PolicyEngine is a nonprofit that provides a free, open-source web app enabling users in the US and UK to estimate taxes and benefits at the household level, while also simulating the effects of policy changes. By combining tax and benefits data, PolicyEngine helps individuals and policymakers better understand the impacts of existing policies and proposed reforms, using microsimulation models built from legislation and enhanced survey data.
Benefits Data Trust (BDT) is a nonprofit that connects people to public benefits through a streamlined, phone-based application system called Benefits Launch, which reduces redundant questions and speeds up the process for multiple programs. BDT's approach, supported by a custom-built rules engine, has facilitated over 800,000 benefit enrollments, helping secure over $9 billion for eligible households across seven states.
Together, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) are working to design and build a sustainable process to improve cross-enrollment for families eligible for both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This report outlines how Kansas will integrate data matches between SNAP and WIC—as well as targeted outreach— within the ongoing business processes of the agencies to help streamline the experience of accessing nutrition supports for clients. These functions will contribute to the agencies’ shared goal of reducing rates of food insecurity in Kansas.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
The Hawai‘i Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) and the Children’s Healthy Living Center of Excellence (CHL Center) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, is building foundational capacity to share and analyze administrative data across the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This groundwork will enable Hawai‘i to increase access to nutrition support programs, in alignment with Hawai‘i’s ‘Ohana Nui framework, which aims to dismantle intergenerational poverty.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
The report highlights that many eligible low-income children are not receiving WIC benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, with participation rates varying significantly by state and lagging behind programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
This study evaluates the use of RPA technology by three states to automate SNAP administration, focusing on repetitive tasks previously performed manually.
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the available low-code/no-code tools will help you pick the right tool for the job and balance their sometimes significant weaknesses with their tremendously valuable strengths.
Professor Don Moynihan discusses how administrative burden is an effective tool to make it difficult for people to access certain types of benefits, noting that this is particularly harmful to communities of color.
The State of California government published guidelines for the safe and effective use of Generative Artificial (GenAI) within state agencies, in accordance with Governor Newsom's Executive Order N-12-23 on Generative Artificial Intelligence.
