Code for America Launches New Tools to Protect Access to Safety Net Benefits

OAKLAND, CA, September 10, 2025 – Code for America, the leading civic tech nonprofit that’s making public services easier to navigate through technology, today released new tools to support states working to ease the process of reporting and verifying new and expanded work requirements for food assistance and healthcare services. 

As a result of H.R. 1, the Trump Administration’s deeply flawed tax and spending legislation, millions more adults will be required to meet work requirements in order to continue accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid – despite evidence that such requirements are burdensome, confusing, and ineffective. The cost of implementing these significant changes, the tight timeframe in which to do so, and the lack of federal guidance has put significant pressure on state agencies across the country. 

“The Trump Administration’s expansion of work reporting requirements jeopardizes access to critical benefits for people who are doing everything right but still need support to feed their families and access life-saving healthcare,” said Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America. “Through these new tools, Code for America is demonstrating our commitment to support states through this period of uncertainty and take the necessary steps to prepare for these changes.” 

Informed by insights gathered during caseworker interviews, Code for America mapped out each step in the process of delivering SNAP and Medicaid in order to identify common pain points and areas for improvement when applying for, determining, and maintaining benefit eligibility. The blueprints can be also adjusted by state agencies to reflect their specific tools and processes when determining exemptions, eligibility, and renewals. 

As part of this effort, Code for America also identified specific recommendations for state agencies to advance human-centered work requirement implementation, including: 

• Proactively identifying who needs to report work requirements and offer dedicated help using plain language 
• Streamlining the reporting process for qualifying activities during application and recertification as well as “good cause” for not meeting requirements 
• Using SNAP interviews to help identify and support people who may be exempt from reporting 
• Automating exemptions by prioritizing the integration of impactful data sources 
• Updating application and renewal forms using existing information 
• Advocating for longer verification periods to reduce costs and save valuable resources 

Code for America’s Safety Net Innovation Lab is a groundbreaking, multi-year initiative to transform America’s safety net by partnering with 15 states to unlock $30 billion in benefits across food assistance, health care, and other basic needs for 13 million people. To do this, the Innovation Lab works shoulder-to-shoulder with state partners to uncover the most promising opportunities, design human-centered tools and technologies, and, ultimately, deliver scalable solutions. The Innovation Lab’s cohort model provides the additional benefit of peer learning for state partners.

To learn more about partnering with the Safety Net Innovation Lab, visit Code for America’s website. 

About Code for America

Code for America, the country’s leading civic tech nonprofit for over 15 years, believes that government can work for the people, and by the people, in the new digital age. We work with government at all levels across the country to make the delivery of public services better with technology. We partner with community organizations and governments to build digital tools, change policies, and improve programs. Our goal: a resilient government that works well for everyone. Learn more at codeforamerica.org.