Millions of working parents qualify for food, medical, and child care assistance that can help them support their families. When parents receive these crucial supports, they are better able to stabilize their lives, advance their careers, and raise their children. But many eligible families do not receive the help they need, partly because of barriers in cumbersome state safety net benefit systems.

This fact sheet highlights lessons from previous research on how states can streamline their technology systems, policies, and business processes—and prioritize the customer’s point of view—to improve the customer experience, advance equity by expanding access to supports, and reduce programs’ administrative burden on states.