The article outlines NYC Opportunity's "Designed by Community" program, which funds and empowers local leaders to create solutions for challenges in marginalized communities. Initially focused on government projects, the program pivoted during the pandemic to support community-led initiatives, with projects ranging from mentorship programs to tech tools for public housing residents.
MyFile NYC is a digital platform that allows New York City residents experiencing homelessness to securely store, share, and manage vital documents with the Department of Homeless Services, streamlining the process of establishing eligibility for public benefits. This pilot, launched in 2022, aims to improve service access by reducing barriers like communication and documentation challenges, while allowing users control over their information.
MITRE developed the Comprehensive Careers and Supports for Households (CCASH™) tool to help individuals understand and manage federal benefits and employment services, transitioning from a consumer-focused tool to a policy analytics system. By integrating data from sources like the U.S. Census and the Policy Rules Database, MITRE created a model that allows users to analyze and compare benefits eligibility across states, supporting evidence-based policymaking.
The Policy Rules Database (PRD), developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the National Center for Children in Poverty, consolidates complex rules for major U.S. federal and state benefit programs and tax policies into a standardized, easy-to-use format. This database allows researchers to model public assistance impacts, simulate policy changes, and analyze benefits cliffs across various household scenarios using common rules and language across different programming platforms.
This blog recaps a conversation with Richard Pope, author of Platformland, on how public sector digital services must evolve to reduce administrative burden, enable easier service creation, and foster transparency and democratic participation.
This framework provides voluntary guidance to help employers use AI hiring technology in ways that are inclusive of people with disabilities, while aligning with federal risk management standards.
This report offers a detailed assessment of how AI and emerging technologies could impact the Social Security Administration’s disability benefits determinations, recommending guardrails and principles to protect applicant rights, mitigate bias, and promote fairness.
This toolkit outlines actionable changes for government practitioners looking to improve the accuracy and accessibility of the questions on their forms that collect information about a user’s gender.
This article offers three human‑centered strategies to help state agencies implement expanded work reporting requirements in SNAP and Medicaid under H.R. 1 with minimal burden on clients and staff.
A profile on FormFest speaker Karissa Minnich, a civic design manager with The Lab @ DC, whose innovative approach to redesigning government forms has transformed paperwork into a model of human-centered design.
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.
