, and service delivery across key state programs—including SNAP, Medicaid, higher education, and energy—quantifying projected fiscal and human impacts across multiple agencies
Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM)
This 8.5x11 service blueprint visually maps how Medicaid work requirements will function once implemented in 2027, detailing each policy step, system interaction, and client experience to help states identify administrative challenges and opportunities for human-centered redesign.
The Digital Service Network (DSN) spoke with three staff members from the New York State Executive Chamber—Gabe Paley, Tonya Webster, and, Luke Charde to learn more about the state's efforts to improve residents’ experiences accessing government programs.
