# The Public Benefits Studio

The Public Benefits Studio is a team inside of GSA’s Technology
Transformation Services (TTS), home to innovative programs like 18F and
Login.gov. We collaborate **with benefits programs to develop shared
technology tools and best practices that reduce the burden of navigating
government programs for low income individuals and families.**  


We’re a cross-functional team of technologists with specialized
experience working across public benefits programs like Medicaid, SNAP,
and unemployment insurance.

## WHAT WE’RE CURRENTLY EXPLORING

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<td><p><strong>SMS &amp; multichannel notifications</strong></p>
<p>Helping individuals and families stay better informed of actions they
need to take related to benefits, such as reminders for upcoming
appointments and enrolling in or recertifying their benefits.</p></td>
<td>According to Pew Research, 97% of US adults with an income of less
than $30,000 have a cellphone, and there have already been <a
href="https://bdtrust.org/nudging-benefits-access-in-the-right-direction/"><u>successful
pilots</u></a> to supplement traditional notification channels with SMS
that both decreased re-enrollment churn and saved the administering
agency money.</td>
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### OUR FIRST BET: Notify.gov

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<td><h3 id="section"><img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6556888/200647299-b991a5ed-ecf4-4d74-b238-f3def9bd1503.png"
style="width:4.63788in;height:3.75964in" /></h3></td>
<td><h3 id="create-custom-content">Create custom content</h3>
<p>No technical knowledge needed to create direct, actionable
messages.</p>
<h3 id="send-bulk-messages">Send bulk messages </h3>
<p>Upload a .csv file with necessary information and Notify.gov sends
messages customized to each recipient</p>
<h3 id="see-how-messages-perform">See how messages perform</h3>
<p>Track how many messages you’ve sent and monitor successful delivery
rates</p></td>
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**Notify.gov** will be a federally-run shared service allowing staff to
send thousands of customized-to-the-user text messages per year at
little-to-no-cost. The easy interface requires no technical expertise to
use and the setup process takes only ten minutes.

## WHERE WE’RE AT

**We’re in the early stages of assessing this product’s market fit and
targeting to pilot** this shared service with at least 3 partners in
2023. Following our first pilot, we intend to scale by adding
additional features based on partner needs.

|                                                                         |                                                                           |                                                                                 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Pilot Launch Features**                                               | **Priority Future Features**                                              | **Possible Future Features**                                                    |
| Bulk, individually customizable SMS sending via web UI                  | SMS sending via API integration                                           | Email sending via UI and API                                                    |
| Organization permissions settings for various team members to edit/send | Single-level decision bidirectionality (e.g. reply “YES” if, or “NO” if…) | Multiple-level decision bidirectionality (greater than one layer decision-tree) |
| Reusable message templates                                              | Self-service account creation                                             | Open-text reply bidirectionality (rather than reply yes or no, 1 or 2, etc.)    |
| Message send/failure analytics                                          | Application status page                                                   | Multilingual interface and content library options                              |
| 1-day records deletion                                                  | Scheduled send option                                                     | Recurring scheduled send                                                        |

##  OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED

To get involved, email us at [tts-benefits-studio@gsa.gov](mailto:tts-benefits-studio@gsa.gov) with the following in the subject line!

1.  **Request a Studio introduction and/or a Notify.gov demo:** Request an
    introductory call to  
    talk about our product, near term goals, and ways to get involved.

2.  **Provide feedback about Notify.gov:** If you're a potential product
    user, set up an individual feedback session to help us fortify our
    tool and talk through potential set-up considerations from your
    vantage point.

3.  **Sign up to pilot Notify.gov:** Already think this might be the tool
    for you? We’re looking for benefit-administering partners to
    co-design a pilot program to test Notify.gov for specific use cases.
    Early adopters will have wrap-around set-up support from the Studio
    and an opportunity to shape the future of this product.
    
## Notify.gov Demo



https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6556888/208711970-eb70e618-fd13-4e38-bb61-3ddbf6e21a6d.mp4


