Resource Format: Report
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Federal Agencies Need to Strengthen Online Identity Verification Processes
Remote identify proofing is the process federal agencies and other entities use to verify that the individuals who apply online for benefits and services are who they claim to be. If the applicant responds correctly to personal questions, their identity is considered to be verified. However, data stolen in recent breaches could be used fraudulently to respond to knowledge-based verification questions. Alternative methods are available that provide stronger security, but these methods may have limitations in cost, convenience, technological maturity, and they may not be viable for all segments of the public.
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Advocacy in the Dark: A Pennsylvania Case Study on Advocating to Improve Technology that Drives Eligibility Decisions
Technology that automates different processes can save time for caseworkers and constituents, but it can also significantly reduce the transparency of government operations. This paper describes how Pennsylvania advocates addressed the low rate of automated Medicaid renewals.
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Facial Recognition Technologies: A Primer
This primer is written for a non-technical audience to increase understanding of the terminology, applications, and difficulties of evaluating facial recognition technologies.
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Building an Accessible Long-Term Care System for the Future
The nation’s long-term care system has struggled for many years, and those constraints are expected to deepen as our nation ages. In 2019, Washington State became the first in the United States to pass legislation that would enable a public state-operated long-term care insurance program, the Washington Cares Fund. We conducted research with the goal to identify concrete ways for Washington State to implement this fund so that it is accessible to all and it supports living-wage jobs for care workers. In this report, we discuss our research methods, we present personas of individuals seeking long-term supports and services from the Washington Cares Fund, and we offer a list of recommendations that, while intended for Washington State, we see as applicable to other states that will embark on offering similar long-term services to residents.
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Evaluating Facial Recognition Technology: A Protocol for Performance Assessment in New Domains
In May 2020, Stanford's HAI hosted a workshop to discuss the performance of facial recognition technologies that included leading computer scientists, legal scholars, and representatives from industry, government, and civil society. The white paper this workshop produced seeks to answer key questions in improving understandings of this rapidly changing space.
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Social Listening: Covid-19, Social Media, and The Path to a Better Safety Net
This report describes how the government can use widespread social media feedback and begin to build long-term measures to center people’s experience as an important component of policy design
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‘They’re Stealing Food From My Kids’: SNAP recipients and the struggle against EBT Theft
EBT theft has deeply damaged the lives of the lowest-income Americans. The following insights reveal a system that leaves people in the dark and fails to protect a crucial lifeline.
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Sprint 2 Report: Michigan Unemployment – Improving the delivery of unemployment insurance benefits
The Sprint 2 Report: Michigan UI Claimant Experience by Civilla and New America examines challenges in Michigan’s unemployment insurance (UI) system and provides human-centered design recommendations to improve accessibility, clarity, and user experience.
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POVERTY LAWGORITHMS: A Poverty Lawyer’s Guide to Fighting Automated Decision-Making Harms on Low-Income Communities
This guide, directed at poverty lawyers, explains automated decision-making systems so lawyers and advocates can better identify the source of their clients' problems and advocate on their behalf. Relevant for practitioners, this report covers key questions around automated decision-making systems.
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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.