Civic tech nonprofit Code for America (CfA) is partnering with Anthropic to launch a pilot to leverage AI to make public benefits administration more efficient.
Recent changes in federal funding streams and concerns about fraud are impacting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Millions of low-income households in the United States have lost or are at risk of losing access to food benefits, and organizations including CfA are working to support continued access to SNAP benefits for eligible recipients who rely on them.
The partnership announced Friday marks the organization’s latest effort to support this effort by designing, piloting and deploying cloud-based tools to help government caseworkers manage benefits, including SNAP.
The SNAP Policy Navigator will be the initial focus of this partnership. This is a Claude-powered integration that allows caseworkers to access real-time information about SNAP from federal, state, and county policies to address the increased administrative complexity of program changes.
The tool is built on the Model Context Protocol, a standard that enables bi-directional connectivity between AI applications and trusted external data sources. All responses are informed by the latest government data from trusted sources and are intended to support the responsible deployment of AI in high-stakes sectors where important benefit decisions are made. Its purpose is to enable SNAP Policy Navigator users to use this tool to obtain answers to case-specific questions.
“SNAP caseworkers carry a tremendous burden of interpreting complex rules on tight schedules for families who rely on the safety net,” Elizabeth Kelly, director of benefits deployment at Anthropic, said in a statement, emphasizing that the new tool is aimed at helping more eligible families access benefits.
This pilot aims to create a tool that can be adapted and reused across states and counties to make service delivery more modern and efficient while complying with various policies. The news release did not specify the period. The partnership will provide a suite of Claude integrations to support benefits administration. These tools can help you answer policy questions, draft communications, and review eligibility documents.
The announcement was made during the 2026 Code for America Summit in Chicago and largely follows the release of CfA’s 2026 Government AI Landscape Assessment, which assessed states’ AI readiness. The assessment found that while many states are making progress in preparing for and implementing AI, progress remains fragmented and gaps remain. CfA is working to help governments responsibly use AI to be “more efficient, effective, and more empathetic,” according to a statement from Amanda Renteria, the group’s CEO.
