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Digital Benefits Network Highlights

 

BenCon 2023 Recap: Lighting the Path for Equitable and Ethical Public Benefits Technology

 

           

 
More than 120 practitioners from 70 organizations gathered in Washington, D.C. on June 13-14, 2023 to collaborate on the future of public benefits delivery at the Digital Benefits Conference (BenCon). 

In this first-of-its-kind gathering, leading practitioners from various levels of government, nonprofits, academia, and industry came together to explore current and emerging research on topics including digital identity, rules as code, automation, centering beneficiaries and workers, and digital service delivery, define goal posts for digital benefits delivery, and collaboratively build tools for the ecosystem.

New and Notable on the Digital Benefits Hub

Check out items recently added to the Digital Benefits Hub

Case Study Spotlight

MyFile NYC Case Study

MyFile NYC is a platform that allows New York City (NYC) residents to securely store, retrieve, and share vital documents with the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) in order to establish eligibility for public services and benefits. Read more about this pilot project led by the New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity and New America’s Digital Impact and Governance Initiative in a new case study from DBN Student Analyst Maja Ochojska.

Benefits Delivery in the News

Recent news coming out of the digital public benefits space

General Safety Net and Public Benefits

• The Book I Wish Every Policy Maker Would Read (NY Times) 
• Congress Ended Pandemic Cash for Parents, but Some States Have Embraced the Idea (NY Times)
• Gig Work Is Hot. Public Benefits Systems Need to Catch Up (Governing.com)
• Is Government Culture Stifling CX Innovation? (FCW)

• New X9 Forum, Open to All, Will Determine Best Path To Modernize USDA SNAP/Food Stamp Cards (X9)
• A Simple Text Message Can Improve Food Stamp Access (Bloomberg)
• U.S. Senate Democrats ask for more specifics on SNAP changes resulting from debt deal (Missouri Independent)
• SNAP work requirements: Did research lead to the homeless exemption? (Rochester.edu)
• SNAP combats racial divides, study finds (Axios)
• How 2 Gen X moms are grappling with food stamp cuts, surviving off $23 in monthly benefits and struggling to pay bills (Business Insider)
• How Benefit Cuts May Create a ‘Perfect Storm’ for Food Insecurity (Civil Eats)

Medicaid

• The Unfolding Medicaid Disaster (The Lever)
• Pennsylvania eliminates Medicaid provider backlog (WFMJ)
• 1.5 Million People Have Lost Medicaid. How Worried Should We Be? (Tradeoffs)
• More Than 1 Million in US Lose Medicaid Health Care Coverage in Post-Pandemic Purge (VOA News)
• Push to Tie Medicaid to Work is Making a Comeback. Georgia is at Forefront. (Washington Post)

• Three years after the pandemic recession, signing up for unemployment still isn’t easy (Marketplace)
• Michigan cracks down on unemployment fraud (Axios)
• Recipients of California unemployment benefits experience issues logging in to new EDD website (ABC7)

Community Spotlight

Disappearing Administrative Burdern through Ex Parte Renewals

Code for America will host a webinar on their experience working shoulder to shoulder with the Minnesota Department of Human Services to maximize the reach of the ex parte renewal process for the state’s aged, blind, and disabled Medicaid clients. Participants will learn what works when it comes to leveraging ex parte renewals for non-MAGI populations and what policy and technology practices to use to maximize the impact of this under-used practice.

The webinar is: July 20, 1:00 to 2:00 EST, and you can register here.
 

Centering Digital Accessibility in Hennepin County: A Digital Service Network Spotlight

Upcoming Events

Digital Identity—What's Next for NIST?

• NIST would like you to invite you to continue the conversation around Digital Identity! On July 25th we will be hosting a public workshop where we will talk about potential changes to our guidance - NIST Special Publication 800-63, Digital Identity Guidelines (Draft NIST SP 800-63-4) – as we continue the adjudication of comments received during the public comment period. The focus will be on key themes from the comment period and the resulting substantive changes we are planning. Please join us as we continue to advance the security, privacy, and equity of digital identity technology. You can register for the event here.

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

• Hyatt Regency Long Beach, CA August 27th-30th, 2023 

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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