This guide is a practical introduction to Digital Service Teams (DSTs) for state and local governments. It is designed to help leaders interested in standing up new government DSTs understand what they are, why they exist, and how they are structured, staffed, funded, and more.
This publication offers a starting point into the current research and practice landscape on data interoperability for public benefits administration. It identifies key takeaways for those looking to advance such efforts in their jurisdiction. In particular, it pinpoints what the research reveals about key challenges benefits agencies face, as well as recommendations for addressing those challenges and examples of states and localities that have done so.
Usability testing offers the opportunity to observe and learn from real users, enabling governments to iterate design to meet user needs. In this session Rua Williams, Assistant Professor in the School of Applied and Creative Computing from Purdue University, shared more about their research and practical steps government practitioners can take to conduct more inclusive and ethical usability testing. Attendees discussed partnering with disabled users in ways that are respectful, effective, and sustainable.
A profile on FormFest spearker’s Barry Roeder, Barabara Deffenderfer, Glenn Brown, and Izzie Hirschy-Reyes highlighting how the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority and its partners use AI and human-centered design to streamline paper housing applications.
This session from FormFest 2024 focused on how governments are scaling their SNAP benefits programs, with Maryland’s improved integrated benefits application and the Office of Evaluation Sciences’ changes to questions on the SNAP application.
The team developed an application to simplify Medicaid and CHIP applications through LLM APIs while addressing limitations such as hallucinations and outdated information by implementing a selective input process for clean and current data.
On May 19, 2023, the Digital Benefits Network published a new, open dataset documenting authentication and identity proofing requirements across online SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, child care (CCAP) applications, and unemployment insurance applications.
