In December 2024, the Digital Benefits Network released an updated open dataset on authentication and identity proofing requirements across various public benefits applications to highlight best practices and areas for improvement in identity management.
This explores how tax credit systems can be redesigned to better meet the needs of families, especially those facing systemic barriers to filing and receiving benefits.
The report beings by briefly describing the challenge that disabled workers face in accessing UI and the benefits of reforming the system to better serve these workers. The report then presents a list of considerations for UI reform in the areas of administrative process and technology improvements as well as considerations for policy change.
There is a key disconnect between policymakers’ intent and implementation of policies. A user-centric, iterative, and data-driven approach can result result in digital technology that provides much needed data and insights at a substantially lower cost.
This report poses the question of whether states are prepared to meet the new Medicaid work reporting and renewal mandates introduced by HR 1, given ongoing strain from the post-pandemic “unwinding.”
A 2025 policy agenda outlining comprehensive federal and state recommendations to eliminate benefits cliffs and strengthen economic mobility for families transitioning off public assistance.
An in-depth report that examines how states use automated eligibility algorithms for home and community-based services (HCBS) under Medicaid and assesses their implications for access and fairness.
A technical guide that outlines policy and system design strategies states can use to reduce procedural terminations when implementing Medicaid work reporting requirements.
This report details the use of the historic investment of $1 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to the Department of Labor and state unemployment (UI) agencies to modernize state UI programs.
This guide provides practical financing strategies for governments to build, maintain, and expand integrated data systems (IDS) and evaluation capacity using federal and non-federal funding sources.
Led by the Digital Benefits Network in partnership with Public Policy Lab, the Digital Doorways research project amplifies the lived experiences of beneficiaries to provide new insights into people’s experiences with digital identity processes and technology in public benefits. This report details the project’s findings, directly highlighting the voices of beneficiaries through videos and photos.
Through the interviews, ULP sought to capture details of claimant experience, see how and why system failures occurred, and make recommendations for reform now—before another financial or public health crisis suddenly causes state unemployment rates to spike.
