SSC-CIVIC-PG TRACK B: Streamlining and Supporting Access to Public Assistance Programs in Louisiana

在美国，近20%的5岁以下儿童生活在贫困中。为了支持这些儿童，美国政府资助了多个社会安全网项目，为他们提供营养、医疗保健、幼儿教育和家庭额外收入。对许多此类项目的研究表明，参与其中的儿童在学术、健康和经济方面都有长期的好处。然而，这些由州和地方各级管理的项目被分散到多个机构，导致单独的，通常是繁琐的申请过程。有关项目和资格的信息既不集中，也不容易找到，应用程序门户通常笨拙、令人困惑、重复和过时。这可能会阻碍参与有益的项目。这个项目的目标是努力简化和精简家庭的申请程序，使贫困儿童能够从他们有资格参加的保健和教育方案中受益。该项目计划为新奥尔良低收入有孩子的家庭建立一个集中申请门户，这样他们就可以申请多个提供服务的项目。该项目正在制定计划，以改善和简化福利申请流程，最终提高符合条件的家庭参加项目的入学率。该项目将开发一个用户友好的在线门户网站，向人们展示他们可能有资格获得的福利，并使他们能够在一个申请包中同时向多个方案提交申请和支持文件。该项目正在与当地合作伙伴合作。将对门户进行实验评估，以检查对感兴趣的结果的影响，并了解产生影响的因果机制。该项目是对公民创新挑战项目（track b）的回应，旨在弥合基本资源与服务和社区需求之间的差距，是国家科学基金会、国土安全部和能源部之间的合作项目。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nearly 20% of children under age five in the US live in poverty. To support these children, the US government funds multiple social safety-net programs to provide nutrition, healthcare, early childhood education, and additional income for families. Research on many of these programs demonstrates long-term academic, health, and economic benefits to participating children. However, these programs, which are administered at the state and local levels, are divided among multiple agencies, resulting in separate, and typically cumbersome, application processes. Information on programs and eligibility is neither centrally located nor easily findable, and application portals are often clumsy, confusing, duplicative, and outdated. This can hinder participation in beneficial programs. This project targets efforts to simplify and streamline the application process for families so that children in poverty receive the benefits of the health and education programs for which they are eligible.This project is planning a centralized application portal for low-income New Orleans families with children, so they can apply for multiple programs that provide services. The project is developing plans to improve and streamline the benefits application process and ultimately to increase enrollment rates in participating programs among eligible families. the project will develop a user-friendly online portal that shows people which benefits they might be eligible for and enables the simultaneous submission of applications and supporting documentation to multiple programs in one application package. The project is working in collaboration with local partners. The portal will be evaluated experimentally to examine the effects on outcomes of interest and understand the causal mechanisms that produce effects.This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.