User-centered design and food stamps: delivering a 21st century government service

Since 2011, Code for America (CfA) has worked with state and local governments to help realize the promise of our networked era—a 21st century public sector that delivers effective, efficient, and dignified services to the American people.

Code for America’s work is part of the broader civic technology movement—pioneered by the Government Digital Service in the United Kingdom and accelerated in the United States with the rescue of Healthcare.gov as well as the newly created United States Digital Service and 18F agencies. This movement, which is growing in state and local governments around the world, goes far beyond building better websites. It’s about transforming government to work in the 21st century—delivering public services that are both digital by default and continually evolving to meet user needs.

We have a long way to go, especially when it comes to America’s social safety net. Programs like Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, and unemployment all fail to reach huge swaths of people eligible for these crucial benefits. In California, 40% of residents who qualify for Food Stamps aren’t getting them. That’s two million people in a single state.