Produced By: Non-profit
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What We Measure Matters: Enhanced Performance Metrics for SNAP and Medicaid Would Promote a More Human-Centered Delivery System
This report advocates for implementing human-centered performance metrics in SNAP and Medicaid to enhance service delivery and user experience.
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Documenting Pandemic EBT for the 2020-21 School Year
The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program was launched as an effort to address the loss of access to free and reduced-price school meals due to widespread school closures at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools reopened in a shifting mix of fully virtual, hybrid, and inperson formats and families lacked consistent access to school meals, these benefits were extended through the 2020–21 school year and were highly valuable to families in buffering the full extent of food insecurity they may have faced during this uncertain time. However, the complexity of administering this program was a fundamental barrier in providing timely support to families, who ultimately went without benefits for at least half of the school year. In this report, we dive into the challenges state administrators faced in launching this new program during the 2020–21 school year and reflect on considerations for the future.
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Early Insights on SNAP Modernization through American Rescue Plan Investments
This brief shares findings from a November 2021 survey of state SNAP agencies about their use of the SNAP ARPA funds in fiscal year 2021, and their initial planned activities for fiscal year 2022 and 2023.
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How Address Validation Can Improve the Effectiveness of Critical Safety Net Programs
This blog post outlines how address validation tools can improve delivery of critical benefits by ensuring mailing addresses are accurate and up-to-date.
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Forms From Coast to Coast
This mainstage session from FormFest 2024 featured form innovations from the City of New York, NY and the City of Portland, OR.
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Dismantling the Invisible Wall: Breaking down barriers to pandemic relief
This article details California's Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program, which provided $500 in cash aid to undocumented adults affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the collaborative efforts between the state, community-based organizations (CBOs), and Code for America to distribute $75 million to 150,000 individuals.
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Creating Impact in Digital Government: Successes, Challenges and Strategy of New York City’s Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer
Across the United States, a number of state and local governments are embarking on digital transformation efforts. This case study is part of the Beeck Center’s Digital Service Teams project, which is learning how leading government digital service units are introducing new approaches to service delivery. Beeck Center researchers are documenting work as it happens, including analyzing challenges and opportunities, and disseminating this information to benefit both the people of New York City and collaborators in other governments.
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Blueprint for a Human-Centered Safety Net
Describes the Principles of a Human-Centered Safety Net: Many Welcoming Doors, Easy to Understand, Clients Can Make Informed Decisions, Responsive to Changing Needs, Simple Actions
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Digital Identity Community of Practice Kick-Off
This video documents the Digital Benefits Network's Digital Identity Community of Practice launch, covering mission review, 2025 goals, California authentication innovations, and peer networking for equitable and effective digital identity in public benefits.
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Policy2Code Demo Day Recap
A recap of the twelve teams who presented during the Policy2Code Prototyping Challenge at BenCon 2024.
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What is Meaningful Community Engagement?
The Community-Driven Policies and Practices project engaged people experiencing poverty in power-building sessions to develop advocacy plans for economic justice. This report offers recommendations for nonprofits to engage people with lived experience of poverty in advocacy.
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Project Snapshot: PolicyEngine
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.