Counties association plans blueprint for safety-net IT modernization

The National Association of Counties last month launched an initiative aimed at helping local governments modernize IT systems, in order to improve how they deliver safety-net benefits in the face of rising administrative demands and tighter budgets.

The group aims to create a national blueprint for benefits modernization within one year so that counties will have a template to address the increased scrutiny and tracking requirements, under H.R.1, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

As part of the Transforming Human Services initiative, which receives support from the Kellogg Foundation, counties will participate in peer exchanges focused on improving data integration, customer experience and adopting emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, that could streamline benefits processing.

Ashleigh Holand, the association’s chief program officer, said the initiative will create a peer network and resource hub where county leaders can share best practices, explore new technologies and develop strategies to improve programs.

In the 10 states where counties administer SNAP directly — California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin — local agencies process benefits for more than a third of the program’s participants nationwide. Even in states where the program is run at the state level, counties often handle outreach and provide support to help residents access food assistance and other services, according to the association.

“We really want to get those top leaders from county-administered states in a room and talk about, how are you preparing?” Holand said in an interview. “How are you thinking about AI? What kinds of efficiencies they can explore to deliver public benefits to make sure that no families and children fall through the cracks during this transition.”

The initiative comes as counties prepare for changes tied to the federal reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, that passed last year.

The law increases the share of SNAP administrative costs that states and counties must cover while also introducing stricter work requirements and tying some funding to payment error rates, which measures how accurately states determine eligibility and benefit amounts. High error rates, above 6%, will trigger corrective actions and potential financial penalties under the new law.

Eryn Hurley, the association’s chief government affairs officer, said that to meet the new requirements, counties need to upgrade outdated systems, improve data-sharing infrastructure and explore new tools, such as AI and automation software, to reduce error rates and ease workloads.

“When we’re looking at the key upgrades needed, it’s systems capable of communicating with federal IT platforms for required reporting. It’s also enhanced functionality for payment accuracy to reduce those improper payments and avoid federal penalties,” Hurley explained, adding that the variation of systems used at the federal, state and county levels can vary widely. “And then it’s also the cross program integration that allows eligibility tracking across programs like like SNAP or Medicaid.”

Reductions in federal funding for administrative costs are set to take effect this October, which John Matelski, chief information officer at the counties association, said does not give counties much time to implement changes, particularly given the age of many of their IT systems.

“Many folks still have the siloed systems,” he said. “And if you’ve got cities, counties, states, federal, all trying to collaborate together, how do we integrate those systems? Because a lot of these systems are still 10 to 20 years old, some of those integrations are going to be more challenging.”

Matelski added that the initiative will also help governments comply with new digital accessibility rules issued by the Department of Justice. The rules direct websites, mobile apps, online forms and other digital services operated by states and larger jurisdictions to meet a set of standards designed to be useable by people with disabilities by next month.

Matelski said meeting accessibility requirements will require updating old systems, retraining staff and auditing hundreds of thousands of digital assets to avoid lawsuits or federal penalties.

“As counties are developing systems, modernizing them and doing these types of integrations, that also has to fall on the plate,” he said. “Especially anywhere where there’s going to be that resident focus, where constituents are actually accessing those systems and engaging with them, they also obviously need to be [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant.”

The increase in administrative complexity, at a time when many local governments are already operating with limited staff and resources, Hurley said, led the association to advocate for an extension, as well as federal funding to support IT systems upgrades.

“Counties only have so much funding,” Hurley said. “We’re limited in our capacity to raise property tax, any sort of sales tax, any sort of revenue to reallocate and set our budgets to address all of these new expenses that may not have been anticipated.”