Process Citizen Assistance Applications Faster

Leaping from paper to full digital solutions is an overwhelming task, especially when you are already buried under a mountain of applications. Plus, getting a giant system overhaul approved is a nightmare. While staying stuck manually processing paper applications may feel like your only viable reality, it's not. There are some simple steps you can take to speed the process up and even start to transition to digital with relatively low effort.

The fallout from Coronavirus in the US has created a massive demand for public services and financial aid, and a daunting amount of work for public agencies. This sudden increase in vulnerable citizens who need help quickly has really highlighted the problems with many of the out-dated application processes agencies use. 

With limited budgets, it's hard to make changes. However, without adding any cost or any additional staff, there are actually a few things you can do immediately to speed up your manual form-based processes. And, because of the falling cost of digital solutions, there are even some apps you may be able to quickly use to process forms or create mobile-based applications. 

In March, the City of San Antonio was able to do just that. Within 12 days of realizing they needed a better way to deal with applications, the city was able to leverage the strategies we discuss in this guide to process applications up to 70% faster. At the peak of funding distribution, the new process was able to handle the intake of more than 3,000 applications in a single day. To date, the city has allocated nearly $75 Million to be disbursed through Kinetech's GovTech solution.

“As we faced a global pandemic and the increasing volume of applications for housing assistance, we knew that there was a better way to keep up with the demand of processing applications,” said Edward Gonzales, assistant director for the City of San Antonio’s Neighborhood & Housing Services Department.

Learn more about the proactive actions you can take today in our free guide: