HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania is launching new technology and tools aimed at helping the state manage its public assistance programs and improve customer experience.
The new tools will allow Pennsylvanians to track their benefits applications in real-time, help the state continue to reduce its SNAP Error Rate, and save millions in taxpayer dollars and thousands of hours in staff overtime, according to a joint news release from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Pennsylvania Office of Administration.
The new tools were piloted beginning in October to a portion of applicants and will be rolled out to assist all clients over the next few weeks, the state said in its news release.
DHS and CODE PA piloted these new tools for the last two months, demonstrating positive results that have saved hundreds of hours of staff and helped caseworkers catch and resolve common errors, the state says.
The state says new resources and solutions include:
My Benefits Status Tracker: A new tool that will show applicants and clients where their application is in real-time. Users will be able to check their status anytime without needing to log into their COMPASS account. Users will verify their identity using simpler methods that remain secure. The state says the initial launch will allow users to track new applications and will be expanded to include renewals. The tracker is accessible at trackmybenefits.pa.gov.
Intelligent Document Processing: Documents will be scanned for legibility when users upload required documentation to COMPASS to verify information in their application or renewal. This AI-driven tool will screen for blurriness, image quality, and relevance to assist users in submitting accurate and readable information and help caseworkers quickly process information, cutting time spent trying to decipher poor scans or time spent working with clients to resubmit, according to the state.
The state says the tool will not determine eligibility but will support DHS staff and improve accuracy and efficiency in case processing. Approximately 12,000 documents have been scanned through this tool’s pilot period, identifying concerns in 25 percent of cases, the state said. These flags allow clients to resubmit unclear scans of necessary documents immediately, decreasing instances of illegible or incorrect documents by 80 percent and saving CAO staff more than 700 hours of work.
Consent-Based Income Verification: Clients applying for or renewing DHS benefits will be able to opt-in to allow DHS to verify income data directly with a person’s listed employer(s).
The state says this adds another tool for DHS to verify income. Caseworkers will receive income information from employers and payroll processors directly to verify an applicant’s information, reducing delays created by missing, incomplete, or unclear documentation and improving accuracy and efficiency in case processing. This feature is supported by a federal grant.
Self -service Password Reset: Pennsylvanians can now reset their passwords directly through COMPASS without a caseworker’s assistance.
The state says this improves prior processes which required an actual staff member’s time and attention to authorize resets.
Pennsylvanians get answers faster because caseworkers will spend less time on the phone resetting passwords and more time processing benefits, the state said in its news release.
SNAP Case Checker: Supervisors within DHS’ Office of Income Maintenance Operations team, who process and oversee eligibility determinations when a person applies for or renews their benefits, now receive daily reports flagging common potential case errors like missing signatures or calculations of wages and deductions before a case is submitted for quality control reviews.
The state says this allows caseworkers to identify and correct potential issues with a case record sooner, furthering Pennsylvania’s continued work to reduce its SNAP case processing error rate. A pilot of this case tracker helped staff prioritize more than 1,000 cases for additional review, helping reduce the risk of additional SNAP case errors, according to the news release.
During the pilot, the use of intelligent document processing cut down on the number of illegible documents submitted by 80 percent, saving 700 hours of staff time, the state said.
According to the state, the new SNAP case checker helped staff prioritize more than 1,000 cases for additional review, helping reduce the risk of additional SNAP case errors.
Monday’s launch is a partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Office of Income Maintenance and the Office of Administration’s (OA) IT team in collaboration with the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA), Deloitte, Amazon Web Services, Nava PBC, and Digital Public Works.