Removing Red Tape: New Strategies for Strengthening the Safety Net
Channel: New America
Date: 2012-11-01

Removing Red Tape: 
New Strategies for Strengthening the Safety Net

In Collaboration with the Coalition for Access and Opportunity

During the Great Recession, the safety net provided by public assistance programs lifted millions of families out of poverty. Others, however, fell through the cracks due to a dizzying and counterproductive maze of applications and eligibility requirements. 

Some state and local governments have identified new strategies to make their safety net programs more effective and efficient. By removing red tape and streamlining program administration and polices—from online applications to data matching—states have found that improving the ways programs are delivered also improves the experience of the families that are served. What lessons can we learn from these efforts that can remove barriers to benefit access and ease the strain on agencies' administrative capacities at scale? Please join us as we explore the progress that has been made and the opportunities to build on these successes. 

Featured Speakers
Aleta Sprague
Policy Analyst, New America Foundation

Dottie Rosenbaum
Senior Policy Analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Vince Kilduff
Deputy Executive Director, Office of Programs, Department of Human Resources, Family Investment Administration, State of Maryland

Moderator
Elizabeth Lower-Basch
Policy Coordinator and Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Law and Social Policy

http://newamerica.net/events/2012/removing_red_tape