In their efforts to streamline the application, eligibility determination, and relief distribution, Michigan.gov recognized some significant challenges. First, they needed to go-live quickly or risk losing out on an additional $200+ million allocated for their state and fellow citizens. The problem was further complicated, as the State intended to leverage 80+ local Housing Assessment and Resource Agencies (HARAs) to manage cases and eligibility while following best practice guidelines in a way that could be easily reported to the Federal Government. Second, determining eligibility while preventing fraud requires the tracking of complex and often sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII) such as addresses, identification, income / expenses and more. With sensitive data coming from multiple sources and various partners needing to be involved in the process, Michigan faced a manual, document-based process that was rigid and time-consuming. With the amount of money at stake, they were also wary of bad-actors / fraudulent behavior. Additional challenges included training over 1500 Caseworkers remotely and migrating thousands of records over from Detroit as the city had attempted to stand up their own solution. Ideally, their new solution had to: - Work across 3 operating systems (Windows, Android, and iOS) - Be intuitive so citizens / applicants could apply with little to no training - Use intelligent automation and publicly available APIs to route applications to the appropriate Housing Assessment and Resource Agencies (HARAs) based on zipcode / county. - Be multi-tenant where each HARA could login and see the cases assigned to them (by county) - Centrally manage case worker access (i.e. identity access management and control) - Securely store encrypted PII data - Offer flexibility to add new partners without interruptions. - Provide live updates and application status via a self-service portal - Allow applicants to start, leave, return and complete applications at their leisure / as they are able to compile necessary information - Pass michigan.gov's rigorous security standards - Provide user-management tools to delegate applications, roles, and assignments. They selected the Kinetech GovCloud to do so. With an elite team of certified Mendix expert engineers, Kinetech offered the expertise and know-how needed to deploy and configure an all-in-one GovCloud platform to bring all of the pieces together, delivering at a speed that only a low-code-powered solution can provide.
Business Need: In their efforts to streamline the application, eligibility determination, and relief distribution, Michigan.gov recognized some significant challenges. First, they needed to go-live quickly or risk losing out on an additional $200+ million allocated for their state and fellow citizens. The problem was further complicated, as the State intended to leverage 80+ local Housing Assessment and Resource Agencies (HARAs) to manage cases and eligibility while following best practice guidelines in a way that could be easily reported to the Federal Government. Second, determining eligibility while preventing fraud requires the tracking of complex and often sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII) such as addresses, identification, income / expenses and more. With sensitive data coming from multiple sources and various partners needing to be involved in the process, Michigan faced a manual, document-based process that was rigid and time-consuming. With the amount of money at stake, they were also wary of bad-actors / fraudulent behavior. Additional challenges included training over 1500 Caseworkers remotely and migrating thousands of records over from Detroit as the city had attempted to stand up their own solution. Ideally, their new solution had to: - Work across 3 operating systems (Windows, Android, and iOS) - Be intuitive so citizens / applicants could apply with little to no training - Use intelligent automation and publicly available APIs to route applications to the appropriate Housing Assessment and Resource Agencies (HARAs) based on zipcode / county. - Be multi-tenant where each HARA could login and see the cases assigned to them (by county) - Centrally manage case worker access (i.e. identity access management and control) - Securely store encrypted PII data - Offer flexibility to add new partners without interruptions. - Provide live updates and application status via a self-service portal - Allow applicants to start, leave, return and complete applications at their leisure / as they are able to compile necessary information - Pass michigan.gov's rigorous security standards - Provide user-management tools to delegate applications, roles, and assignments. They selected the Kinetech GovCloud to do so. With an elite team of certified Mendix expert engineers, Kinetech offered the expertise and know-how needed to deploy and configure an all-in-one GovCloud platform to bring all of the pieces together, delivering at a speed that only a low-code-powered solution can provide.
Solution: Solution: White-labeled Kinetech GovCloud : Working hand-in-hand with MSHDA subject matter experts and IT teams, Kinetech configured our GovCloud to meet the needs of every stakeholder in the process. The application went live in less than 30 days. Michigan selected Kinetech’s GovCloud™ to deploy a multi-tenant, device-agnostic, mobile-first web-scale solution that intuitively guides applicants (residents of Michigan) through the application process. Once complete, the submissions are automatically sorted by an algorithm that considers zip code (validated against a US Postal Service API) and county. The algorithm then considers weights determined by Michigan (i.e. 65% to one HARA, 35% to another) to assign the case to the appropriate agency. Once assigned, caseworkers may review for completeness, determine eligibility, request more information, or reject / approve. Automated notifications keep applicants informed of their status in real-time, whenever the application reaches key milestones in the review / approve process.
Results: Outcomes of Project & Success Metrics: - Distributed over $985+ Million USD in aid - Assisted over 260,000 Residents - Delivered under budget and ahead of schedule - Won recognition for the state for being in the top 10 nationwide - Unlocked an additional $360 Million for the state, generating a 1000%+ return on investment “We are excited to partner with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and the Department of Technology Management & Budget (DTMB) to deploy the Kinetech GovCloud to rapidly address the needs of Michigan's most vulnerable residents (those living within 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI)." - Michael Guido, CEO of Kinetech