Location: United States
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To reimagine unemployment insurance services, start small
Building modular, open-source, human-centered software is necessary to create equitable government services fit for the digital age. Nava emphasizes addressing large scale digital service challenges by building and releasing small, modular software components that are loosely-coupled by well-defined APIs. This enables agencies to quickly and conistently deliver services that help people immediately, whilst also building a flexible foundation for long-term technical evolution.
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How to build a participant advisory council
In 2022, Nava formed its first-ever PAC as part of their initiative to help Montana’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program design a new recertification portal. Leveraging what Nava learned from this experience, this toolkit outlines the necessary steps to form a PAC, including planning a structure for the council, recruiting participants, and other logistics.
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Technology, Data, and Design-Enabled Approaches for a More Responsive, Effective Social Safety Net
This landscape analysis examines data, design, technology, and innovation-enabled approaches that make it easier for eligible people to enroll in, and receive, federally-funded social safety net benefits, with a focus on the earliest adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Building Resilience Action Area 1: Adequately Funding UI Administration
This report outlines the U.S. Department of Labor’s comprehensive action plan to strengthen the unemployment insurance (UI) system by addressing chronic underfunding and proposing legislative reforms to support long-term modernization and resilience.
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Reimagining a U.S. Benefits System That Supports All Workers: Five Key Takeaways from Public and Private Benefit Leaders
This report highlights 5 key takeaways from the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program's 2022 Benefits Forum, where 55 experts from various sectors discussed solutions for improving public and private benefits to better support workers and their families.
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Healing Policy Papercuts: Aligning small conflicts in application requirements makes public benefits easier to access
Differing federal requirements for public benefit applications create significant barriers for applicants and complicate state efforts to integrate services.
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States Are Using Much-Needed Temporary Flexibility in SNAP to Respond to COVID-19 Challenges
During the COVID-19 pandemic, states utilized temporary Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) flexibilities to provide emergency benefits and maintain support for households with children missing school meals.
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Digital Identity and Public Benefits: Announcing a New Research Agenda
An announcement about the Digital Benefits Network's new research agenda on digital identity in public benefits.
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Removing Barriers: Public Benefits and Voter Registration
The GetCalFresh team, the California Department of Social Services, and the California Secretary of State’s office worked together to create a simplified, accessible voter registration experience with clients. When people come to GetCalFresh.org, they are looking to apply for food assistance, so the state of California did not want voter registration to become an obstacle to the goal of getting food assistance. Thus, rather than directing clients to anther website, they offered to text clients a link to the CA Secretary of State’s voter website with directions on how to register.
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Text to Connect: Legal + Policy Considerations for Using Text Message Outreach to Reduce SNAP Churn
This guide is intended to provide a general overview of the national statutory and regulatory landscape governing the legality of sending large volumes of text messages and sharing client information.
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Driving Medicaid Renewals via the Providers App
Propel describes how its mobile app outreach campaign helped millions of Medicaid enrollees navigate renewal during the post-pandemic “unwinding” by driving action through notifications, messaging, and in-app tools.
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Toward Sound, Explicit Theories of Change for Digital Service Teams
The Digital Service Network is publishing two essays to kick-start new (or super-charge existing) theories of change for government Digital Service teams.