Topic

Diversity, Equity + Inclusion

Centering diversity, equity, and inclusion is key for improving the beneficiary experience and strengthening the benefits delivery workforce.

Explore

Towards equitable and inclusive services, informed by the people who use and deliver them.

Historically, systemic and structural barriers have disproportionately limited access to benefits programs for communities of color. Dismantling structural racism and other barriers to access requires a focus on equity and diverse participant perspectives.

Pathways to building more equitable, inclusive, and welcoming services can range from improving language access in programs, to advocating for policies that expand eligibility and access, or building stronger partnerships with community-based organizations. On this page, you will find resources to center participant perspectives in program improvements, recommendations for re-envisioning programs as anti-racist, and resources to identify how certain policy and procedures may create inequitable access.

Featured Content

Study to Identify Methods to Assess Equity: Report to the President

Study to Identify Methods to Assess Equity: Report to the President

Study by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget assessing methods for determining whether agency policies and actions create or exacerbate barriers to full and equal participation by eligible individuals. This study followed the Executive Order on racial equity.

Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget
Resource
The Ad Hoc Accessibility Beyond Compliance Playbook

The Ad Hoc Accessibility Beyond Compliance Playbook

This playbook is for government agencies and other civic organizations looking to mature their practical understanding of accessibility from one of basic compliance to an inclusive, human-centered experience.

Ad Hoc
Resource
Bias-Free Language

Bias-Free Language

The guidelines for bias-free language contain both general guidelines for writing about people without bias across a range of topics and specific guidelines that address the individual characteristics of age, disability, gender, participation in research, racial and ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality.

American Psychological Association (APA)
Resource

Case studies

View all Case Studies
Providers App: Timely, Localized Updates to Benefits Information

Providers App: Timely, Localized Updates to Benefits Information

Low-income Americans struggle to monitor their benefits and learn about new benefit programs because each state maintains its own systems for accessing this information. These websites are often convoluted and hard to find.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
2021
Project Re:new — Redesigning Michigan's Benefits Renewal Forms

Project Re:new — Redesigning Michigan's Benefits Renewal Forms

Michigan residents must renew their benefits annually to continue receiving public assistance. Unfortunately, each assistance program had its own renewal form, and the process was plagued by complicated language and undelivered forms. As a result, many residents lost their benefits and the state spent about $25 million annually correcting errors.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
2020
Redesigning Michigan's Benefits Correspondence

Redesigning Michigan's Benefits Correspondence

The correspondence sent by Michigan to its residents containing benefits programs updates and action items continues to be too long, too vague, and too reliant on legal jargon. This prevents residents from getting the help they need and forces agency staff to spend time explaining the letters.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
2021

All Diversity, Equity + Inclusion Content

View all content
Loading articles
Filters
Content Type
open
Benefit Program
open
Level of Government
open
Source Sector
open
Search icon
No results found.
Please try different keywords.

Department of Labor Equity Action Plan

This document, submitted in response to Executive Order 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, summarizes key aspects of DOL’s principles and approach to advancing equity. One of the five areas outlined includes administering and improving the federal-state Unemployment Insurance systems.

US Department of Labor
Artifact

Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government

Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, and in our public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities. It is therefore the policy of the Biden Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.

Executive Office of the President
Artifact

Near Real Time COVID-19 Income and Poverty Dashboard

A real-time dashboard displaying COVID-19 income and poverty levels.

Poverty Measurement
Artifact

USDA Equity Action Plan in Support of Executive Order (EO) 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government

On January 20, 2021, the President issued EO 13985, which established that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all. USDA's Equity Action Plain details a subset of USDA actions to achieve this gaol.

United States Department of Agriculture
Artifact

Trauma-Informed Homelessness Service Interactions and Strategy

When accessing the Office of Homelessness (OHS) prevention, diversion, and intake service, Philadelphians must go through many opaque steps and processes—often while in crisis or experiencing a traumatic event. Navigating confusing processes and paperwork can exacerbate feelings of distress or trauma. When delivering the service, staff also follow specific processes, offer information, and coordinate support while taking in difficult stories and daily stressors. These lived realities require adopting a trauma-informed approach to service delivery.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Case Study

Designed by Community Program

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately harmed marginalized communities and heightened existing inequities. The NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity) wanted to work with non-profit organizations to empower community leaders to design more targeted and effective solutions for challenges in their communities.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Case Study
No items found.

Unemployment Insurance Equitable Access Toolkit

The Unemployment Insurance Equitable Access Toolkit contains common equity recommendations, promising practices, and insights, represented visually as a different floor of an agency office building, compiled in one interactive document.

U.S. Department of Labor
Resource

After all these years, ‘welfare reform’ is the same racist dog whistle it always was

“Welfare reform” is often racially-coded, as it is used as a dog-whistle to propagate hostility towards poor people of color.

Washington Post
Resource

Universal Design 101 Recording

Initially created for and shared with staff at the Administration for Children and Families, this webinar provides an introduction to Universal Design, covering plain language, accessibility, user research, and Agile development.

Digital Service at the Administration for Children and Families
Resource

Engaging People with Lived Experience to Improve Federal Research, Policy, and Practice

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.

Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Resource

Guide on Advancing Equity through Quantitative Analysis

Initially created to inform federal staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this guide explores opportunities to advance equity in quantitative analysis, including by recognizing common biases (e.g., research and measurement bias). The guide also discusses specific quantitative methods and tools to help quantitative analyses address equity.

Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Resource

Improving Unemployment Fraud Reporting with User Research

User research + design kit in for improving the UI fraud reporting experience, available in English and Spanish

U.S. Digital Response, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
Resource

Dismantling the Invisible Wall: Breaking down barriers to pandemic relief

The CARES Act and Families First Coronavirus Response Act failed to reach millions of non-tax-filing Americans with low incomes and deliberately excluded undocumented immigrants, leaving entire communities without recourse. Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) was a crucial program by the state of California for undocumented immigrants, and the California Department of Social Services partnered with Code for America to build a digital portal that would support community-based organizations in taking applications, tracking the various steps in the process, and activating clients’ $500 bank cards.

Code for America
Resource

Equity Assessment Tip Sheet

Originally created for use by federal staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this tool describes the six steps for conducting equity assessments and provides tips for completing each step. This resource may be relevant for state and local governments, tribal governments, and other private or non-profit organizations focused on programs and policies relating to health and human services

Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Resource

The New Practice Lab’s Racial Equity Framework

New America’s New Practice Lab discusses insights into racial inequities within the Unemployment Insurance System, and provides recommendations its framework for rectifying inequality in policies and programs moving forward.

New America
Resource

States Can Reduce Medicaid’s Administrative Burdens to Advance Health and Racial Equity

This report outlines strategies to reduce administrative burdens and expand Medicaid participation and advance racial and health equity. The report also offers historical context on Medicaid eligibility.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Center for Law and Social Policy
Resource

Re-Envisioning Medicaid & CHIP as Anti-Racist Programs

This report puts forth an anti-racist reimagining of Medicaid and CHIP that actively reckons with the racist history of the Medicaid program and offers principles and recommendations that capitalize on the transformative potential of the programs. The principles center the voices and agency of program participants and prioritize direct community involvement at all stages of the policy process.

Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality
Resource

Study to Identify Methods to Assess Equity: Report to the President

Study by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget assessing methods for determining whether agency policies and actions create or exacerbate barriers to full and equal participation by eligible individuals. This study followed the Executive Order on racial equity.

Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget
Resource

Simple Changes Can Make a Big Difference for Clients Accessing Government Benefits

Our work with Pennsylvania to implement user experience and user interface changes shows that innovation can be easier to implement than it might seem.

Code for America
Resource

New Jersey’s Worker-centered Approach to Improving the Administration of Unemployment Insurance

This paper describes the policy choices, business practices, and technology innovations that the State of New Jersey is employing to ensure that the right people get benefits — accurately and on time.

Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University
Resource

Spanish plain language glossary of common Unemployment Insurance terms

This is a working list of plain language Spanish translations and recommended usage for common unemployment insurance terms. All content contained in this glossary has been tested and validated for readability and comprehension with Spanish speakers who have limited English proficiency.

U.S. Digital Response
Resource

Accessible Numbers

Use the accessible numbers project to design services for people who need help with numbers.

Accessible Numbers
Resource

Making Public Benefits More Accessible in Minnesota

This report highlights work with Minnesota and includes nine suggestions for states seeking to launch their own integrated benefits applications

Code for America
Resource

Re-Envisioning TANF: Toward an Anti-Racist Program That Meaningfully Serves Families

An America where no one experiences poverty is possible. Already, the U.S. has programs with the potential to make this vision a reality, including programs that provide cash assistance, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The current TANF program provides very little cash assistance and is marked by stark racial disparities, but it has the potential to reduce child poverty, increase economic security, and advance racial equity. This report offers a vision for an anti-racist approach to the TANF program, with new statutory goals and policy recommendations to advance racial justice.

Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality: Economic Security & Opportunity Initiative
Resource

Increasing Older Adult Access to SNAP

This brief highlights the complex journey that older adults experience when applying for and enrolling in SNAP, including the major barriers and solutions that improve access along the way.

AARP Foundation
Resource

Spanish Translation Guide for Unemployment Insurance

U.S. Digital Response’s Spanish Translation Guide for Unemployment Insurance provides practical guidelines and resources to help governments improve communication with Spanish speakers seeking access to unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.

U.S. Digital Response
Resource

Laying the Tracks for an Equitable Recovery and Long Term Repair

In this brief, APHSA outlines its commitment to addressing the causes of structural inequities by first illuminating structural root causes of race inequity within the context of human services. The brief outlines approaches to doing the intentional and systematic work that is required to counteract the structural barriers human services systems have fostered.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Resource

Administrative Burdens and Economic Insecurity Among Black, Latino, and White Families

This study investigates how administrative burdens influence differential receipt of income transfers after a family member loses a job, looking at Unemployment Insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Resource

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina's Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports Impact Report

Through the Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports program, Mecklenburg County, NC leveraged a Food Security Navigator model and data analysis to increase access to nutrition supports. This report documents best practices and lessons learned from their project.

American Public Human Services Association
Resource

Child Care and Development Fund Equity Assessment Toolkit

This toolkit provides resources for training and technical assistance (T/TA) providers in the Child Care Technical Assistance Network (CCTAN) to help State, Territory, and Tribal CCDF Lead Agencies be prepared to conduct equity assessments.

Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Resource

The Ad Hoc Accessibility Beyond Compliance Playbook

This playbook is for government agencies and other civic organizations looking to mature their practical understanding of accessibility from one of basic compliance to an inclusive, human-centered experience.

Ad Hoc
Resource

Basic Income and Local Government; A Guide to Municipal Pilots

This guide consolidates learning and spotlights principles, insights, and emerging practices to guide municipal leaders and public-private partnerships interested in designing basic income programs that are ethical, equitable, rigorous, informative, and consequential for local, state and national policymaking.

Stanford Basic Income Lab
Resource

Guide on Advancing Equity by Incorporating Intersectionality in Research and Analysis

This guide explores intersectionality and why it is essential for advancing equity. It explores strategies for planning and conducting research with an intersectional lens, describes quantitative measures and methods to examine differences across groups of people with intersecting identities, and provides key considerations for using qualitative data to better understand intersectionality.

Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Resource

The Consequences of Decentralization: Inequality in Safety Net Provision in the Post–Welfare Reform Era

Study examining cross-state inequality in social safety net programs due to decentralized social provision. The authors find substantial cross-state inequality in provision, with increased inequality due to the devolution of authority under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA).

The University of Chicago Press Journals
Resource

Plain Language: Foundations 101 Webcast

This is a video recording of a NASWA Feb 2024 webinar on plain language presented for UI state leaders. Slides are also available.

U.S. Department of Labor
Resource

A Bold Policy Agenda for Work-Family Justice and Gender Equity During COVID-19 and Beyond

New America spoke to to the people at the frontlines of the pandemic—professional caregivers, family caregivers, parents, and essential workers—to understand the policy interventions people need most. This report discusses ideas for policymakers, private sector leaders, and community innovators to use in pursuit of work-family justice and equity across race, gender, and class.

New America
Resource

How to Improve Unemployment Insurance for People with Disabilities

The report beings by briefly describing the challenge that disabled workers face in accessing UI and the benefits of reforming the system to better serve these workers. The report then presents a list of considerations for UI reform in the areas of administrative process and technology improvements as well as considerations for policy change.

The Century Foundation
Resource

Elevating Family Input in TANF and Child Support Programs: Resources for Program Staff, Leaders, and Families

This expansive toolkit provides guidance, real world examples, and resources to help TANF and child support programs engage the families they serve in improving service delivery, policy, and program operations.

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

Mass Layoff in Maine: Lessons Learned from the Maine Department of Labor and Peer Workforce Navigators

This report explores the Maine Department of Labor’s (MDOL) remarkable response to this layoff through collaboration with the Peer Workforce Navigator project—a coalition of community-based organizations in partnership with the MDOL—which made a huge difference in the lives of these laid off workers. The report also examines aspects of the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system that might be improved to account for similar situations in the future.

The Century Foundation
Resource

Opportunities to Improve Online Access to SNAP for Older Adults

This issue brief illustrates the challenges that many older adults with low income face in gaining access to benefits online. It addresses digital literacy, access to broadband internet, and the increasing prevalence of connecting online to SNAP.

AARP Foundation
Resource

Providing Unemployment Insurance to Immigrants and Other Excluded Workers

The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and its induced recession underscored the crucial importance of unemployment insurance (UI) to workers, and to the stability of the American economy. Temporary federal expansions of unemployment systems during the pandemic showed how they can quickly be scaled to increase benefit levels and to include categories of workers who were not previously eligible, such as the self-employed, caregivers, and low-wage workers. And, states showed that separate programs can be set up to provide similar benefits to workers who are explicitly excluded from unemployment insurance—in particular immigrants who do not have a documented immigration status.

The Century Foundation
Resource

Community Partnerships Playbook: How to Create Equitable Partnerships between Technical and Community Experts

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?

University of Michigan Science, Technology, and Public Policy program; Detroit Disability Power; the Detroit Justice Center; and We the People Michigan
Resource

Medicaid And SNAP Advance Equity But Sometimes Have Hidden Racial And Ethnic Barriers

This article explores how although SNAP and Medicaid programs have succeeded in narrowing health and nutrition disparities, certain policies hinder goals of racial and ethnic equity, even though they do not explicitly mention race or ethnicity.

Health Affairs
Resource

Automated Decision-Making Systems and Discrimination

This guidebook offers an introduction to the risks of discrimination when using automated decision-making systems. This report also includes helpful definitions related to automation.

AlgorithmWatch
Resource

Tips on Engaging Diverse Groups of External Partners

Initially created to inform federal staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this tip sheet provides key considerations for how organizations can identify potential diverse external partners, conduct outreach to them, and build and sustain productive relationships with them.

Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Resource

Equitable Name Test

An open source list of names and considerations for names to make systems more equitable.

New America and community contributors
Resource

A Modernized System of Benefits is the Foundation for an Inclusive Economy

Report by the Aspen Institute discussing Benefits21, a multi-stakeholder, multi-faceted initiative to integrate and modernize benefits systems. This paper provides an overview of Benefits21, along with a discussion of the shortcomings of current public and private benefit systems.

Aspen Institute Financial Security Program
Resource

Why All Guaranteed Income is Narrative Work: Best Practices for Centering Dignity, Race, and Gender in Cash-Based Programs

This guide and set of best practices was created to help leaders of new and existing guaranteed income projects to thoughtfully narrate their work.

Insight Center for Community Economic Development, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income
Resource

Guidance on Adding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Questions to State Medicaid and CHIP Applications for Health Coverage

Starting November 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) began asking three new optional sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions on the single, streamlined application developed by the Secretary. This guidance gives instructs states on the process for modifying SOGI questions in their applications.

Center on Medicare and Medicaid Services
Resource

Bias-Free Language

The guidelines for bias-free language contain both general guidelines for writing about people without bias across a range of topics and specific guidelines that address the individual characteristics of age, disability, gender, participation in research, racial and ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality.

American Psychological Association (APA)
Resource

In-Depth Equity Assessment Guide

Initially created to inform federal staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this tool describes how to conduct intensive equity assessments of existing programs, policies, and processes. It may be useful for state and local governments, tribal governments, and other private or non-profit organizations focused on programs and policies relating to health and human services.

Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Resource

Researching Inequities in a Public Benefits Program with a Racial Equity Framework, 7 Takeaways

The New Practice Lab partnered with students of the Stanford Public Interest Technology (PIT) Lab to understand how the Racial Equity Framework can shape research by actively identifying anti-Blackness, racial biases, and inequities that exist in public policy. This article documents the findings of the Stanford PIT Lab as they researched how the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) design affects communities of color.

New America
Resource

System Alignment for Young Families: Shifting Human Services to Improve Well-Being for Parents Under 24 and Their Children

Building on previous work to develop a roadmap for system-level change to better support young families, the System Alignment for Young Families Learning Academy (SAYF) set out to support cross-systems teams from state and local human services agencies in establishing a System Alignment Plan (SAP) to support young families.

APHSA
Resource
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
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