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Data Sharing

Data sharing is a powerful way to leverage existing information to expand uptake of benefits and improve program administration.

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Advancing information sharing to improve access and expand enrollment.

In recent years, benefits administering agencies and their partners have explored how data sharing can be used to identify potentially eligible individuals and encourage program enrollment, facilitate renewals for one program based on data from another, and improve participant outcomes.

Establishing data sharing programs can require legal agreements to ensure that data is used appropriately and securely, as well as technical infrastructure. However, careful planning can create wins for workers and beneficiaries. On this page, you will find resources to unlock the benefits of data sharing, examples from state and federal projects that deploy data sharing, and inspiration to get started.

Featured Content

Using Data Matching and Targeted Outreach to Enroll Families With Young Children in WIC

Using Data Matching and Targeted Outreach to Enroll Families With Young Children in WIC

WIC enrollment has declined over the past decade, but evidence from randomized control trials indicates that using data from other programs to identify WIC-eligible families and following up with text-based outreach can boost program participation.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Resource
Matching and Verifying Client Data Using Linkages Across Benefit

Matching and Verifying Client Data Using Linkages Across Benefit

Data linking is an important tool that lets benefits program administrators efficiently determine eligibility, and ensure that applicants receive all of the benefits for which they are eligible. This resource provides examples and practical guides that explain how to use existing regulations and data sharing agreements to transfer client information or eligibility status between benefit programs.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Resource
Leveraging Cross-Program Data to Modernize Outreach & Enrollment in SNAP and Connected Benefits

Leveraging Cross-Program Data to Modernize Outreach & Enrollment in SNAP and Connected Benefits

This resource outlines three data sharing models tested during the first cohort of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports grant program

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirement for Interstate Data Matching To Prevent Duplicate Issuances

The National Accuracy Clearinghouse is an interstate data system used to identify individuals receiving SNAP benefits from multiple states. This interim final rule requires SNAP State agencies to provide information to the NAC regarding individuals receiving SNAP benefits in their states in order to ensure they are not already receiving benefits in another state.

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
Artifact

Hawai'i SNAP-WIC Data Sharing Framework

This artifact documents Hawai'i's SNAP-WIC data sharing framework developed in their Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports project

Hawai'i Department of Human Services
Artifact

MOU for Data Sharing Between New Jersey Department of Human Services and New Jersey Department of Health

This MOU establishes data sharing protocols between New Jersey's WIC and SNAP programs.

New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development and New Jersey Department of Health, Family Health Services
Artifact

Hawai'i Thriving Children Strong Families Project Glossary

The Hawai'i Thriving Children Strong Families Project Glossary is a tool used to promote common understanding of core business concepts or terminologies used by the Department of Human Services' SNAP office and the Department of Health's WIC team to improve cross-program coordination and support SNAP-WIC data sharing across agencies.

Hawai'i Department of Human Services and Hawai'i Department of Health
Artifact

Hawai'i SNAP-WIC Data Sharing Memorandum of Agreement

This MOA outlines Hawai'i's legal data sharing agreement between the Women, Infants and Children Services Branch of the Department of Health (DOH/WIC), and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division of the Department of Human Services (DHS/BESSD) to exchange SNAP and WIC data.

Hawai'i Department of Health and Hawai'i Department of Human Services
Artifact
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Harnessing Data and Technology to Construct a Human Services System that Supports Thriving and Equitable Communities

Recent innovations in technology have opened a path for H/HS agencies to dramatically strengthen their data and technology infrastructure while providing fairer and more equal access to crucial benefits and services. By taking the concrete policy steps outlined in this brief, we believe that Congress and the administration can help human services agencies accelerate the construction of next generation systems that support the move toward a data-driven, equitable, multidisciplinary service delivery model.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Resource

Fast Track: A quicker road to Medicaid enrollment

Fast Track is an efficient, inexpensive enrollment option to enroll eligible individuals in Medicaid using data the state already has on hand from other applications. Through Fast Track, states can use TANF, SNAP, and LIHEAP data to determine eligibility and quickly enroll large numbers of individuals.

Benefits Data Trust
Resource

Michigan's Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, together with the Food Bank Council of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Education developed a comprehensive Food Insecurity Map and a closed-loop referral system for nutrition and economic supports. The goal of these initiatives was to leverage cross-sector data to inform policy decisions, streamline access to food assistance, and reduce administrative burden. This report documents lessons learned and outcomes of their project.

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

Better Data Sharing for Benefits Delivery

This policy brief outlines how improved data sharing between federal agencies, state and local governments, and institutions can leverage existing data from other benefits programs to streamline eligibility processes and benefits uptake for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and other programs.

New America
Resource

Using SNAP Data for Medicaid Renewals Can Keep Eligible Beneficiaries Enrolled

Medicaid enrollees must renew their eligibility every 12 months, resulting in extensive “churn,” whereby eligible people continuously cycle on and off of Medicaid instead of remaining continuously enrolled. States can use detailed SNAP income data to reduce churn and thus reduce the burden on beneficiaries and agencies.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Resource

CSNS Kansas: Forming Connections Between SNAP and WIC to Tackle Food Insecurity

Together, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) are working to design and build a sustainable process to improve cross-enrollment for families eligible for both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This report outlines how Kansas will integrate data matches between SNAP and WIC—as well as targeted outreach— within the ongoing business processes of the agencies to help streamline the experience of accessing nutrition supports for clients. These functions will contribute to the agencies’ shared goal of reducing rates of food insecurity in Kansas.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength
Resource

How Data Sharing Can Improve Equitable Access to Public Programs

Accessing safety net benefits can involve complicated and duplicative processes that create barriers to access. Using cross-enrollment strategies can minimize the difficulties community members face in getting access to life-saving resources.

Alluma
Resource

NCDHHS: Cross-Enrollment in SNAP, WIC, and Medicaid

In this presentation, team members from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services provide an overview of the implementation process for cross enrollment with SNAP, WIC, and Medicaid in North Carolina.

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Resource

Kansas' Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report

Kansas' Department for Children and Families and Department of Health and Environment partnered with Delivering Change as part of cohort 1 of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program to enhance SNAP and WIC access in seven key counties through innovative data sharing and targeted outreach to identify and enroll eligible individuals. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

Leveraging Cross-Program Data to Modernize Outreach & Enrollment in SNAP and Connected Benefits

This resource outlines three data sharing models tested during the first cohort of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports grant program

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

Benefits Access for Student Success: A Toolkit For Leveraging Data to Find Eligible Students

Each year, millions of college students struggle to pay for their education and basic needs, including food, childcare, housing, healthcare, and internet service. Among those students are a disproportionate number of first-generation students and students of color. This toolkit aims to build institutional capacity to enable all students to put food on the table, improve health outcomes, focus on school, and graduate.

Benefits Data Trust
Resource

Data Sharing to Build Effective and Efficient Benefits Systems: A Playbook for State and Local Agencies

This playbook is designed to help government and other key sectors use data sharing to illuminate who is not accessing benefits, connect under-enrolled populations to vital assistance, and make the benefits system more efficient for agencies and participants alike. It is a step-by-step guide to conducting smooth and efficient data sharing projects that are permissible and secure.

Benefits Data Trust
Resource

Hawai'i's Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report

As part of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, Hawai’i's Department of Human Services, Department of Health, and the Children’s Healthy Living Center at the University of Hawai’i have advanced interagency collaboration to deliver nutrition benefits more effectively to families with young children. This project streamlined data sharing between SNAP and WIC, enhancing cross-enrollment processes. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

New Jersey's Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report

The New Jersey Department of Human Services and New Jersey Department of Health collaborated in their Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports project to enhance the enrollment and coordination of SNAP and WIC programs. By developing the NJ Nutritional Data Hub and an innovative webservice, the project identified and reached out to families receiving SNAP but not WIC, and vice versa, significantly streamlining the adjunctive eligibility process. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

Strengthening Analytics in Government Agencies: A Toolkit for Sustainable Data Use

This toolkit offers strategies and tools to help agencies build the culture and infrastructure needed to apply data analysis routinely, effectively, and accurately – referred to in this publication as “sustainable data use.” It covers a variety of subjects – from staffing and technology to collaboration and funding – that can impact the longevity of analytics work in the public sector.

MDRC, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Coleridge Initiative, Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy
Resource

Using Data Matching and Targeted Outreach to Enroll Families With Young Children in WIC

WIC enrollment has declined over the past decade, but evidence from randomized control trials indicates that using data from other programs to identify WIC-eligible families and following up with text-based outreach can boost program participation.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Resource

Hawai'i Coordinating SNAP and Nutrition Supports Demonstration Project: Thriving Children Strong Families Project White Paper

This white paper documents Hawai'i's journey and lessons learned from their 18-month Coordinating SNAP and Nutrition Supports project which laid the foundation for interagency data-sharing and built capacity to analyze administrative data across nutrition programs--specifically SNAP and WIC.

Hawai'i Department of Human Services
Resource

The Unfinished Business of the ACA

“Interoperability” refers to systems’ ability to interact with each other to share data so that a customer is connected with as many benefits as possible in an efficient way. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was originally intended to be interoperable, but this has not occurred yet. Promoting interoperability in the ACA is imperative, as it would help alleviate food insecurity through automatic benefits enrollment.

Alluma
Resource

Data Coordination at SNAP and Medicaid Agencies: A National Landscape Analysis

Benefits Data Trust (BDT), in collaboration with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), conducted a nationwide analysis of how states coordinate across Medicaid and SNAP programs to streamline access to benefits. Between June and August of 2022, BDT and CHCS collected 114 survey responses from Medicaid and SNAP programs in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

Benefits Data Trust, Center for Health Care Strategies
Resource

Toolkit: Increasing WIC Coverage Through Cross-Program Data Matching and Targeted Outreach

This toolkit is designed to help state and local WIC agencies leverage data from Medicaid and SNAP to measure enrollment gaps and increase enrollment using tools to plan, launch, and/or strengthen data matching and targeted outreach to eligible families who are not receiving WIC benefits.

Benefits Data Trust, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Resource

Effective Strategies to Collect Address Changes from Medicaid Beneficiaries via State Websites

As a part of Benefit Data Trust (BDT)’s Medicaid Churn Learning Collaborative, BDT has created a memo describing strategies for states to collect current mailing addresses of Medicaid beneficiaries in advance of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement — in effect under the federal public health emergency — unwinding.

Benefits Data Trust
Resource

Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration

While most data sharing and integration occurs within a legal and governance framework, an emphasis on racial equity, transparency, and community engagement is often peripheral. This report focuses on the importance of a racial equity lens in data integration.

Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP)
Resource

Matching and Verifying Client Data Using Linkages Across Benefit

Data linking is an important tool that lets benefits program administrators efficiently determine eligibility, and ensure that applicants receive all of the benefits for which they are eligible. This resource provides examples and practical guides that explain how to use existing regulations and data sharing agreements to transfer client information or eligibility status between benefit programs.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Resource

Expanding TANF Program Insights: A Toolkit for State and Local Agencies on How to Access, Link, and Analyze Unemployment Insurance Wage Data

This toolkit is designed to assist state and local TANF agencies in accessing, linking, and analyzing employment data from unemployment insurance (UI) systems. The toolkit provides practical guidance on using UI wage data for program monitoring, reporting, and evaluation, and it may be valuable for other human services agencies and policymakers interested in improving workforce outcomes. The report highlights four key sections, covering the purpose of the toolkit, challenges in accessing UI wage data, methods for linking data sources, and instructions for preparing data for analysis. Additionally, an accompanying GitHub repository offers open-source code and resources for data processing and analysis. This toolkit serves as a starting point for TANF leaders who want to access and analyze UI wage data and offers the essential building blocks you will need to get started on your data analysis journey.

MDRC, Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy
Resource

Maximizing Linkages: A Policymaker’s Guide to Data Sharing

Maximizing Linkages: A Policymaker’s Guide to Data Sharing

Alluma
Resource

WIC Policy Memorandum #2023-5: Data Sharing to Improve Outreach and Streamline Certification in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

This policy memorandum from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) provides guidance on data sharing activities that support targeted outreach and streamlined certification processes aimed at increasing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participation and retention.

Food and Nutrition Service
Resource

Ex Parte Options and Recommendations for the non-MAGI Medicaid Population to Reduce Churn

As a part of Benefit Data Trust (BDT)’s Medicaid Churn Learning Collaborative, BDT has created a memo describing policy options and state examples for Medicaid administrators to reduce churn for non-MAGI Medicaid enrollees when the federal public health emergency ends.

Benefits Data Trust
Resource

California Health and Human Services Agency Data Playbook

This data playbook created by the California Health and Human services agencies discusses five plays designed to help Departments utilize data to inform program and policy development.

California Health and Human Services Agency
Resource

Improving Outcomes for Families through Better Use of Data: The TANF Data Collaborative

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Data Innovation project and the TANF Data Collaborative (TDC) Pilot were established to expand the routine use, integration, and analysis of TANF and employment data by agency staff to improve program services and outcomes for families with low incomes. This nine-minute video, produced after the completion of the TDC Pilot, features staff members from the California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Virginia TANF agencies reflecting on their challenges, accomplishments, and general experiences during the pilot.

Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation
Resource

New Mexico's Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Support Impact Report

The New Mexico Human Services Department and Department of Health, as part of the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, leveraged data sharing to align SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, and WIC. Their new online interface automates the referral process, making it easier for families to access the nutrition and economic supports they are eligible for.

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

CSNS Hawaii: Building a Data-Driven Foundation to Help Hunger in Hawai'i

The Hawai‘i Department of Human Services (DHS), in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) and the Children’s Healthy Living Center of Excellence (CHL Center) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, is building foundational capacity to share and analyze administrative data across the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This groundwork will enable Hawai‘i to increase access to nutrition support programs, in alignment with Hawai‘i’s ‘Ohana Nui framework, which aims to dismantle intergenerational poverty.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength
Resource

Cross Enrollment WIC Case Study: A Joint Project of MDHHS and Benefits Data Trust

This presentation from Steph White, Cross Enrollment Coordinator at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offers an in-depth example on implementing cross enrollment with WIC and general tools for cross enrollment.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Benefits Data Trust
Resource

Eligible Low-Income Children Missing Out on Crucial WIC Benefits During Pandemic

The share of WIC-eligible families participating in the program has declined, though the number of individuals eligible for WIC has likely grown substantially. By working together, state WIC, Medicaid, and SNAP leaders can use data to assess the extent to which WIC is reaching eligible families and enroll more of them.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Resource

Matching Data Across Benefits Programs Can Increase WIC Enrollment

Although Medicaid and SNAP participants are automatically income-eligible for WIC, many don’t enroll. Pilot projects in four states have shown that matching data across programs to identify these families and conducting outreach to them can increase WIC enrollment.

Benefits Data Trust, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Resource

CSNS New Jersey: Sharing Nutrition Program Data to Raise WIC Enrollment

This report outlines how the New Jersey Department of Human Services’ Division of Family Development (DFD) and the Department of Health (NJDOH) are increasing SNAP & WIC co-enrollment through data sharing, outreach, and systems integration.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength
Resource

Helping States and Families Prepare for the End of the Pandemic Emergency Declaration

When the COVID-19 public heath emergency declaration ends, so will the expansion of many key safety net programs, causing millions to lose critical assistance nationwide. This article describes some of the steps the Benefits Data Trust is taking to help states transition and allow families to rectify and access benefits they are eligible for.

Benefits Data Trust
Resource

Conducting Outreach for Benefits Cross Enrollment

This resource outlines strategies for cross-enrollment outreach, which can break down silos between programs and reach applicants who may be eligible for under-enrolled benefits programs.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Resource

CSNS Michigan: Data-Driven Strategies to Help End Hunger in Michigan

This report outlines how the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), in partnership with the Food Bank Council of Michigan (FBCM) and Michigan Department of Education (MDE), is deploying a three-pronged strategy to leverage data insights to systematically identify and eliminate gaps in access to nutrition supports among priority populations using food security map and closed-loop referrals.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength
Resource
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Automation + AI
Text Messaging
Data Sharing
Outreach + Awareness
Eligibility
Applying + Enrolling
Buying Design + Technology Services
Maintaining Benefits
Human-Centered Design
Digitizing Policy
Digital Services
Diversity, Equity + Inclusion
Policy Analysis
Digital Identity
Basic Income
CCDF: Child Care and Development Fund
COVID-19 Assistance
CTC: Child Tax Credit
EITC: Earned Income Tax Credit
Housing
LIHEAP
Medicaid/CHIP
Other Supplemental Nutrition Programs
P-EBT
Paid Leave
SSDI: Social Security Disability Insurance
SSI: Supplemental Security Income
TANF: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Tax Assistance
UI: Unemployment Insurance
Veterans Benefits
WIC: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Executive Branch
Academic
Community Members
Community-based Organization
Legislative Branch
Non-profit
Private
Government Agency
Federal/National
State/Provincial
County
Local/Municipal
Territorial
Tribal/Indigenous