The AI platform streamlined the application process for food benefits, making it more accessible for low-income families

Summary:

A municipal agency digitized and automated an application process, leading to over 75% of applications being submitted online and a 30% reduction in visits to service centers. In partnership with IBM, DSS also implemented AI and machine vision technologies to enhance document management and improve user experience.

Client: 

The New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) employs approximately 18,000 people and provides public assistance and employment services to more than three million residents. 

Problem Statement: 

The DSS initiative known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) required government employees to handle around 70,000 applications each month. Faced with this high volume and limited manual resources, DSS opted to digitize and automate the process by introducing a self-service online portal called ACCESS HRA (AHRA). The primary objective of the project was to enhance the online experience for users and decrease the number of visitors to their physical service centers.

Results: 

• More than 75% of SNAP applications were submitted online, leading to a 30% reduction in foot traffic at physical service centers.
• Implementation of machine vision technology to digitize paper documents. 

AI Solution Overview:

IBM and the New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) formed a private-public partnership to develop the online portal. The IBM Watson Health Government team was responsible for creating a scalable solution to enhance outreach to the DSS customer base. 

The NYC DSS utilized IBM Watson’s platform, which enables partners to train, fine-tune, and deploy models with generative AI and ML capabilities. IBM Watson’s platform has a set of AI assistants designed to establish a digital portal with search functionalities based on natural language processing. Additionally, IBM Watson can help DSS digitize their paper documents using machine vision, potentially allowing the agency to search scanned documents for keywords related to casework as if those documents had been digitally structured from the start.

References: 

1. IBM Watson to Watsonx. https://www.ibm.com/watson
2. AI in Government – Current AI Projects in the Public Sector. https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/ai-government-current-ai-projects-public-sector/

Industry: Public Services

Vendor:  IBM

Client: The New York City Department of Social Services (DSS)

Publication Date: 2019