August 13, 2024

Listen Up: Families who Receive Public Benefits Can Improve this System

PERSPECTIVES | With Jess Ervin-Adkins

Want to improve the social safety net? Start by listening.

Last month, Colorado rolled out the Summer-EBT program, which provides families a one-time payment of $120 per child to help parents buy more food while their kids are out of school and not receiving free or reduced-price lunch. Summer-EBT is billed as a permanent program parents can count on every summer. I can’t stress enough how important an extra $120+ is for a family that is working to make ends meet. 

As a young single mother who was working minimum wage and going to school full-time, I qualified for EBT. It was a pretty straightforward process that took about 45 days to start receiving EBT benefits. Despite being an inelegant system, I was able to navigate the food stamp enrollment process.

Redetermining my eligibility? That was harder. Over the course of each year, it was difficult to connect with someone to ask questions about my eligibility. When was it due? What documentation would satisfy the requirement? Who could I ask about life changing events? If there was any delay in any part of the redetermination process, I would lose my EBT benefits and have to reapply. 

Nonetheless, benefits like EBT helped me cover the cost of food until I finished school and was able to financially support my family independently. And now, 10 years since I stopped using an EBT card to buy food, I hear similar stories from people I’m in conversation with about government assistance. 

As part of the team at Gary working to increase access to benefits, I speak to Coloradans every week to get their feedback after using MyFriendBen, an online benefit and tax credit estimator that will tell you what you’re eligible for and how much you might receive so you can prioritize what you apply for based on your family’s needs. 

“If you aren’t in the community talking with your users about their experiences, you are missing out on an invaluable opportunity to build trust and learn.”

– Jess Ervin-Adkins

In those phone calls, I hear comments like …

• “I don’t know who to call to get through to help me with my application.”
• “I was able to get emergency food stamps, but since I am homeless it’s harder to track my redetermination without an address or reliable internet access.”
• “I’m looking for benefits while I’m in this transitional place in life and I didn’t know where to start.”

I get it. When I was looking for help as a young mom, it was a constant struggle to balance school, parenting and work in order to build a better life. I needed help, I was vulnerable and time felt like a privilege I didn’t have. 

Families not only deserve better. They know what better looks like.

Think about what it’s like to open a checking account, get preapproved for a car loan or even complete your taxes. For-profit companies are always improving the user experience and making it easier for anyone to use their product. They invest in market research and user feedback to make product improvements, because they know it’s good for their bottom lines. Government benefits are shown to reduce poverty and help families find stability, yet we aren’t doing enough to make it easier to use these programs and services. 

User feedback about MyFriendBen has helped us make meaningful improvements, including: 

• Adding benefits around the state focused on housing, food and cash assistance
• Improving the website function, so it’s even easier for families to enter their information to get matched to potential programs
• And helping Coloradans find benefits that are “near-term” as well as “long-term” to help people who are in emergency situations.

Even if you believe you know what the problems are or if you have someone on staff like me who has an intersectional experience, if you aren’t in the community talking with your users about their experiences, you are missing out on an invaluable opportunity to build trust and learn.

In addition to my work on MyFriendBen, I’m working with colleagues at Gary to develop a program where we lean into listening to individuals and families to gain insight and feedback on programs and products that affect their lives. We are calling this program the Colorado Community Insight Group (C.C.I.G.), and we hope to open the group to partners in the near future. 

If you have read this far, I know you share Gary’s value of listening with humility. Complete this short Google Form and be one of the first to know about C.C.I.G. Additionally, if you have ideas for us about what kind of community insights would be beneficial to your work, there’s a place on the form to share your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you.

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