Resources
Digitizing Policy

Exploring Rules Communication: Moving Beyond Static Documents to Standardized Code for U.S. Public Benefits Programs

Exploring Rules Communication: Moving Beyond Static Documents to Standardized Code for U.S. Public Benefits Programs
2023
Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, Massive Data Institute
Author(s): 
Ariel Kennan, Lisa Singh, Bianca Dammholz, Keya Sengupta, Jason Yi
Exploring Rules Communication: Moving Beyond Static Documents to Standardized Code for U.S. Public Benefits Programs
Source Sector(s)
Academic
Benefits Program
SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Level of Government
Federal/National
State/Provincial
County
Local/Municipal
Territorial
Tribal/Indigenous
Location
Format
Academic Article

This brief analyzes the current state of federal and state government communication around benefits eligibility rules and policy and how these documents are being tracked and adapted into code by external organizations. This work includes comparisons between coded examples of policy and potential options for standardizing code based on established and emerging data standards, tools, and frameworks.