Code for America announced earlier this week that California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Louisiana “have committed to partnering with the Safety Net Innovation Lab (the Lab) to transform how social safety net services are delivered.”
The program specifically aims at giving “equitable, accessible digital tools and services” as well as providing “food assistance, health care, and other basic needs.”
Last month the program also announced that they had secured “philanthropic commitments of $100 million to launch the Lab,” which will work with 15 states to reach 13 million people.
Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America stated, “we are excited to break ground on this initiative with our state partners in California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Louisiana and look forward to collaborating with other states to create a truly human-centered social safety net across the nation.”
The program also aims at working with the various states through three distinct phases:
- Insight and Impact: Each partnership will start by identifying what is the most promising opportunity with the biggest impact.
- Design and Deliver: Code for America will work with state officials to find solutions, iterating, building, and scaling these solutions over a period of 12 to 18 months to ensure the intended client outcomes.
- Handoff and Sustain: The last six to nine months will focus on a wind-down and handoff phase—so that whatever is implemented is fully transitioned to the state partner or vendor of choice for long-term sustainability.
Later this year the program will announce a fifth state with which they will partner to deliver similar solutions.
Representatives from state, tribal nation, district, and territory governments interested in joining the Lab’s next cohort can complete the request for information available at codeforamerica.org/SafetyNetRFI.
