A brief report on our quantitative research about messages that increase people's take-up of government benefits by making them feel like those benefits belong to them.
A modernized public benefits system would better serve program participants, administrators, policy makers, and taxpayers. This paper proposes a set of principles both define the desired future state and outline the values that shape decision making along the way. Practices describe the processes needed to achieve modernization.
This report contributes to the quantitative measurement of psychological burdens by examining a case study of a single social program: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by considering new quantitative measures of the psychological burdens faced by SNAP applicants.
This brief estimates of benefits, costs, interactions with other means tested programs, and impact on poverty for the paid family and medical leave program.
A New America report examines the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, highlighting its role in aiding low-income tax filers and offering recommendations to enhance public benefit access through improved tax filing assistance.
A detailed guide outlining how states can minimize coverage losses and administrative burden while implementing new Medicaid work requirements established under the 2025 federal reconciliation law.
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.
The examples in this guide describe how peer-to-peer training and updated interview scripts can help connect residents to the benefits they are eligible for.
Drawing on the Beeck Center’s research on government, nonprofit, academic, and private sector organizations that are working to improve access to safety net benefits, this report highlights best practices for creating accessible benefits content.
