This toolkit provides guidance and resources for state agencies to effectively implement the USDA’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program, which helps low-income families buy food during the summer months when school meals are unavailable.
In the article, researchers examines how administrative burdens in waitlist management for subsidized childcare in Massachusetts have led to significant reductions in the number of families awaiting assistance, potentially obscuring the true extent of unmet need.
In early 2023, Wired magazine ran four pieces exploring the use of algorithms to identify fraud in public benefits and potential harms, deeply exploring cases from Europe.
This field guide is written for digital services and technology leaders working in government agencies at the federal, state, or local level. It’s meant to highlight the power of product thinking to government digital services. With this guide, agencies can start moving from a project management mindset to a product-based approach to delivering services.
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)
We kicked off Rules as Code Demo Day with Alex Soble of 18F and Mike Gintz of 10x presenting their Eligibility APIs Initiative that explores whether APIs and rules as code might improve the efficiency and effectiveness with which federal public benefits programs communicate their policy to states. They demonstrated their original prototype, and how the open source code has now been extended into several initiatives.
Digitizing public benefits policy will make the biggest impact for administrators and Americans, but only if it happens at the highest level of government.
This guide highlights approachable ideas for state and local public benefits agencies to improve applications, renewals, and correspondence. As outlined in this resource, even small improvements can be transformative for residents and caseworkers alike.
18F, a consultancy within the U.S. General Services Administration, developed a prototype API and pre-screener to model federal SNAP eligibility rules, aiming to simplify benefits access through open-source technology.
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.
This study found that using state-specific names for Medicaid programs increased confusion and reduced both positive and negative opinions about the program.
