Expanding access to free tax assistance through virtual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs can help low-income filers claim essential tax benefits without incurring preparation fees.
Important considerations for understanding user needs to inform responsive design in rapidly changing contexts are discussed, including how context, threat perception, decision-making, and crisis affects disaster management and UX research.
This report examines how states strategically approached managing and administering the historic influx of COVID-19 relief funds for child care and early childhood systems, focusing on governance structures, funding management systems, and data systems
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and its induced recession underscored the crucial importance of unemployment insurance (UI) to workers, and to the stability of the American economy. Temporary federal expansions of unemployment systems during the pandemic showed how they can quickly be scaled to increase benefit levels and to include categories of workers who were not previously eligible, such as the self-employed, caregivers, and low-wage workers. And, states showed that separate programs can be set up to provide similar benefits to workers who are explicitly excluded from unemployment insurance—in particular immigrants who do not have a documented immigration status.
The team explored using LLMs to interpret the Program Operations Manual System (POMS) into plain language logic models and flowcharts as educational resources for SSI and SSDI eligibility, benchmarking LLMs in RAG methods for reliability in answering queries and providing useful instructions to users.
The article discusses key takeaways from BenCon 2023, highlighting the importance of creating equitable and ethical public benefits technology. It emphasizes the need for tech solutions that address systemic inequalities, ensure accessibility, and promote inclusivity for underserved communities in accessing public services.
APHSA's President and CEO reflects on lessons and opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and constructs a national narrative around the moment.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
