Code for America Launches New Initiative to Expand Its Work with State Governments and Transform America’s Social Safety Net

San Francisco — Code for America—the leading nonprofit organization that works in partnership with government and community organizations to support the delivery of equitable, accessible digital tools and services—today announced that it is launching a new initiative to transform America’s social safety net and advance the equitable delivery of government services.   

Supported by funding from Blue Meridian Partners, the cornerstone of this multi-year effort is direct engagement and partnership with government agencies and community organizations to reimagine the delivery of essential safety net benefits—such as food assistance and medical care—that promote the health and wellbeing of children, adults, and seniors.  

Representatives from interested state governments and community organizations can sign up to receive additional information as it becomes available including a soon-to-be-released Request for Information (codeforamerica.org/safetynetpartner).

“Code for America has a vision for a modern safety net that is equitable and easy for people to use,” said Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America. “But following years of neglect and direct attacks, our systems are badly frayed. So today, we’re launching a new initiative to transform our safety net, make sure that it is people-centered, and is accessible to all–especially by those who have been historically marginalized. We look forward to working in partnership with state governments and community organizations to catalyze change across the nation.” 

“Nearly $60 billion in government benefits go unclaimed each year by people who are eligible. Code for America is leading a groundbreaking effort to work together with government to design and build a modern, digital safety net,” said Nancy Roob, CEO, Blue Meridian Partners. “This important work will reduce barriers to essential benefits that can help millions of individuals and families move up the economic ladder and change the lives of generations to come.”

This new initiative will work with state agencies by matching their needs with the most promising opportunities to reduce barriers and design human-centered, modern solutions for access to the safety net.

This initiative will build on Code for America’s experience working in partnership with states and community-based organizations to:

• Improve federal nutrition assistance service delivery by closing the SNAP participation gap and addressing unnecessary barriers to getting and keeping benefits.

• Increase WIC participation by expanding the use of accessible, modular digital services that meet the needs of the families and the community agencies that directly serve them.  

• Focus on developing single, integrated benefits applications that save time and make it easier to sign up for all the benefits an individual or family is eligible for – requiring users to only tell their story once.

As part of this effort, Code for America is building a more robust research and policy implementation department that will share tech tools and best practices and publish use cases and lessons learned to inform and influence permanent changes to the delivery of safety net benefits. 

This investment is seeding the first major nationwide plan by a civic tech organization to reimagine our safety net in partnership with governments across the country. 

About Code for America

Established in 2009, Code for America is a technology nonprofit that believes that government can work for the people, by the people, in the digital age. We use insights and ideas from real people to guide us to real solutions that break down barriers to meet community needs and improve government in meaningful ways. Learn more at codeforamerica.org.