Claudia Page is co-director at the Center to Promote HealthCare Access, an Oakland-based nonprofit.
As a commuting, working mom, after putting my kids to bed, I do a lot of multi-tasking.
The the other night – thanks to my laptop and Wi-Fi – I enrolled my 6-year-old in an after-school enrichment class, moved money from my savings account to my checking account, paid overdue fees at the library, donated to Haiti relief, and checked in and printed boarding passes for my morning flight to San Bernardino.
The miles and hours most of us save conducting business online are hardly newsworthy anymore. But it is notable for those affected by the economic downturn, who have joined the growing number of people seeking health care, food and public services while dealing with unemployment or unstable employment, low-wage jobs and trying to make ends meet.
People seeking help trudge from one crowded office to another, filling in the same little boxes on piles of forms with their names, birth dates and addresses. They produce the same documentation at each location to verify who they are, what they earn and where they live.
They may be asked to return in person to be fingerprinted or for an interview. This process is inefficient and costly for county and state agencies. Essentially, each program or agency acts as an independent silo, keeping its own data. These programs are not connected, so they are prohibited from sharing information that could save time, stress and money.
Imagine if the silos were linked by a network. Information technology, of course, is not a cure-all for frustrating enrollment challenges many families face, but it is a critical component to helping qualified families access services that could keep them from spiraling into deeper poverty or sickness.
Can technology work for people needing help in these tough times? Yes. To date, One-e-App – a Web-based system for connecting families with support programs – has been used to screen more than 3.3 million people, generating roughly 6 million applications for more than 20 programs. An intuitive, Turbo Tax-like front-end asks only relevant questions for programs like Medicaid, food stamps, earned-income tax credit and other tax credits, low-cost auto insurance, energy subsidies and more.
There’s no need to stand in long lines with no guarantee of being seen, put forms in the mail or make countless copies of documentation.
Application data and documents are sent electronically for processing. They are then stored in One-e-App so they can be resubmitted if needed, or sent to a different program.
Suddenly, the silos are bridged.
The boarding pass I printed took me from Oakland to San Bernardino, where I testified before the House Committee on Agriculture to describe how technology can help improve access to food stamps and other programs. One-e-App was developed by two California foundations and is managed by a Bay Area nonprofit.
It is now used by organizations in 15 California counties, as well as Arizona, Indiana and Maryland, to help prevent many jobless people and struggling families from heading deeper into poverty. In some ways, it’s like a stop at your library, where you may have come for one book but leave with others that are even more helpful.
Many families may not know about the availability of certain programs to help them in times of need. One of those could be the very program that helps them keep a job or get health coverage for a sick child.
Improving access to programs also brings federal funds to cash-strapped states like California, which for the food stamp program alone leaves $3.7 billion on the table each year.
This issue is gaining attention, with more frequent media coverage of food insecurity and growing numbers of uninsured and jobless.
The public servants from federal, state and local governments who held and took part in the hearing, gave their undivided attention to the issues raised and pledged continued support.
I hope that while Reps. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., were checking in online for their return trips to Washington, D.C., they were also thinking about how technology can help bridge the silos to connect programs and agencies that could help struggling families.