Four state and local government (SLG) agencies have partnered with the General Services Administration (GSA) to start sending customized text messages for application deadlines, interview reminders, fraud reduction, and other critical service updates to people who opt in as well as their own agency staff.
This texting functionality will help improve customer experience and service delivery to program beneficiaries at minimal cost to taxpayers, the GSA said in a Dec. 14 blog post.
Specifically, GSA’s Technology Transformation Services’ (TTS) Public Benefits Studio will work with partners in the City of Norfolk, Va., Montgomery County, Md., the state of Wisconsin, and the state of Washington to improve the public’s ability to get federally-funded benefits through a pilot text messaging platform called Notify.gov.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with these state and local governments. They share our vision to simplify the public’s experience with public benefits programs,” said Amy Ashida, the director of the Public Benefits Studio. “Through these partnerships, we’ll be able to test and confirm the potential impact of Notify.gov. Our mission is to make it easier for agencies to reach people who participate in their programs and increase access to the benefits and resources they are eligible for.”
GSA’s TTS first announced the launch of the Notify.gov pilot program in February.
Notify.gov is supporting the “Having a child and early childhood” project, one of five Life Experience projects aimed at improving government service delivery during a big life event or transition. Along with being a new parent, many families – especially low-income families – have the additional burden of navigating a large number of state and federal benefits programs, the agency notes.
With input from families, this collaboration will explore how text messaging could improve family experiences with government through better communication, reduced administrative burden, and increased access to benefits.
TTS’ new studio is dedicated to a human-centered approach, in line with President Biden’s Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, which celebrated its second anniversary on Dec. 13.
During this pilot phase, TTS is working closely with partners to refine the Notify.gov tool and user experience, the agency said.
“While starting with benefits programs, the Studio expects Notify.gov could ultimately serve a wide breadth of government services if pilots prove successful,” the blog post concludes. “With its potential to serve many different use cases, Notify.gov could change the way government programs reach the communities they serve.”
