In a time of crisis, behavioral science offers insights into how to reduce the paperwork and other administrative burdens that prevent people from taking advantage of crucial support services.
The CUTGroup book explains how civic user testing (paying residents to test civic apps) can allow for more community engagement in civic tech. This book covers how to do UX testing, community engagement, and digital skills in one civic tech system.
County workers typically spend most of their time trying to get income information right during eligibility interviews. This article provides several recommendations for asking about income, accounting for cognitive biases, under-reporting, and complexities in reporting income.
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 article discusses how Code for America enhanced the CalFresh application process to better assist self-employed individuals in accessing their full benefits by clarifying self-employment definitions and simplifying income verification.
Code for America CEO introduces the Safety Net Innovation Lab in a TED Talk, their initiative to work with state governments to reimagine and rebuild delivery of accessible and equitable benefits. This article also includes the video of Renteria’s talk and a transcript.
mRelief recently completed a research study to investigate whether there are specific parts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; also known as food stamps) benefits application process that make it difficult to complete. We conducted interviews with mRelief users and SNAP outreach workers (individuals whose job responsibilities include providing SNAP application assistance in person or over the phone) in Illinois. We also conducted group interviews with SNAP outreach workers to collaborate with them to uncover findings and develop recommendations.
Our work with Pennsylvania to implement user experience and user interface changes shows that innovation can be easier to implement than it might seem.
