In recent years, the City of Philadelphia has increased its emphasis on addressing its status as the poorest large city in America. A key pillar of this agenda has been improving access to public benefits given evidence that millions of dollars are left on the table annually by Philadelphians who do not receive all the assistance for which they are eligible.

This brief contributes to evidence about what benefit seekers in Philadelphia experience. It presents findings from interviews and focus groups with people who attempted to sign up for public benefits and access tax credits, including their perspectives on aspects of existing systems and services that facilitated and impeded access. We also share benefit seekers’ suggested improvements.

A common denominator among our findings is that to achieve universal access to benefits for those who are eligible, people need simple, convenient ways to apply for benefits and individualized support to eliminate remaining access barriers.

Our primary aim for this brief is to aid local policymakers and benefit administrators in understanding where to focus their efforts to improve access to vital supports. That said, our findings reflect evidence about the national benefits-access landscape and are therefore also relevant to national audiences working on improving benefits access.