In February 2023, the Digital Benefits Network at the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation released a dataset documenting authentication and identity verification requirements that unemployment insurance (UI) applicants encounter across the United States. This resource outlines high-level observations from the data and more information about the research process.
This report outlines critical actions states should take to maintain Medicaid coverage as the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) concludes, aiming to prevent widespread loss of health insurance among eligible individuals.
This report by EPIC investigates how automated decision-making (ADM) systems are used across Washington, D.C.’s public services and the resulting impacts on equity, privacy, and access to benefits.
The IRS is arguably the single most critical benefits administrator in the country, given its responsibility for tax credit-based relief programs, and COVID-19 relief payments. Despite these programs’ incredible progress in reducing poverty, and despite great strides by the IRS to implement them successfully, accessing IRS benefits remains too difficult for many low-income families. This report presents a comprehensive agenda to increase benefit coverage rates, simplify Americans’ interactions with the IRS, and decrease the portion of IRS benefits diverted to third parties.
This report from the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program outlines efforts to use identity verification to reduce improper payments in government programs, while mitigating bias and disparate impacts.
The Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP)
The Urban Institute's report outlines actionable approaches for state governments and organizations to enhance the accessibility and retention of public benefit programs, focusing on service delivery, policy reforms, and technological advancements.
In our research announcement on theories of change (ToC) for digital government, the Digital Service Network shared our belief that all Digital Service (DS) teams should work to develop a ToC.
In this updated primer, the DBN describes how identity proofing and authentication show up in public benefits applications and outlines equity and security concerns raised by common identity proofing and authentication methods.
In June 2020, the state implemented an innovative and entirely virtual vendor selection process to evaluate these solutions under the direction of the Colorado Digital Service (CDS).
This study emphasizes the need for better tracking of gig economy data and qualitative insights, as interviews from the American Voices Project reveal how broader economic trends impacted individual lives and filled gaps during the pandemic.
