Policy & Practice | Summer 2026

APHSA Excellence Award for State Member

APHSA Innovation Award The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the California Health and Human Services Agency’s (CalHHS) Office of Technology and Solutions Integration (OTSI) received the 2026 APHSA Innovation Award for their leadership in the California EBT Card Security Modernization Project: Pioneering the Nation’s First SNAP Chip/Tap EBT System. The APHSA Innovation Award honors organizations, agencies, partnerships, and coalitions that demonstrate bold, visionary leadership and achieve meaningful, lasting impact across the human services landscape. The award recognizes transformative improvements that strengthen systems and services, improve outcomes, address dis parities, and foster human-centered, community-driven cultures of service. Faced with a growing crisis of electronic benefit theft linked to vulnerabilities in traditional magnetic-stripe EBT cards, CDSS and OTSI pursued an ambitious solution that addressed the problem at its source. Rather than relying on temporary safeguards, the agencies led the development and deployment of Chip/Tap-enabled EBT cards, intro ducing a more secure technology that had never before been implemented in the EBT system. “We are honored to accept this award, which reflects California’s continued commitment to protecting the integ rity of public benefits,” CDSS Director Jennifer Troia said. Kim Johnson, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency , received the 2026 APHSA Excellence Award for State Member, which recognizes exemplary innovation, creativity, and commitment to improving outcomes for children and families while advancing APHSA’s vision of thriving communities built on human potential. For more than 25 years, Johnson has championed policies and practices that strengthen opportunity, promote well being, and center the voices and experiences of the people served by human services systems. Her leadership is grounded in the belief that lasting change happens when communities, families, and individuals are engaged as partners in designing solutions that meet their needs and aspirations. Appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom as Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency in 2024, Johnson previously served as Director of the California Department of Social Services, where she guided critical programs and services during the COVID-19 pandemic and advanced initiatives that strengthened economic security, housing stability, and family well-being for millions of Californians. Her career has spanned community-based organizations and government service at the local, state,

and national levels, informed by both professional expertise and lived experience. A respected leader within APHSA and across the nation, Johnson serves as Vice Chair of the APHSA Leadership Council, helping to advance shared learning, collaboration, and innovation among human services leaders. Her commit ment to partnership and continuous improvement reflects her belief that lasting transformation is achieved when systems are designed with—and not just for—the people they serve. Kim Johnson, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, received the Excellence Award for State Member.

“By modernizing our EBT system with first-in-the-nation chip and tap technology, we have strengthened security, reduced the theft of benefits, improved the customer expe rience, and helped ensure that these critical benefits are reaching the people they are intended to support.” Brandon Hansard (left), Chief Deputy Director, CalHHS OTSI and Jennifer Troia (center), Director, CDSS, accepted the Innovation Award from presenter Adrian Saldaña (right), Interim Director of Process Innovation, APHSA.

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