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Digital Benefits Network Highlights

 

New Developments in Unemployment Insurance Modernization Call

The Digital Benefits Network hosted a virtual conversation in April focused on recent developments in unemployment insurance modernization.

Moderators Adam Bobrow and Marcus Courtney, the co-convenors of the DBN’s UI Technology Coordinating Coalition, we were joined by Andrew Stettner, the Deputy Director for Policy and Larry Bafundo, the Deputy Director for Technology of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of UI Modernization (OUIM) and Jennifer Phillips, the Assistant Deputy Director of Service Delivery at the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) for the discussion.

Speakers shared about OUIM’s technology and policy vision, how they are allocating the $2B from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the types of support they are providing for states, and different ways the partnership between OUIM and IDES has been "instantly illuminating" for Illinois.

You can watch the full recording of the conversation and access the shared resources document with detailed panelist bios, resources, and links shared by the audience. For a detailed overview of the call, check out our recap blog post by Grace Li, one of the DBN’s Student Analysts and graduating Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy student. 

 

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RSVP: Live from BenCon 2023

 

     

Join us on the morning of June 14th from 9 am - 12:30 pm ET for the livestream from the Digital Benefits Conference — BenCon 2023! We will scan the horizon for topics that we must learn about and build for as digital benefits practitioners in order to create equitable and ethical service delivery. Register here!

The Equitable Tech Horizon in Digital Benefits Hear perspectives on topics including centering beneficiaries and workers in new ways, digital service delivery, digital identity, and automation.
 

• Amy Ashida, GSA/TTS Public Benefits Studio
• Jordan Burris, Socure
• Elizabeth Laird, Center for Democracy and Technology
• Florence Noël, Civilla
• Moderator: Ariel Kennan, Digital Benefits Network 

Lightning talks on innovative ideas, approaches, and pilots to understand and improve benefits delivery  

• Pamela Herd, Georgetown University
• Jeramia Garcia Ramadan, Arizona Department of Economic Security 
• Invited: Sarah Esty, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Jennifer Pahlka, Deputy CTO in President Obama’s Administration and author, will share her new book, Recoding America following its public release on June 13th.

New and Notable on the Digital Benefits Hub

Check out items recently added to the Digital Benefits Hub

Community Spotlight

New Administrative Burden Scale

Our colleagues at the Better Government Lab at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University have developed a new scale for measuring the experience of burden when accessing public benefits. They offer both a three-item scale and a single-item scale, which can be utilized for any public benefit program. The shorter scales provide a less burdensome way to measure by requiring less information from users.  They tested the methodology in an online survey to SNAP users from December 2022-January 2023, which garnered responses from 3,817 users. The Better Government Lab is eager to see the scale deployed in user surveys, and potentially share anonymized data. To learn more about the scale and how to implement it, please email bettergovernmentlab@georgetown.edu.

Benefits Delivery in the News

Recent news coming out of the digital public benefits space

General Safety Net and Public Benefits

• This startup helps government make sure public policy actually helps people (Fast Company) 

Digital Service Delivery

• USDA aims to build in-house tech talent, CX expertise with new digital services team (FCW)
• Trust Will Be Key for US Notify—a Federal Text Message Service for State Benefits (Nextgov)

• Americans deserve government tech that delivers (FedScoop)

SNAP & TANF

• New Data Sheds Light on Impact of Expanded SNAP Benefits on Households (Route Fifty)
• Stolen, cloned and sold: Inside the digital black market for SNAP benefits (Baltimore Banner)

• TANF Provisions in McCarthy Bill Give States Incentives to Take Cash Benefits Away From Families With the Most Significant Needs (CBPP)

Medicaid

• State Policy Choices Are Likely to Affect the Extent of Medicaid Enrollment Declines During the Unwinding Period (KFF)

• Millions of kids could lose health coverage as states purge Medicaid rolls (Stateline)

• Will North Carolina Be the ‘Beginning of the End’ of the Medicaid Expansion Fight? (NY Times)

Unemployment Insurance

• Some states may be barring the door to unemployment benefits — featuring DBN data (FCW)
• Labor Department Sets Out New Vision for IT Modernization (FedScoop)
• US Department of Labor Launches Toolkit To Help States Promote, Improve, Expand Equitable Access To Unemployment Insurance Benefits (U.S. DOL)
• US Department of Labor Awards Nearly $2.3m To Hawaii To Promote Equitable Access To State’s Unemployment Insurance System (U.S. DOL)
• New, modern computer system coming to UIA with Deloitte contract signing (Michigan)
• Improving the “Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act” (Niskanen Center)
• Groups File Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against New York State Department of Labor for Discriminating in Unemployment Insurance Procedures (National Center for Law and Economic Justice)

Paid Leave

• Minnesota Senate Passes Paid Family and Medical Leave Bill (Axios)

Case Study Spotlight

Learning Towards an API Standard in WIC: A Case Study in Montana 

The largely closed management information systems (MIS) used in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs make it difficult to incorporate new tools that could facilitate access for benefits seekers and ease staff workloads.

In order to address this issue, Nava PBC partnered with the state of Montana to learn towards an Application Programming Interface (API) standard in WIC, that could enable existing systems to more easily connect with outside tools and potentially increase program access.Nava developed an eligibility screener for applicants, as well as a prototype API endpoint for WIC staff to receive information collected through it.

Upcoming Events

Code for America Summit: Showing What’s Possible in a Changing World

• Washington, DC May 16th-17th, 2023 
• Say hello to Ariel and Shanelle from the DBN team if you’re also attending! 

APHSA National Human Services Summit: Co-creating the Future of Human Services (Policy and Practice)

• Hyatt Regency Baltimore, MD May 21st-24th, 2023
• Check out a demo and workshop on the Digital Benefits Hub, on May 23rd, from 4:30-5:30 in room Constellation F.

APHSA Economic Mobility & Well-Being Conference: SNAP, TANF & Program Integrity

• Hyatt Regency Long Beach, CA August 27th-30th, 2023 
• Meet Elizabeth from the DBN team.

What We Do

The Digital Benefits Network (DBN) convenes practitioners who work in and alongside every level of government to spark dialogue, share resources, and support better digital delivery of public benefits and services.

Stay Connected

If you have any ideas, feedback or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at digitalbenefits@georgetown.edu. Thank you for being a part of our community. 

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