Nava Labs is proud to partner with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to help ensure the State of Maryland’s new AI-powered document verification tool reaches young adults and makes it easier to apply for benefits. Together, we’ll support Maryland with user research, implementation through organizations, and awareness of DocumentAI, an AI-powered tool that analyzes documents submitted by applicants for quality and accuracy. By pairing responsible AI with applicants’ perspectives and experiences, we aim to make it easier for eligible young people to access and maintain benefits that can help them succeed.
Nava is a public benefit corporation on a mission to make government services simple and effective. Nava Labs is Nava’s philanthropically-funded division focusing on building and testing new approaches to delivering public services, evaluating what works, and advocating for scaling proven solutions. This work builds on Nava Labs’ experience developing trusted AI tools that help states modernize benefits access.
“Young adults are often eligible for public benefits but can face unique barriers to applying like limited time, unfamiliarity with the system, and fewer touch points for support,” said Genevieve Gaudet, Director of Nava Labs. “To help close this gap, we’re working with a network of trusted Maryland organizations to gather feedback from young adults that will inform outreach and implementation of DocumentAI.”
This work builds on our efforts with the American Public Human Services Association helping Maryland develop and pilot DocumentAI. The tool integrates with MarylandBenefits.gov and helps the state comply with H.R. 1, federal legislation that mandates community engagement requirements for state-administered benefit programs. Leveraging this AI-powered tool can help limit erroneous benefit terminations, reduce manual workload and administrative burden for beneficiaries and caseworkers, and drastically improve data accuracy.
“It doesn’t matter how many services and benefits exist for young people if they can’t find them or if those systems haven’t caught up to how young people’s lives look today. If we want young people to succeed, we can’t just help them cope with those barriers — we have to rebuild the systems around how they actually live and work now,” said Jeff Poirier, the director of Wraparound Supports for Economic Success at the Casey Foundation’s Center for Economic Opportunity. “This project is a concrete example of what that looks like — pairing better technology with the people and places already part of young people’s daily lives, so a benefit that exists on paper actually reaches the person it was built for.”
