Drawing on interviews and convenings with experts and practitioners from the field of public interest technology, this report contains recommendations across five core priority action areas for cross-sector innovation and collaboration to improve state benefits systems through procurement practices.
U.S. Digital Response partnered with the Department of Labor to design a human-centered, low-code solution for efficient retroactive unemployment benefit determination.
Though the rhetoric of “waste, fraud, and abuse” is ubiquitous when it comes to welfare programs, low-income households receive little relief from benefits programs. Most efforts to make public benefits systems more “efficient” actually just waste time and money in practice. They instead serve to stigmatize low-income families and chip away at the little assistance that remains available to them.
This award documentation from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) explains how agencies in Ohio used automation to support administration of public benefits programs.
National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)
This guide highlights best practices in benefits access, showcasing how Michigan, New York City, and San José improve accessibility through plain language, multilingual translation, resident co-creation, and technology tools.
This report evaluates state government websites for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), providing links to each state's site and assessing the information and services they offer.
The Unemployment Insurance Equitable Access Toolkit contains common equity recommendations, promising practices, and insights, represented visually as a different floor of an agency office building, compiled in one interactive document.
Article describing the “time tax,” the costs to people applying or benefits in terms of spending substantial amounts of time navigating user-unfriendly interfaces. The article describes the necessity of simplifying safety-net programs and cross-coordinating across various social service programs.
We continued Rules as Code Demo Day with Daniel Singer and Preston Cabe from Benefits Data Trust. Benefits Data Trust provides benefit outreach and application assistance services in seven states. Using Benefits Launch, their in-house interview and rules engine, they support two hundred contact center employees as they screen and apply thousands of clients each year. They also offer a self-service screener, Benefits Launch Express. Additionally, they offer an eligibility API to integrate with other services.
Drawing on the Beeck Center’s research on government, nonprofit, academic, and private sector organizations that are working to improve access to safety net benefits, this report highlights best practices for creating accessible benefits content.
This toolkit provides guidance and resources for state agencies to effectively implement the USDA’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program, which helps low-income families buy food during the summer months when school meals are unavailable.
