‘Trust-first’ data-sharing can better connect young mothers to California benefits, report argues
California agencies should modernize the way they share data to proactively connect young mothers with safety-net benefits programs, according to a report published Wednesday by the Family Benefits Lab at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation.
The report recommended that proactively connecting mothers to programs like Medi-Cal, Women, Infants and Children, and CalFresh should also be grounded in transparency, privacy and user-centered design. The report, based on interviews with young mothers and frontline benefits workers, offers a roadmap for using administrative data to reduce paperwork, improve outreach and increase enrollment in public benefits. While much of the conversation around government data-sharing has centered on interoperability, the report argues that successful modernization also depends on earning residents’ trust.
“Our state partner was really interested in understanding how can we use administrative data behind the scenes to better serve moms and proactively do outreach to make sure that they’re getting all of the services and supports that can help them,” Maya Mechenbier, a senior policy manager at the Beeck Center and one of the report’s authors, said in an interview.
Mechenbier said the research, which started in 2024, predates recent federal policy changes affecting public benefits programs, including provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and instead focuses on long-standing questions around privacy, consent and digital service delivery.
In addition to the report, the Family Benefits Lab also reviewed several of California’s existing health and human services technology platforms that could underpin more proactive benefits delivery, including Medi-Cal Connect, California Statewide Automated Welfare System, CalFresh, WIC WISE, and the Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System.
Mechenbier said that taken together, these eligibility systems show that California already has much of the technical infrastructure needed to support cross-program data sharing. The next step is tailoring them to deliver more coordinated, privacy-conscious outreach to eligible families, which, the report argues, extends beyond modernization.
“They’re pretty advanced in terms of the data systems they have, but there are several systems that are seeking to connect these data sources and do it in a way that is responsible and privacy protective,” she said.
The report calls for secure data-sharing infrastructure that allows agencies to identify residents who may qualify for multiple benefits, while limiting the amount of information exchanged and clearly communicating how data will be used.
The envisioned model would use Medi-Cal enrollment as a foundation to identify mothers who are likely eligible for programs such as WIC or CalFresh and proactively notify them.
The report also encourages California to continue refining its BenefitsCal portal with clearer explanations of complex eligibility rules, particularly for multigenerational or nontraditional households, which often struggle to navigate federal benefit requirements. Scenario-based guidance and frequently asked questions tailored to different family situations could help applicants complete forms more accurately while reducing administrative burden on agencies.
“A lot of the moms that we spoke to were in some kind of intergenerational household because of the need for a community of caregiving around the children,” Mechenbier explained. “So I think creatively coming up with the solutions to meet that need and the benefits applications — which are set at the federal level, not even necessarily at the state level — a lot of those programs are just not making sense with how they live their lives.”
The report underscores that technology alone will not solve enrollment challenges. For state chief information officers and chief data officers, it argued the next phase of modernization is less about connecting databases than designing digital services that combine interoperable technology with transparency, consent and trusted human relationships. For instance, rather than receiving unexpected text messages from government agencies, many mothers told researchers that they would be more likely to enroll in benefits programs if they first heard about available benefits from a trusted healthcare provider — preferably their OB/GYN.
Mechenbier said no single communication channel worked for every family. While some mothers preferred text messages, others wanted phone calls, in-person assistance or paper applications. She said the findings challenge assumptions that younger residents universally prefer digital-first services.
“I think what’s interesting about this work is you don’t deploy something and then never check in on it for four years,” Mechenbier said. “You might deploy a text message program and then realize this will work better if it’s implemented in a different way.”
