The Work Number® Leverages Technology To Support Timely Government Benefits Dete ...

GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS LIKE THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, Social Security, and others form the backbone of the U.S. social safety net, providing a lifeline to those in need. The agencies that administer these programs face the challenge of ensuring recipients meet all eligibility requirements, including the verification of income and employment, as efficiently as possible.

Historically, this process often required applicants to track down and submit documents like pay stubs and tax returns. Then case workers would have to take on the manual verification process, which is time consuming and resource intensive. Additionally, these verifications occur at multiple points of the process - when someone applies for a benefit or when it comes time to renew benefits and redetermine eligibility. These challenges can easily lead to unnecessary delays in delivering life-changing relief to otherwise eligible families and individuals. However, The Work Number®, powered by the Equifax Cloud™ offers Social Service Verifications (SSVs) to help government agencies streamline and expedite benefit eligibility determinations at all stages of the process.

Simplifying and Expediting the Benefits Determination Process

A Social Service Verification, or SSV, can play a pivotal role in the lives of eligible individuals and families that rely on social benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and public housing. When someone fills out a benefits application or renewal form, it is up to the agency to verify the provided information and determine eligibility. With an SSV, the agencies can leverage employment and income information from The Work Number, returned instantly, to automate those verifications, helping deliver appropriate benefits to eligible applicants, faster. And, efficient and effective delivery of assistance is crucial in a world where timely support can mean the difference between stability and hardship.

The Work Number has emerged as a leading resource for many social service agencies nationwide when it comes to SSVs. In 2024 alone, The Work Number provided social service verifications for 25.5 million people seeking benefits, enabling agencies to expedite their determination process and helping eligible applicants gain access to right-sized benefits faster.

The Work Number is a database with employment and income data contributed by 4.6 million employers and payroll providers of all sizes, making it the industry-leading centralized commercial repository of employment and income information available to credentialed verifiers in the United States. So when government agencies turn to The Work Number, they can access current income and employment data - as of the last time payroll was processed by the contributing employer or payroll provider - returned instantaneously for verification of eligibility for applicants. This not only speeds up delivery of benefits but also reflects the Equifax Purpose of helping people live their financial best.

Adapting to Meet the Needs of Today's Applicants

Over the past several years, Equifax has invested significantly in innovation to assist its government clients, helping them leverage the latest technology and data to support more efficient and effective delivery of social safety net services to the people they represent. These investments have dramatically increased both the number and depth of records available for verifications. These investments and ongoing innovation have further helped to ensure reliable delivery of verifications, frequently in less than a second, and often through products that are tailored to meet the needs of a particular state or benefits program.

To further address the increasing complexity of income verification for the modern workforce, and to ensure that eligible applicants receive appropriate benefits in a timely manner, Equifax recently introduced Complete Income™. This solution offers applicants with self-employment or gig income a smoother, faster application experience that requires less manual paperwork, and offers caseworkers a single workflow that offers access to traditional payroll data along with alternative income sources, such as consumer-permissioned bank deposit data and self-reported income and business expenses.

Helping Agencies Quickly Deliver on their Mission

Social Service Verification serves as a primary resource for government agencies, helping simplify and expedite the benefits determination process through data insights, advanced analytics, cutting-edge technology, and industry knowledge. The primary goal is clear: helping agencies quickly deliver on their mission so that appropriate benefits quickly reach eligible individuals in need.

Whether verifying applicant information at the time of application or during renewals, Social Service Verifications from Equifax Workforce Solutions can provide needed support. To learn more about how Equifax helps social service agencies provide government assistance quickly, visit our website.