Location: Illinois (IL)
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The Employment Effects of a Guaranteed Income: Experimental Evidence from Two U.S. States
This study explores the causal impacts of income on a rich array of employment outcomes, leveraging an experiment in which 1,000 low-income individuals were randomized into receiving $1,000 per month unconditionally for three years, with a control group of 2,000 participants receiving $50/month.
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Resident Engagement Resources from the Civic User Testing Group
Articles and resources from the Resident Engagement section of the City Tech's Civic User Testing group (CUTgroup) website. CUTgroup was a 1,600+ member civic engagement program that invited Chicago residents to contribute to emerging technology while providing public, private, and social sector partners with feedback to improve product design and deployment.
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Strategies for Improving Public Benefits Access and Retention
The Urban Institute's report outlines actionable approaches for state governments and organizations to enhance the accessibility and retention of public benefit programs, focusing on service delivery, policy reforms, and technological advancements.
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Struggles and solutions: Insights into the SNAP Application Process from Illinois Outreach Workers and Applicants
mRelief recently completed a research study to investigate whether there are specific parts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; also known as food stamps) benefits application process that make it difficult to complete. We conducted interviews with mRelief users and SNAP outreach workers (individuals whose job responsibilities include providing SNAP application assistance in person or over the phone) in Illinois. We also conducted group interviews with SNAP outreach workers to collaborate with them to uncover findings and develop recommendations.
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The CUTGroup Book: Civic User Testing Group as a New Model for UX Testing, Digital Skills Development, and Community Engagement in Civic Tech
The CUTGroup book explains how civic user testing (paying residents to test civic apps) can allow for more community engagement in civic tech. This book covers how to do UX testing, community engagement, and digital skills in one civic tech system.
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Lessons Churned: Measuring the Impact of Churn in Health and Human Services Programs on Participants and State and Local Agencies
This report examines the phenomenon of "churn" in public benefit programs, where eligible participants temporarily lose benefits due to administrative processes, analyzing its impact on both recipients and state agencies, and suggesting strategies to reduce its occurrence.