The Benefits Enrollment Field Guide looks at the landscape of America’s safety net benefits experience in 2023 and tracks the differences from our 2019 assessment based on expanded evaluation criteria. It also highlights successful paths to equitable, human-centered experiences. It examines online enrollment for Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), and WIC.
The Playbook’s purpose is to guide researchers while supporting and lending authority to community organizations as they advocate for partnerships that will benefit their constituencies. The Playbook aims to provide some answers to such questions as: How can technologists and scientists engage communities in a spirit of partnership, without such extractive practices? How can community organizations work with researchers in ways that benefit their communities and expand their capacity, rather than burdening their staff?
This foundational article develops the concept of administrative burden, defining it as the learning, psychological, and compliance costs individuals face when interacting with government, and argues that these burdens are often shaped by political choices.
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Better designs should never come at the cost of another person’s wellbeing. Informed consent is a fundamental part of an ethical research program, which respects participants and protects them from harm.
This report summarizes progress made with agencies and members of the public to identify and reduce burdens that individuals, families, and small businesses face every day when interacting with government programs.
The U.S. Digital Response collaborated with a state workforce agency to develop a multilingual, user-friendly system for retroactive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) applications, enhancing claimant comprehension and reducing administrative strain.
This article introduces ideas42, a non-profit behavioral research and design firm applying insights from behavioral sciences, including behavioral economics (BE), social psychology, and other disciplines, for social good. Their behavioral design methodology is human-centered, but it incorporates scientific insights and iterative testing, applying observations about how people choose and act from experimental academic research to inform qualitative research.
This webpage links to materials ASPE has prepared as it leads work on how federal agencies and programs can meaningfully and effectively engage people with lived experience.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
This is a community-based project focused on creating and maintaining a resource for researchers and research operations specialists that will empower people to find out not only what tools are being used, but also in which industry, by what size of teams, and where in the world.
