Policy & Practice December 2018

consider finding “a better way of doing something” the heart of what we do, and it’s what takes “innovation” beyond hype to measurably helping our clients and colleagues. Marc K. Hébert is the Director of the Innovation Office at the San Francisco Human Services Agency. He can be

reached at Marc.Hebert@sfgov.org or visit sfhsainnovationoffice.tumblr.com for more information.

4. Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, 2013

5. See tinyurl.com/ycr8caeo 6. See tinyurl.com/yanl8txg 7. See playbook.cio.gov 8. See tinyurl.com/y8vtfs66 9. See vimeo.com/14770166 10. See tinyurl.com/y9rwtohh 11. See tinyurl.com/yc6rg2ft

Reference Notes 1. See civicservicedesign.com 2. Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows, 2008 3. See tinyurl.com/ycwws6bz

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that they understood how a new job would affect their benefits. We are in process of building a more in-depth tool to provide additional information about how income and benefits interact to test this hypothesis and better support EBT participants. In the last year, Fresh EBT has helped more than 35,000 users find and apply for jobs that match their unique circumstances. Lesson Learned: Client-centered design is simple but hard; talk with clients often and let them set your roadmap. Looking Ahead A growing proportion of low-income Americans own a smartphone, rely on it for Internet access, and use it to get important things done like apply for jobs and access government services. And although smartphone services are no longer new to human services agencies, there are still significant opportunities for improvement. In a recent survey, 45 percent of Fresh EBT users reported going in-person to the human services office in the last month, primarily to complete routine tasks like completing renewals, sub- mitting documents, and figuring out why their benefits had not arrived. Better smartphone services could have replaced many of these trips, simultaneously improving the client experience and empowering staff to prioritize social work over paperwork. At Propel, we believe mobile tech- nology has the potential to directly alleviate poverty, meaningfully improve the financial health of low- income Americans, and accelerate a return to self-sufficiency after people experience destabilizing life events.

Chart 3

Intervention (information about benefits)

Control (no information about benefits)

Reference Notes 1. Google Keyword Planner, retrieved from http://bit.ly/2yMMJTE 2. Low-income defined as <$30,000 annual household income; Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://pewrsr. ch/2AIRYFb; https://pewrsr.ch/2zpv97X 3. Keyword Tool—AdWords—Google. Retrieved from https://adwords.google. com/select/KeywordToolExternal 4. The two most common Android devices are the ZTE Z982 Blade Z Max and LG MP260 G6 running on the T-Mobile/ MetroPCS network 5. The average sales price (ASP) of an iPhone is more than double that of Androids. Retrieved from http://fortune. com/2016/02/15/apple-android-asps 6. LukeW Ideation and Design. Retrieved from https://www.lukew.com/ ff/entry.asp?1994. 7. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://pewrsr.ch/2PzstPc 8. For example, 18F and U.S. Digital Services 9. Code for America. “A New Approach to Procuring Government Technology in California.” Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2P8m4ek

With growing access among clients, new technological developments and the falling cost of technology, there is opportunity for new types of partner- ships that have not existed in the past. Government agencies are insourcing deep technical expertise, 8 human services agencies are experimenting with new ways to procure technology, 9 there is a new wave of government technology vendors, and as the cost of technology continues to decrease, new consumer businesses will grow to sus- tainably serve the needs of low-income individuals, families, and communities. Our team is eager to partner across sectors and prove that great technology can meaningfully reduce poverty. If you want to work together or learn together, do not hesitate to reach out to info@joinpropel.com.

StacyTaylor is the Head of Policy and Programs at Propel.

Jake Solomon is the Director of Product Growth at Propel.

December 2018 Policy&Practice 35