“With $100 million in long-term funding from the Audacious Project and Blue Meridian Partners, CfA is trying to work with more local and state governments to make benefits easier to obtain and use. ‘In the private sector, you often see adaptations change at a faster rate,’ says chief program officer Tracey Patterson. Governments don’t typically have the resources or capacity to be innovative or experimental. CfA can ‘absorb some of that risk of experimentation for them.’
Last year the nonprofit announced the launch of a Safety Net Innovation Lab, which will eventually encompass 15 states. Connecticut was in the first cohort, along with California, which is also focused on improving SNAP; Minnesota, which hopes to reduce churn in Medicaid; Colorado, which wants to make applying to multiple programs smoother; and Louisiana, which is trying to reduce the time it takes to sign up for benefits.”