General Safety Net Policies

This compilation shares some general family safety net policies that states can choose to put into place to support economic security for families with young children.This Urban Institute paper includes a comprehensive list of ways to improve public benefits access and retention through changing policies, processes/practices, and/or technology.

Work Requirements

Reducing or eliminating work requirements, or defending against increased work requirements, for Medicaid, SNAP, housing, and TANF

Source:

Urban: Work Requirements Tracker

Streamlining Through New or Updated Technologies

Creating new eligibility systems or improve existing systems and build integration into systems to help people apply for multiple benefits through a single process
Developing online applications or web portals through which applicants can be prescreened for eligibility, apply for benefits, find information on their benefit status, report status changes, and submit documents
Implementing lobby management technology to maximize efficiency and minimize wait times by providing information about queues to staff managers and customers
Considering electronic data verification which speeds up application and renewal processes, and document imaging systems, which facilitate paperless processes and file sharing across programs and locations
Creating mobile-friendly applications, and authorizing the use of telephonic and electronic signatures and online scheduling
Expand allowable methods of proving identity and establish a reasonable compatibility threshold for identity data matching

Example: South Carolina’s First 5 portal

Source:

Urban Institute: Strategies for States to Improve Safety Net Program Access and Efficiency

Urban: Strategies for Improving Public Benefits Access and Retention

New America New Practice Lab: Lost in the Labyrinth: Helping Parents Navigate Early Care and Education Programs

Streamlining Through New or Updated Policies

Making operations more efficient by reducing the use of face-to-face interviews, simplifying eligibility and verification requirements, and lengthening certification periods
Saving time for customers and caseworkers by exploring whether existing state program application requirements ask for more documentation than is mandated by federal law
Aligning policies across programs to reduce administrative burdens on families eligible for more than one program
Linking eligibility across benefits programs and strengthening referrals among programs
Aligning renewal dates across benefits programs

Source:

Urban Institute: Strategies for States to Improve Safety Net Program Access and Efficiency

Urban: Strategies for Improving Public Benefits Access and Retention

Improving Business Practices

Updating methods for greeting customers, accepting applications, making eligibility determinations, and processing changes and renewals
Streamlining operations, such as changing the layout of lobbies in local offices, reallocating tasks among staff members, and eliminating unnecessary steps
Integrating business processes across programs, such as by integrating intake for customers seeking assistance through multiple programs and having workers who can process applications for multiple programs

Source:

Urban Institute: Strategies for States to Improve Safety Net Program Access and Efficiency

Reducing Administrative Burden of Accessing the Safety Net

Executing outreach and marketing efforts to increase awareness of benefit availability
Reducing paperwork and in-person interview requirements
Streamlining the application processes across and within programs
Reducing the frequency and difficulty of recertification requirements
Removing asset tests and asset limits
Cutting work requirements
Increasing coordination of programs at state and federal levels
Funding and staffing benefits agencies so they are able to process claims efficiently

Examples:

Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts

Source:

Center for American Progress: How To Address the Administrative Burdens of Accessing the Safety Net

CLASP: Using Administrative Advocacy to Improve Access to Public Benefits

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

Reducing Benefit Cliffs

Smoothing benefit cliffs so that a small increase in income doesn’t mean families lose needed benefits
See the Leap Fund resource below for an overall 101 on benefit cliffs, as well as some examples of state legislation.

Examples:

Ohio, DC, Florida, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Vermont, Iowa, Texas

Sources:

NCCP: Family Resource Simulator Policy Impact Case Studies

NCSL: Addressing Benefits Cliffs

Leap Fund: Benefit Cliffs: Policy Shouldn’t Punish Promotion

Adjusting Asset Limits

Removing or substantially increasing asset limits when determining eligibility for safety net programs

Source:

NCCP/Bank Street: Limited by Design: How Restrictive Asset Limits Punish Families and Perpetuate the Cycle of Poverty

Urban Institute: Strategies for Improving Public Benefits Access and Retention

CLASP: Eliminating Asset Limits: Creating Savings for Families and State Governments

Expanding Asset Exemptions

Expanding the types of assets that are exempt when determining eligibility for safety net programs
Expanding the availability of exempt savings accounts

Source:

NCCP/Bank Street: Limited by Design: How Restrictive Asset Limits Punish Families and Perpetuate the Cycle of Poverty

Connecting Families to Services

State approaches that include call centers, online directories of services, and developmental screening and referral data systems
Community approaches that include hubs in elementary schools, coordinated eligibility and enrollment processes through community coalitions, care coordination teams in local health departments, trusted advisors in local parent coalitions, Help Me Grow expansion through sub-affiliates
Innovative partnerships with 211, birth certificate data, home visiting, hospitals for plan of safe care, paid family/medical leave

Examples:

Louisiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington

Source:

Zero to Three (ZTT): Strengthening Connections: State Approaches to Connecting Families to Services

Establishing/Increasing Minimum Wage