Policy and Practice February 2019

ever—SNAP participants now have options to select the tools they want to use to manage their EBT balances on their phone. By offering them a choice, the field has elevated services for SNAP participants and opened up a path that will continue to push services, public and private, toward a more customer- centric approach. Moving Forward As one of his first acts as secre- tary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue elevated customer service as a top priority, writing: “[USDA] will priori- tize customer service every day for American taxpayers and consumers. They will expect, and have every right to demand, that their govern- ment conduct the people’s business efficiently, effectively, and with the utmost integrity.” 7 Human services professionals across the country have taken up this charge in innovative, bold, and exciting ways: harnessing new technologies, listening to customers, and considering the customer journey outside of the human services office. And in doing so, have saved taxpayer dollars, improved staff morale, and improved experiences for millions for families. Interested sharing your customer success story so others can learn? In virtual assistants, it is important to be equally focused on control and gover- nance. Otherwise, you could end up with a mishmash of isolated projects and disjointed tools that fail to support your strategic goals. For now, start thinking about how you can put these new “assis- tants” to work alongside your human resources. Envision how much your caseworkers would appreciate not having to deal with mundane tasks like reprinting documents or reentering data. Consider how much it would help families to be able to get answers to their questions around the clock. Think, too, about how much more satisfying caseworkers’ jobs would be if they could focus more on mission- focused, people-centric work.

elevating the voices of social services participants in your state? Please contact us at info@joinpropel.com. Whitney Page is the Assistant Commissioner at theTennessee Department of Human Services. StacyTaylor is the Head of Partnerships and Policy at Fresh EBT by Propel. blakemorgan/2018/03/05/customer- experience-vs-customer-service-vs- customer-care/#785c7c404167 2. See https://www.forbes.com/sites/ blakemorgan/2018/02/15/the-10- most-customer-obsessed-companies-in- 2018/#ccc08c96ba10 3. See http://www.ideas42.org/ wp-content/uploads/2015/05/I42_ PovertyWhitePaper_Digital_FINAL-1.pdf 4. See examples of social services nonprofits and others participating in the Fund for Shared Insight at https://www. fundforsharedinsight.org/grantees/ grantee-stories/ 5. See https://www.tn.gov/humanservices.html 6. See https://www.federalreserve.gov/ econres/notes/feds-notes/mobile- banking-a-closer-look-at-survey- measures-20180327.htm 7. See https://www.whitehouse.gov/people/ sonny-perdue/ Reference Notes 1. See https://www.forbes.com/sites/ Get Started Now! The technology to make that possible is here, and human services agencies using virtual assistants are already seeing improvements in availability and capacity, speed and accuracy, and customer and caseworker experience. It’s time to start talking about what’s possible—and making it a reality for your organization. Gaurav Diwan is a Managing Director in Accenture’s North America Health and Human Services practice. Follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav- diwan-8199701/) andTwitter (@gauravdiwan25) , or learn more at www.accenture.com/AVAP.

grandparents hunched over a weekly flyer planning meals. Sometimes 45 seconds can feel like forever. “[Stress is t]he embarrassment of going to buy groceries and either having not received benefits on my card or not having enough to cover the amount, then making other customers annoyed by waiting until items are removed.” Checking your financial accounts may seem trivial but improving this experience can have an outsized impact on daily life. By focusing on the consumer experience, Fresh EBT designed an accessible tool for EBT par- ticipants to check their EBT balance, discreetly and securely, on their phone. By emulating the way consumers check bank accounts, the experience feels modern and dignified. It saves time and it makes it easier to budget. A Harvard Business School study also showed that improving the customer journey changed the way SNAP par- ticipants spent their benefits, with benefits lasting a day longer a month on average. The field has responded in exciting ways. With the release of smartphone apps like ConnectEBT and ebtEDGE, as well as a handful of state- specific services—for the first time Meanwhile, stay engaged with your people, as adopting virtual assis- tants will be decidedly different from other technologies. You will not be deploying a system that workers must be trained to use. Rather, you will be embedding an army of capabilities to support your workforce. Involving them at every step gives them a chance to ask questions and see first- hand the vision for—and benefits of—virtual assistants. Part of the beauty of virtual assis- tants is that they’re highly flexible, easy to use, and valuable across a variety of functions and depart- ments. While it may be tempting to let multiple teams go forth and experi- ment independently, that can be risky. As your organization gets serious about —Julia H., SNAP Customer, New Mexico

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