Code for America Labs Inc

Our goal is to make government services that are centered around the user so that people who needs these services the most are able to get them. We strive for a government that takes care of its people, and we can help do that. By working to bring government into the digital age, we are making services more accessible for those who need it most.

We develop services to show what’s possible in three high-impact focus areas: Criminal Justice, Social Safety Net, and Workforce Development.

We help others do it themselves through the principles and practices of delivery-driven government.

We’re building a movement across the U.S. through our Brigade Network.

Our teams are made up of product designers, software engineers, and developers that have a deep passion for making government work for the people. In order to push our belief that the best government that works for the people is created for the people, we also have a national volunteer network of Brigades that work to improve their own local communities.

Before COVID-19, we averaged about 2,000 applications per day; on May 22, 2020, we received a record 13,083 in a single day. We also helped GetCalFresh applicants access other services, including voter registration. In this pilot phase, we registered over 8,500 people to vote.

At the onset of P-EBT, states struggled with multiple challenges due to the increase in need, rigidity of procurement contracts, lack of clear guidance, and difficulty with old systems, just to name a few. We provided technical assistance and implementation support to reach as many kids as possible. In addition, we built a digital application for families in California and Minnesota that helped distribute over $619 million in benefits.

GetYourRefund.org is the first-ever free mobile app that helps families with low income complete government forms to access all tax benefits, including this year’s $1,200 stimulus program. By the end of the tax year, we had over 2.2 million site visitors, 500,000 visitors helped, 945 tax prep volunteers, 55 active tax prep partners, and $62 million in flexible cash distributed to families.

Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) was a short-term, California-based emergency cash assistance program for immigrant families. In 35 days, we created a system for local organizations to effectively serve communities living in the shadows. In total, DRAI distributed $75 million to 150,000 individuals.

We partnered with Louisiana on an initiative to help 100,000 residents enrolled in WIC, SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid maintain their benefits with text message reminders when paperwork was due. Shortly thereafter, Louisiana used lessons from the pilot to deliver services during COVID-19, including text messaging more than 400,000 SNAP recipients for continuity of benefits and hiring SNAP clients to provide direct feedback on policy and messaging.

In close partnership with Minnesota administrators, we are working together to reduce application time for food, cash, and healthcare benefits. By using a human-centered, integrated application process, we are reducing the time from 110 minutes to less than 20 minutes. As of September 2020, MNbenefits.org is live in pilot counties, and we are preparing to scale the service statewide in 2021.

With our Clear My Record technology, district attorneys across California have identified approximately 144,000 marijuana convictions to be reduced or dismissed from records, representing two-thirds of all eligible convictions in the state. 113,000 people will have convictions reduced, dismissed, or sealed on their records, 42,000 people will have no felony convictions on their records, 18,000 people will no longer have any convictions at all.

Our Network consists of 25,000+ Brigade volunteers, 90 chapters nationwide, and 12 Community Fellows in four cities. Our 25,000 volunteer-strong Brigade Network partnered with community organizations and local leaders to create over 100 active rapid response projects.