This policy brief explores how federal privacy laws like the Privacy Act of 1974 limit demographic data collection, undermining government efforts to conduct equity assessments and address algorithmic bias.
SNAP Waivers and Adaptations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of State Agency Perspectives in 2020 is a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Health and Social Policy (IHSP) based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA). This research seeks to understand perspectives from state SNAP administrators on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from waivers and flexibilities used to preserve equitable access to SNAP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on state agency survey responses, this report summarizes key findings from the first calendar year of pandemic response and provides policy considerations for the future of SNAP. This research was supported by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Johns Hopkins Institute for Health and Social Policy
The vast fraud committed through the use of stolen and synthetic identities in UI programs has spotlighted the need for updated identity fraud detection mechanisms. As states are implementing new technologies and systems, they need to consider the ways in which they are impacting racial inequities in UI benefits.
This article offers three human‑centered strategies to help state agencies implement expanded work reporting requirements in SNAP and Medicaid under H.R. 1 with minimal burden on clients and staff.
This brief estimates of benefits, costs, interactions with other means tested programs, and impact on poverty for the paid family and medical leave program.
In this piece, the Digital Benefits Network shares several sources—from journalistic pieces, to reports and academic articles—we’ve found useful and interesting in our reading on automation and artificial intelligence.
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.
