Beeck Center’s Family Benefits Lab Partners with California and Maryland to Support Young Mothers and their Families

At the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, we believe that government services should be accessible, effective, and designed with the people they serve in mind. That’s why we’re excited to announce two new state partnerships that will help improve how families access critical benefits and support services.

Our Family Benefits Lab is collaborating with California and Maryland to address barriers that families and students face in navigating public benefits and higher education. These projects aim to improve service delivery by co-designing solutions with families and ensuring that individuals can access the support they need more efficiently.

Streamlining Mothers’ Experiences in Benefits Enrollment in California

Public benefits programs—such as nutritional support, child care subsidies, and health insurance coverage— are essential to the health and economic security of mothers and their children. But enrolling in these programs can often be confusing and complex. Many states are focusing on how data sharing can be used to improve the experience of enrollment for both program staff and families. In California, the Family Benefits Lab is working with the Center for Data Insights and Innovation , part of California Health and Human Services Agency, to understand and address the challenges that individuals face when applying for and maintaining public benefits. The initial focus will be on streamlining referrals and enrollment between MediCal, CalFresh, and WIC.

This spring, our team will conduct interviews with program staff, young mothers, and other family caregivers. These conversations will focus on several key areas:

• Beneficiary experience: We will explore how individuals interact with the eligibility and enrollment process for benefits programs to identify pain points and inefficiencies. We’ll also ask about their thoughts on information sharing between programs—including beneficiary perspectives on digital identity, consent, and opting in and opting out. 
• Data sharing challenges: Many individuals rely on multiple benefits programs, yet it can be challenging to implement interagency data sharing due to the complexity of program rules. We will examine how this impacts beneficiaries, program staff, and program design.
• Potential solutions: Based on our findings, we will explore strategies to reduce barriers, simplify processes, and improve coordination between benefits programs to improve support for mothers and families.

By taking a human-centered approach, we aim to ensure that California’s benefits programs work better for those who rely on them.

 

Supporting Low-Income Student Parents in Maryland

Higher education can be a powerful tool for economic mobility, but for student parents—the majority of whom are mothers—balancing school, work, and caregiving responsibilities can be incredibly challenging. In Maryland, we are partnering with the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the Governor’s Office for Children to understand and address the unique barriers that student parents face in completing their degrees, and develop recommendations for how the state can work with higher education institutions and community stakeholders to best support these students. 

This project will include two phases:

1. Identifying Barriers: In the first phase, we will work with higher education institutions across the state to understand the experiences of student parents and uncover the challenges they face in staying enrolled and completing their educational goals. This will include examining financial struggles, access to childcare and academic support, and other critical factors.
2. Testing Solutions: Based on our findings, we will work with higher education institutions to pilot or scale best practices and programs designed to help student parents persist in their studies and successfully graduate.

Existing research shows that when colleges and universities offer robust support services—including childcare, financial aid guidance, and academic flexibility—student parents are more likely to stay in school and complete their degrees. By identifying what works and where gaps exist, we hope to help Maryland’s institutions develop stronger support systems for these students.

Why This Work Matters

The partnerships with California and Maryland reflect the Beeck Center’s commitment to making government systems work better for the people they serve—including vulnerable populations such as young mothers. Access to benefits and education can be transformative for families, but only if these systems are designed in ways that are truly accessible and supportive.

By working directly with beneficiaries, program staff, and policymakers in California and Maryland, our team is ensuring that the solutions we co-develop are informed by real experiences and actual needs–driving meaningful improvements that will help more families access the resources they need to thrive.

Stay tuned for updates as our team pursues these goals in more states in 2025 and beyond.