Newsletter: Steady in the Chaos
We’re starting to sound like a broken record—but we want to give a major round of applause and thanks to all the caseworkers demonstrating that Congress is still serving the American people, even amidst unprecedented chaos in DC. You’re giving people hope and getting sh*t done, and your work has ripple effects that matter beyond the cases right in front of you.
If your office is seeing an uptick in threats, we have a safety guide; if you’re handling Israel/Gaza casework, we have resources; if you’re thinking ahead to November, we have a guide to preparing for a government shutdown. In today’s roundup below, we’ll flag a few agency updates you may have missed.
Hang in there—and as always, send any comments, suggestions, subscribe requests, and vents my way: anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
Casework News
Making a difference
Such a warm, thoughtful profile of Jonathan Bladt, Regional Director/constituent services for Senator Grassley [R, IA].
Encouraging seniors to enroll in Medicare coverage
Sen. Ossoff’s [D, GA] team picked up some coverage for Medicare enrollment resources.
Evacuating constituents from Israel
Congrats to the Schiff team [D, CA] on successful evacuation efforts.
Improving Delivery of Government Services
We normally don’t cover legislation when it’s introduced, but wanted to flag an interesting bill to improve government services from Reps. Khanna [D, CA], Donalds [R, FL], Timmons [R, SC] and Loudermilk [R, GA]. There’s a similar bill in the Senate from Sens. Peters [D, MI], Lankford [R, OK] and Cornyn [R, TX].
News You Can Use
We know it’s been a crazy week keeping up with Israel and Gaza casework, and catching up with routine casework after a crisis is almost the worst part. We’ll keep it short this week with just a few things to keep an eye on.
Great explainer on “public charge” rules
Many immigrant families avoid accessing benefits like SNAP out of concerns that they would affect their applications for green cards. However, the “public charge” rule does not take into account food, housing, and healthcare programs when deciding if someone is likely to become dependent on public assistance.
SSA vows a “top to bottom” review of overpayments
Worth noting that Acting SSA Commissioner Kijakazi noted in particular a future focus on how overpayments impact underserved communities, and cited understaffing as part of the problem with overpayments. This may also take into account reports that COVID stimulus payments have triggered thousands of overpayments for SSI recipients. In related news this week, GAO asked Ways and Means to create a permanent analytics center focused on fraud and improper payments.
VA announced a data sharing pledge with 13 health systems
The new data-sharing agreement will help community providers identify veterans and refer them to VA services. It will also streamline the process for the VA to reach out to veterans who may be eligible for PACT Act benefits.
COLA adjustments this year for federal retirement systems
Bookmark this table to answer questions from federal retirees about how their COLA was calculated.
Watch for legal aid bottlenecks
The “unwinding” of pandemic-era Medicaid assistance is contributing to a spike in legal appeals, and longer wait times for in-progress cases.
The IRS announces pilot states for Direct File
Taxpayers in 13 states can sign up for the IRS’s pilot direct file program, which would provide a free, IRS-developed alternative to tax prep software like TurboTax. The big difference is that Direct File will not include state or local returns—yet.
State ramps up hiring, retention, and training
It’s been a rough few years for the folks at the State Department. Secretary of State Blinken recently announced expansions to education and training for new hires, as well as a unit focused on retention, and a “reinvigorated” dissent channel.
Seems related
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report detailing why the IRS opted out of using Login.gov for last year’s filing season—largely because of a lack of anti-fraud controls like facial recognition. This week, GSA also announced that Login.gov will roll out facial recognition features next year.
Crisis averted
Speaking of disenrollment — HHS caught a system error affecting 30 states, DC, and Puerto Rico that would have improperly disenrolled more than half a million children and families from CHIP coverage. Crisis averted!
Some Fun Stuff
A few job postings to pass along to your networks:
House Intern Resource Office Coordinator
Creating a central office to help support House intern programs, intern coordinators, and interns was a huge success of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. The CAO is hiring the office’s inaugural director, based in DC, looking for a standout candidate with 5+ years of experience in the legislative branch, preferably with experience as an intern and/or coordinating interns. It would be great to see someone with district or state experience in this role.
Georgetown Beeck Center Digital Benefits Network: Program Lead + Program and Data Manager
The Beeck Center’s Digital Benefits Network (DBN) brings together people working on public benefits programs at all levels of government. They’re looking for a program lead (more management) and a program manager (less management). This is a great opportunity for anyone in your networks of community resources and nonprofits looking to put cross-agency benefits expertise into use.
Upcoming Events
Cumulative Impact: How Programs Work Together
November 13, 2023 at 1pm EST (webinar)
featuring, Max Ghenis, Cofounder and CEO, PolicyEngine
One of the most challenging aspects of casework is when programs and benefits collide: a veteran might have a permanent disability rating with the VA, but need to recertify for SSDI, or a slight change in income that increases one benefit makes another one fall by a larger amount. For individuals, these interactions can be confusing; for the economy and government spending as a whole, they can have huge impacts.
Max Ghenis, CEO and co-founder of PolicyEngine, will delve deeper into this conundrum. PolicyEngine has developed open-source tools that empower anyone to input details about a household and subsequently estimate their taxes and benefits. This provides a clearer understanding of the intricate ways in which various programs interact. During this webinar, Max will discuss the nuances of navigating the complex web of interacting programs, and the experience of building PolicyEngine.
How Do We Fix This? Championing Implementation vs. Policy
November 16, 2023 at 1pm EST (webinar)
featuring Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
Every government program starts with good intentions—it’s how they’re carried out that can make them fail in big ways or in small ways that add up.
Jennifer Pahlka has been at the forefront of the push to reimagine government technology, and her new book, Recoding America, is an argument for seeing policy and implementation as coequal parts of governing—with stories and core concepts that will resonate for every caseworker. While caseworkers are part of the branch in charge of policy, casework experience is all about implementation: how do good policy ideas become complicated and counterproductive as they’re filtered through agencies?
Jennifer has argued that every policymaker should have experience in government customer service positions. This webinar will discuss how caseworkers and other frontline implementation experts can and must leverage that expertise to reimagine government service for the 21st century.
Administrative Burden: Diagnosing Casework Problems
November 22, 2023 at 1pm EDT (webinar)
featuring Donald Moynihan, McCourt Chair, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, and special guest Rep. Derek Kilmer [D, WA]
“Administrative burden” describes the obstacles constituents face in accessing benefits that do not reflect their legal eligibility—it also happens to describe a significant proportion of reasons constituents seek casework help from their Members of Congress.
Don Moynihan, McCourt Chair at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, has pioneered the study of administrative burden, including new language and frameworks to understand the types of costs associated with navigating complex bureaucracies. Caseworkers will come away with a deeper understanding of the root problems behind common casework inquiries, and ideas for tracking types of casework and articulating casework challenges to policy staff.
