Resident Experience Initiative

The Resident Experience Initiative (ResX) is a multi-year effort aimed at streamlining, simplifying, and improving how the State delivers key benefits and services to residents through the use of agile methodologies and human-centered design. The initiative is an expansion of efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to use innovative approaches to help the public find vaccine appointments, secure protection from eviction during economic hardship, and connect with vital programs and services.

Challenge

Whether it’s accessing health insurance through NJ FamilyCare, obtaining nutritional food benefits through SNAP, or finding meaningful employment through the State’s multitude of workforce programs, millions of New Jerseyans interact with the State government in person, on the phone, and online to receive benefits and support. While these benefits and services are impactful, the process to access critical support can be long, complex, and confusing, discouraging some from even applying for benefits they are eligible for. Bureaucratic silos, complex processes, and hard-to-reach customer service are significant barriers that disproportionately hinder the State’s most vulnerable from accessing benefits.

Innovation In Action

The Resident Experience Initiative puts residents and their experience at the center of all design, engineering, policy, and implementation considerations. Using extensive user research, cross-agency collaboration, and agile development, ResX works to tangibly improve the lives of residents. At a high level, ResX also advances uniform standards across government, shared digital services, and the creation of cross-agency one-stop websites.

Impact + Metrics

Backed by extensive user research, OOI launched a new streamlined Unemployment Insurance claim application that boosted certification rates by 63-88% while cutting the average time to complete an application by 48 minutes.
In partnership with the Department of Labor, OOI launched a completely redesigned application for unemployment insurance where we further reduced the number of questions by 20%, saving residents even more time and increasing the chances that they can apply in one sitting.
OOI, in partnership with the Department of Labor, created the Maternity Coverage Timeline Tool, so now expecting parents can receive a personalized calendar to help them plan when and how to use their maternity leave. As of April 2024, more than 95,000 New Jerseyans have used the tool to understand their benefits, and more than 378,000 timelines have been created since it was launched in May 2022.
OOI worked with the Department of Labor to build and launch My Career NJ, a new, interactive digital hub that centralizes personalized career resources. The hub features two new digital career tools: the NJ Training Explorer and the NJ Career Navigator. The Training Explorer enables customized filtering of training programs, provides information on tuition assistance, and gives users valuable insight into the providers that offer programs that meet their skill-building needs. The Career Navigator leverages big data and machine learning to generate personalized job and career recommendations that align with each user’s skill set, employment history, and individual professional goals across a wide range of private and public employment sectors. Less than a month after the launch of My Career NJ in March 2024, over 50,000 New Jerseyans have used the tool to generate personalized career recommendations and search for training opportunities.
To provide much-needed guidance and support for transgender and non-binary New Jerseyans, OOI partnered with advocacy and service-based organizations to launch Transgender.NJ.gov, a resource hub with relevant information from nearly a dozen agencies. As of April 2024, the Hub has been visited more than 53,000 times and connected these visitors to critical information and services.
Working with the Office of the Secretary for Higher Education, OOI launched BasicNeeds.NJ.gov to support low-income college students in accessing nutrition, housing, and other resources to address challenges that could end their academic pursuits. As of April 2024, BasicNeeds.NJ.gov has been visited more than 29,000 times, providing these visitors with critical information and resources.

Status

The Resident Experience Initiative is an ongoing effort to modernize State programs, benefits, and services. The Initiative is scaling to a number of high priority program areas including housing and utility assistance, food security, worker benefits, and more.

Partners

Office of the Governor
NJ State Department of Labor
NJ State Department of Human Services
NJ State Office of the Secretary of Higher Education
NJ State Office of Information Technology
NJ State Office of the Attorney General, Division on Civil Rights
NJ State Department of Children and Families

Last updated on 5/1/24