Streamlining the Application Process for Public Benefits

PROJECT CAPSULE

My Digital Data Locker facilitates sharing personal documents required by public agencies to apply for programs and benefits. The system is free, simple, and secure. It has been designed to help residents more efficiently store and produce documentation necessary to receive services. It is also intended to improve the provision of government services. Two cities are currently testing the system, New York and Baltimore, with individuals and families experiencing homelessness and applying for permanent supportive housing.

PROJECT STATUS

Ongoing technical development of MVP for pilot testing. During the pilot stage, My Digital Data Locker is being used by a small group of people to test the solution. The pilot will be used to establish that My Digital Data Locker does what it is intended to do: help residents more efficiently produce and share necessary documents to apply for services, and improve the provision of government services.

THE CHALLENGE MY DIGITAL DATA LOCKER PLATFORM ADDRESSES

Missing documentation is often cited as one of the primary reasons for benefit application denials. Individuals or families applying for benefits like public housing may not be able to easily retrieve or produce documents to verify that they meet eligibility requirements. Additionally, missing documentation can make a lengthy process even more time-consuming and arduous for both government employees and residents.

KEY FEATURES

• Can be accessed via a web browser on either a computer or mobile phone.
• Allows residents to securely upload and store documents that they can then elect to share with relevant government agencies.
• Free to use service; requires an email account.
• Residents who use the system control who can access their documents -- shared for the sole purpose of verifying eligibility for benefits. They can also revoke sharing privileges.
• Residents can delegate authority to someone else to act on their behalf.

BROADER IMPACT

After the pilot period concludes, this system could be scaled to other municipalities, and features could be expanded to facilitate applying for other government services. Using a tool like My Digital Data Locker could minimize the burden of applying for benefits and processing benefits while improving the provision of government services.

COLLABORATION

A large coalition of public, private, and nonprofit entities is working on the development of My Digital Data Locker, including, New America, NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity), NYC Office of Homeless Services, Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, The Journey Home, Two Bulls, Amazon Web Services (AWS), The Rockefeller Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

NEXT STEPS

Conducting a monitoring and evaluation process on the initial pilots will occur through the first half of 2021. We will continue to explore how and where to scale the project while maintaining a backlog of features that could be added or adjusted. For more information, please contact DIGI@newamerica.org.

SOLUTION LINK | OPEN SOURCE CODE REPOSITORY

https://github.com/newamericafoundation/MDDL