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Technology in the public sector and the future of government work

This report explores technologies that have the potential to significantly affect employment and job quality in the public sector, the factors that drive choices about which technologies are adopted and how they are implemented, how technology will change the experience of public sector work, and what kinds of interventions can protect against potential downsides of technology use in the public sector. The report categories technologies into five overlapping categories including manual task automation, process automation, automated decision-making systems, integrated data systems, and electronic monitoring.

UC Berkeley Labor Center
Report

A Tsunami of Volatility: The Impact of the Design and Implementation of CARES Act Supplemental Unemployment Benefits on Lower-Income Households

While CARES Act benefits themselves have been critical to households, their design and implementation have led to more uncertainty and volatility for lower-income households. This report discusses the financial resilience strategies families used to manage gaps before benefits arrived, in addition to providing recommendations for how benefits can be better designed in the future to fit the financial lives of lower-income households.

Commonwealth
Report

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

This nine-minute video, produced after the completion of the TANF Data Collaborative (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. In particular, they describe their research questions and discuss building data capacity, integrating datasets, networking with other states, increasing collaboration between state and county agencies, learning new technical skills, and the benefits of being able to draw from diverse skillsets, all within the context of the TDC Pilot.

MDRC
Video

Key Practices to Reduce Improper Payments through Identity Verification

This report from the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program outlines efforts to use identity verification to reduce improper payments in government programs, while mitigating bias and disparate impacts.

Report

Modernizing Public Benefits Delivery: How Innovation Can Deliver Results for Eligible Households and Taxpayers

A modernized public benefits system would better serve program participants, administrators, policy makers, and taxpayers. This paper proposes a set of principles both define the desired future state and outline the values that shape decision making along the way. Practices describe the processes needed to achieve modernization.

National Academy of Public Administration
Report

ideas42 Methodology

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.

The Communication Initiative Network
Toolkit

Incremental Steps to Integrated Benefits

By taking on one or more steps to integrate benefits incrementally, on a small, more localized scale, benefits administrators can make progress towards improving resident and staff experiences. This guide outlines ideas for launching an integrated benefits application in stages, and strategies to pilot new tools.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Report

Race and Inequity in Identity Proofing Methods

The vast fraud committed through the use of stolen and synthetic identities in UI programs has spotlighted the need for updated identity fraud detection mechanisms. As states are implementing new technologies and systems, they need to consider the ways in which they are impacting racial inequities in UI benefits.

U.S. Digital Response
Toolkit

The Time is Now

This brief video outlines remote identity verification challenges and argues for updated systems.

Better Identity Coalition
Video

Looking before we leap: Exploring AI and data science ethics review process

This report explores the role that academic and corporate Research Ethics Committees play in evaluating AI and data science research for ethical issues, and also investigates the kinds of common challenges these bodies face.

Ada Lovelace Institute, University of Exeter’s Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Alan Turing Institute
Report

Application Modernization is an Imperative for State Governments

NASCIO and VMware conducted a study during 2022 on the topic of state government application modernization. This study included an online survey and detailed individual interviews of state and territorial CIOs. The report presents findings from this research, key recommendations and a playbook for moving forward with application modernization.

NASCIO, VMware
No items found.

Tips on Equitable Communication Practices in a Policy Context

Initially created to inform federal staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this tip sheet highlights the importance of using equitable communication and includes tips, guiding questions, and additional resources.

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

AI and the Future of Government Services: A conversation with Afua Bruce

Trooper Sanders interviews Afua Bruce, a leading public interest technologis to examine the pros and cons of AI and key considerations for when humans rely on technological solutions.

Benefits Data Trust
Video

The CUTGroup Book: Civic User Testing Group as a New Model for UX Testing, Digital Skills Development, and Community Engagement in Civic Tech

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.

The CUTGroup Book
Toolkit

Recommendations to Set Path for Reform at the Employment Development Department

To better serve workers who have experienced job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a strike team charged with creating a blueprint for improvements at the Employment Development Department (EDD). In this report, the Strike Team outlines its recommendations and suggested next steps for the EDD to address the backlog and improve on future processing of unemployment claims.

GovOps
Report

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
Academic Article

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
Policy Brief

Federal plain language guidelines

Guidelines to help organizations write in compliance with the Plain Writing Act of 2010.

Plainlanguage.gov
Organization Website

CSNS Mecklenburg: Strengthening Community Relationship to End Child Hunger

This report outlines how the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services (DSS) is leading an initiative to coordinate nutrition supports across government and community partners to streamline access to resources that improve food security for families in Mecklenburg County. Through this project, households experiencing food insecurity will not only have a better understanding of the resources and services available to them, but also will find it easier to apply for public benefit programs.

Share Our Strength, American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Case Study

Text to Connect: Evaluation of your Text Messaging Program to Reduce SNAP Churn

This guide is the second in a series designed to help SNAP administrators implement a text messaging program to reduce SNAP churn. This guide focuses on designing an evaluation plan to assess the impact of a text messaging program.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University, Benefits Data Trust
Toolkit

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
Report

Facial Recognition Technologies: A Primer

This primer is written for a non-technical audience to increase understanding of the terminology, applications, and difficulties of evaluating facial recognition technologies.

Algorithmic Justice League
Report

WIC Certification and Eligibility Resource and Best Practices Guide

The WIC Certification and Eligibility Resource and Best Practices Guide is a compilation of existing regulations and best practices that WIC state and local agencies may choose to use when determining eligibility for the program. The guide walks through the certification process.

Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
Government Documents

Login.gov to provide authentication and identity proofing services to a limited number of federally funded state and local government programs

The US General Services Administration announces that it is seeking a limited number of state and local government partners to take advantage of login.gov to administer their federally funded programs.

Login.gov
Non-Academic Article

Summer EBT Outreach Toolkit

This toolkit helps implementing agencies (as well as other stakeholders and partners) promote the Summer EBT program, also known as SUN Bucks. These resources can help ensure families know about the new program and understand how to use their benefits.

USDA
Toolkit

Improving Public Programs for Low-Income Tax Filers

To inform future efforts to bring more low-income tax filers into the tax system, this report focuses on the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and investigates the challenges and opportunities to better serve the American people and improve the experience of tax filing.

New America
Report

Equitable Name Test

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

New America and community contributors
Non-Academic Article

WIC Eligibility Content Audit and Usability Evaluation Report

We reviewed the online eligibility web presence of all 89 WIC entities to understand what WIC eligibility information each entity gives to potential participants. This report shares the results of our comprehensive content audit and heuristic evaluation of eligibility pre-screeners, including ratings on security, mobile-friendly design, accessibility, and more. The report includes actionable steps entities can take to make their eligibility information easier to understand and use.

Service Design Collective
Report

Customer Experience Principles for Unemployment Insurance

The blog post sets up a foundational perspective on CX principles for the state UI agencies.

U.S. Department of Labor
Government Documents

The Social Life of Algorithmic Harms

This series of essays seeks to expand our vocabulary of algorithmic harms to help protect against them.

Data & Society
Non-Academic Article

Design in the Public Sector: Toward a Human Centered Model of Public Governance

This paper analyses 15 cases of design in the public sector to arrive at a theoretical characterization of design in the public sector that aligns with descriptions in non-public settings. It also considers public design practices might signal the emergence of human-centered models of public governance that counterbalance more bureaucratic and analytical traditions.

Public Management Review
Academic Article

Improving Unemployment Insurance Applications with CX Principles

This resource contains principles and examples of high-impact improvements to consider making in different parts of the online application. CX principles for online applications describes broadly applicable best practices that when implemented across the various sections of an online application can increase claimant self-service and reduce the need for interventions from state agency staff. The employer and occupation sections highlight promising improvements within these sections to collect employment history, reason for filing for unemployment (separation information), and a claimant’s occupation. Gathering the information for these sections is particularly complex for claimants and state agencies alike.

U.S. Department of Labor
Toolkit

How Human-Centered Is our Social Safety Net?

This article discusses Code for America’s research into the user experience of applying or Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, WIC, and LIHEAP in the United States. They found that user experience applying for benefits programs varies greatly by (and often within) each state.

Code for America
Non-Academic Article

The Federal government is redesigning how it delivers services

Article announcing five new projects by the Office of Management and Budget that will improve experiences the public has with the government during significant movements in their lives. These “life experience” projects are at the center of a new model for how the Federal Government should better design and deliver benefits, services, and programs to the American people during the moments in their lives that matter most.

Performance.gov
Non-Academic Article

What the Digital Benefits Network is Reading on Automation

In this piece, the Digital Benefits Network shares several sources—from journalistic pieces, to reports and academic articles—we’ve found useful and interesting in our reading on automation and artificial intelligence.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
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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
Toolkit

Unpacking the White House blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights

On December 5, 2022, an expert panel, including representatives from the White House, unpacked what’s included in the AI Bill of Rights, and explored how to operationalize such guidance among consumers, developers, and other users designing and implementing automated decisions.

Brookings Institution
Presentation

Struggles and solutions: Insights into the SNAP Application Process from Illinois Outreach Workers and Applicants

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.

Report

The Qualitative Research Practice Guide

This guide touches on everything from Code for America’s core research philosophy, to our approach to ethics and trauma-informed research, to specific research methods. It also includes plenty of practical tips on planning and executing research, as well as how to synthesize your findings into action.

Code for America
Toolkit

What We Measure Matters: Enhanced Performance Metrics for SNAP and Medicaid Would Promote a More Human-Centered Delivery System

This post from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues that the traditional measures of program performance say little about the human experience of accessing benefits, and argues for enhanced performance metrics to support more human-centered delivery.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Non-Academic Article

Opportunities to Streamline Enrollment Across Public Benefit Programs

Data-sharing across public benefits programs can help enroll low-income people into other benefits for which they qualify. This guide helps local policymakers and program officials identify opportunities under federal law to streamline the application and enrollment process.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Report

State Software Budgeting Handbook

Handbook by 18F designed for executives, budget specialists, legislators, and other “non-technical” decision-makers who fund or oversee state government technology projects that receive federal funding and implement the necessary technology to support federal programs. It aids in setting projects up for success by asking the right questions, identifying the right outcomes, and equally important, empowering decision-makers with a basic knowledge of the fundamental principles of modern software design.

18F
Toolkit

Top Insights From a Moment in History

APHSA's President and CEO reflects on lessons and opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and constructs a national narrative around the moment.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Non-Academic Article

U.S. Digital Service (USDS) Medicaid Renewals Playbook

This playbook was created by the U.S. Digital Service as a rapid-response guide for civic technologists providing direct technical assistance to states during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Unwinding. The content in this playbook focuses on strategies to rapidly decrease the burden of Medicaid renewals on members of the public and state staff.

U.S. Digital Service
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A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide

This guide outlines the types of projects, partnerships, and people that civic technologists encounter, as well as the methods they can use to make lasting change.

Cyd Harrell
Book

Large Language Models (LLMs): An Explainer

In this blog post, CSET’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) Engineer, James Dunham, helps explain LLMs in plain English.

Center for Security and Emerging Technology
No items found.

Responsible Design for Digital Communities

Digital interfaces are the bridges to our communities. Technology can’t fix the systemic inequality revealed by COVID19, but it can help make connections with our communities better. This tool kit and website brings together emergent best practices, workflows, and tools that communities, educators, mutual aid groups, designers, artists and activists are using for community building, and how design needs to change to best suit people, right now.

Responsible Design for Digital Communities
Toolkit

Technology, Data, and Design-Enabled Approaches for a More Responsive, Effective Social Safety Net

This landscape analysis examines data, design, technology, and innovation-enabled approaches that make it easier for eligible people to enroll in, and receive, federally-funded social safety net benefits, with a focus on the earliest adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Report

Contracting for Transformation Toolkit

Tangible tools, scoring guides and strategies to embed equity and wellbeing into your procurement process. Designed for human services with opportunities to apply these principles to other fields.

Full Fame Initiative
Toolkit

Analysis of Robotic Process Automation in SNAP: Three Case Studies

This study examines the use of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies by three state agencies—Georgia, New Mexico, and Connecticut—to administer the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). RPA is software that integrates with other programs to automatically complete repetitive processes that normally are performed by humans.

USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Insight Policy Research, Inc.
Government Documents

FCC Training on Public Benefits Texting

Federal Communications Commission present on how state and local agencies can legally use SMS messaging to engage with public benefits applicants and recipients, including compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Performance.gov and Federal Communications Commission
Video

Enterprise Single Sign-On Playbook

The Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) Playbook is a practical guide to help federal agencies implement or modernize an SSO service for federal employee access to government applications.

Identity, Credential, and Access Management Subcommittee of the Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Council, General Services Administration Office of Government-wide Policy, Identity Assurance and Trusted Access Division
Toolkit

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
Toolkit

A Pivotal Moment

Technologists are crucial to help governments, social service providers, and advocacy groups use technology to confront and address the challenges and inequities that inevitably arise from technological change. However, there are not enough technologists working or interested in joining public interest fields to meet growing demand. This report identifies opportunities to build the field of public interest technology, and ways that philanthropy and other stakeholders can invest to best support such efforts.

NetGain Partnership
Report

Removing Barriers: Public Benefits and Voter Registration

The GetCalFresh team, the California Department of Social Services, and the California Secretary of State’s office worked together to create a simplified, accessible voter registration experience with clients. When people come to GetCalFresh.org, they are looking to apply for food assistance, so the state of California did not want voter registration to become an obstacle to the goal of getting food assistance. Thus, rather than directing clients to anther website, they offered to text clients a link to the CA Secretary of State’s voter website with directions on how to register.

Code for America
Non-Academic Article

An Introduction to Digital Identity

This short explainer video introduces digital identity and argues for modernizing identity systems in the United States, in partnership with government.

Better Identity Coalition
Video

Strategies for Improving Public Benefits Access and Retention

This report presents a menu of strategies that have the potential to increase access to individual public benefit programs or a package of benefits. It focuses on Illinois, but the strategies identified are relevant throughout the country.

Urban Institute
Report

Digital Identity and Inclusion: Tracing Technological Transitions

This article explores technological transformations underway in the digital identity sector.

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Academic Article

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
Toolkit

COVID Response Project: Lessons Learned from State Adaptation and Federal Flexibilities

The COVID Response Project was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to document the real-time impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on state human services agencies and capture state perspectives on lessons learned to guide future federal policymaking and state implementation. The project was completed by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Regional Operations. Insights from the report reflect information obtained through APHSA’s on-going support of state human services agencies’ COVID-19 response efforts as well as a series of in-depth interviews with executive leadership of the 14 state health and human services agencies in ACF’s Region 1 (New England) and Region 4 (Southeast) areas.

Administration for Children & Families, American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Report

Software Sharing Models

Governments around the world are sharing custom-built software already, and have done so for many years. It’s vital, cost-saving, and meets the needs of users. This article provides examples of a range of different software sharing models.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Non-Academic Article

Going Big with Human-Centered Redesign

Redesigning benefits applications, renewals, and correspondence using human-centered design is one of the most impactful things state and local government agencies can do to ensure that all eligible residents can access social safety net resources. This guide includes practical insights for benefits administrators considering a comprehensive redesign of benefits delivery processes.

Civilla, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Toolkit

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
Toolkit

Proposed Performance Standards for Equitable Access to Unemployment Insurance

This proposal recommends a set of new federal performance standards that would measure and improve UI access. The proposal is intended to supplement existing federal UI standards, but all UI standards and metrics should be periodically reevaluated and updated as the conditions facing unemployed workers and benefit delivery change.

National Employment Law Project (NELP)
Non-Academic Article

Evaluation of the USDA Summer EBT Demonstrations: Lessons Learned From More Than a Decade of Research

FNS conducted evaluations of multiple pilot programs to strengthen access to food during the summer when school is out of session. Evaluations found that Summer EBT reduces childhood food insecurity by a significant amount, including the most severe form of food insecurity; some eligible households do not redeem some or any of their benefits; and parents and caregivers have positive opinions of Summer EBT.

USDA FNS
Non-Academic Article

Designing Better Programs for Young Parents & Families

This piece highlights lessons learned from the first phase of The Southeastern Cohort on Young Parents and Families—an effort focused on improving economic stability and well-being outcomes for young parent families (January to September 2020)—which has focused on interagency collaboration and community engagement to develop plans for improving policies and program practices to support young parent families. The lessons reflected center on: understanding and engaging young parents, continuous improvement through data and feedback, collaborating and aligning services, and insights related to providing services during COVID-19. These insights can guide government agencies, service providers, or others interested in making efforts at better understanding and supporting young families in their communities through tailored programs and services.

Third Sector, American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Report

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
Toolkit

OECD Framework for the Classification of AI systems

To help policy makers, regulators, legislators and others characterize AI systems deployed in specific contexts, the OECD has developed a user-friendly tool to evaluate AI systems from a policy perspective.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Report

DA 23-62: FCC Declaratory Ruling on Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 for Medicaid

Ruling from the FCC granting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to confirm that federal and state governmental agencies working in conjunction with local governments, governmental contractors, and managed care entities acting under contract with state governments may, under certain circumstances, make autodialed and prerecorded or artificial voice calls or send autodialed text messages to raise awareness of the eligibility and enrollment requirements for these governmental health care programs without violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Federal Communications Commission
Government Documents

Toolkit for Supporting Young Families Through Human Services

This toolkit provides links to a multitude of resources to help health and human services leaders evaluate and intentionally design programs to meet the unique needs of young families.

American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
Toolkit

Seniors and SNAP

Cross-sector research indicates that access to SNAP reduces healthcare spending, improves health, and allows low-income seniors to age in place with dignity. However, though they qualify, a substantial portion of seniors are not enrolled in SNAP, preventing them from saving on healthcare expenses.

Benefits Data Trust
Non-Academic Article

Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters

This reporting explores how algorithms used to screen prospective tenants, including those waiting for public housing, can block renters from housing based on faulty information.

The Markup
News

Digital Authentication and Identity Proofing in Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) Applications

On May 19, 2023, the Digital Benefits Network published a new, open dataset documenting authentication and identity proofing requirements across online SNAP, WIC, TANF, Medicaid, child care (CCAP) applications, and unemployment insurance applications. This page includes data and observations about authentication and identity proofing steps specifically for online applications that include child care applications.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Dataset

Resources to Support State Outreach to Non-Filers Eligible for Stimulus Payments

About 12 million Americans risk missing out on stimulus payments provided through the CARES Act. State outreach efforts are critical to connect people to the $1,200 stimulus payments, and the CBPP lists various resources to assist in state outreach efforts on this webpage.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Link to Other Resources

NIST: AI Risk Management Framework

In collaboration with the private and public sectors, NIST has developed a framework to better manage risks to individuals, organizations, and society associated with artificial intelligence (AI). The framework is intended for voluntary use and to improve the ability to incorporate trustworthiness considerations into the design, development, use, and evaluation of AI products, services, and systems.

National Institute of Standards and Technology
Toolkit

After the toolkit: anticipatory logics and the future of government

Building on the concept of anticipatory governance, this article aims to show how approaches associated with foresight and design can enact an anticipatory logic which is necessary for public administrations to achieve their goals in the face of uncertainty and dynamic environments.

Policy Design and Practice
Academic Article

Better Language Translation Through Machine Learning: Everything I Wish I Knew 6 Months Ago

A discussion of lessons learned in the City of San José’s efforts to provide inclusive digital services for all residents through the San José 311 app.

The Startup
Non-Academic Article

Helping Families Access Public Benefits with AI and Automation

Webinar that shares Nava’s partnership with the Gates Foundation and the Benefits Data Trust that seeks to answer if generative and predictive AI can be used ethically to help reduce administrative burdens for benefits navigators.

Nava PBC
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Mapping the Applicant Experience of Benefit Enrollment

Applicants to federal aid programs face numerous barriers in accessing benefits they are eligible for. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare conducted an extensive qualitative user research study to better understand applicant experience in enrolling in public assistance programs. Based on the results, the study emphasizes the need for simplified, streamlined and less burdensome application processes.

U.S. Digital Service, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Report

18F Methods: Journey Mapping

18F describes journey mapping: a visualization of the major interactions shaping a user’s experience of a product or service. This allows design teams to view a service through the perspective of the user and incorporate their learnings throughout the development process.

18F
Toolkit

Medicaid Churn Toolkit

Benefits Data Trust (BDT)  has developed this “Medicaid Churn Toolkit” to guide Medicaid agencies and their partners in the design and implementation of efforts to reduce churn as they plan for the resumption of normal eligibility and enrollment actions after the after the initial COVID shock.

Benefits Data Trust
Toolkit

Listening to SNAP Participants to Improve Access to the Expanded Child Tax Credit

Well-designed, user-focused tools that allow for simple application are key to ensuring that families most in need receive the Child Tax Credit. Reaching these households will require a robust effort from the IRS to create user-friendly tools in partnership with organizations with a direct connection to eligible recipients.

Propel, University of Michigan Poverty Solutions
Academic Article

Building a Stronger Foundation for American Families: Options for Child Tax Credit Reform

Our existing maze of family tax benefits — including the CTC, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), and head of household (HoH) filing status — has several structural deficiencies that make overhauling the system a prerequisite for any effort to boost support for families with children. The report offers several options for expanding and streamlining family tax benefits to address these issues.

Niskanen Center
Non-Academic Article

Build and Fund Staff Capacity in Your Government Agency to Integrate Benefits

This resource guide outlines one approach to integrating benefits: building the in-house capacity to champion and supervise benefits integration.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Report

Overcoming Barriers: Finding Better Ways to Ask GetCalFresh Applicants About Income

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.

Code for America
Non-Academic Article

Decoded: Digital Identity in Public Benefits

In 2024, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Digital Benefits Network led a workshop to explore key terms related to digital identity, and provide ecosystem-level context on how authentication and identity proofing may show up in the online benefits experience and impact clients. This resource links to the presentation slides.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Presentation

Building Modular, Reusable, and Flexible Components, Tools, and Formats

This resource contains specific examples that highlight the advantages of designing reusable code components, software tools, or design formats. This guide also illustrates the possibilities for connecting new components to existing system infrastructure.

Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University
Report

Cutting Red Tape for Americans Renewing Their Health Coverage

After the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) ended, the Facing a Financial Shock team at the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) partnered with the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) and state Medicaid agencies to improve eligibility and enrollment systems. By mobilizing a small strike team of implementers to analyze the software and processes that are used to complete health coverage renewals, USDS helped CMCS and state teams tackle major challenges.

United States Digital Service
Case Study

COVID-19 Exposes How Many Unemployment Websites Are Truly Terrible

Unemployment applicants across the country are experiencing technical issues as they try to file applications, and these difficulties are exacerbated by the old architecture that state governments use to maintain their websites.

Huffington Post
News

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
Policy Brief

How to Use the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS)

USWDS provides principles, guidance, and code to help you design and build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites and digital services.

Digital.gov
Government Documents

Government By Algorithm: Artificial Intelligence In Federal Administrative Agencies

Little is known about how agencies are currently using AI systems, and little attention has been devoted to how agencies acquire such tools or oversee their use.

Stanford RegLab
Report

Better Identity at Five Years: An Updated Policy Blueprint and Report Card

In 2018 the Better Identity Coalition released a Policy Blueprint outlining five key initiatives that to solve the majority of America’s challenges in the digital identity space. This report from 2024 grades progress on each of the original Blueprint’s five key initiatives – as well as the 19 items that were contained in the “action plan” to support those initiatives.

Better Identity Coalition
Report

Improving Customer Service in Health and Human Services Through Technology

This paper outlines common challenges agencies face while administering benefits and gives examples of how technology can streamline the process. It also discusses the importance of user-centered design, and the necessity of utilizing technology as part of a holistic strategy to implement public benefits.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Report

Building and Reusing Open Source Tools for Government

A primer by New America for government entities thinking about embracing open-source solutions. This report is based on interviews with experts in the field, the organization’s work on piloting open source projects with partners around the world, and a review of nearly 50 reports, documents, and resources on the creation and usage of open source software.

New America
Report

What Are Human Services, and How Do State Governments Structure Them?

This report describes the human services landscape within state governments and uses case studies to show the range of approaches state governments take in structuring their human services systems. It also explores some implications of these structures for alignment and coordination within human services and with the health care sector.

Urban Institute
Report

The Cash Assistance Implementation Playbook

The purpose of this document is to outline possible technical approaches to supporting a cash assistance program. The report aims to both capture individual approaches as well as overarching insights taken from across the approaches taken by different organizations.

New America
Toolkit

The Privacy-Bias Tradeoff: Data Minimization and Racial Disparity Assessments in U.S. Government

An emerging concern in algorithmic fairness is the tension with privacy interests. Data minimization can restrict access to protected attributes, such as race and ethnicity, for bias assessment and mitigation. This paper examines how this “privacy-bias tradeoff” has become an important battleground for fairness assessments in the U.S. government and provides rich lessons for resolving these tradeoffs.

2023 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT ’23)
Academic Article

C-STAT: Achieving Results for Colorado - Summary Report

This report describes C-Stat 2.0, an updated version of the the Colorado Department of Human Services’ performance-based analysis strategy that allows them to better focus on and improve performance outcomes that enhance people’s lives.

Colorado Department of Human Services
Report

Reddit Is America’s Unofficial Unemployment Hotline

Thousands of Americans have begun frequenting the r/Unemployment subreddit to get help navigating state and federal unemployment systems.

The New York Times
News
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