Policy Initiatives
Much of my work involves using randomized and quasi-experimental designs, often in partnerships with state governments, to produce evidence that policymakers use to strengthen the safety net. These are the initiatives I currently lead or co-lead.
The SCALE Lab
The SCALE Lab is a research and policy institute that forms hands-on partnerships with state policymakers to improve the social safety net. Its data scientists and research assistants are employed by Yale but hold state credentials and work side by side with agency staff, so that new policies can be tested, refined and scaled while decisions are still open. The team of about a dozen researchers, data scientists, policy staff and trainees also studies Medicaid managed care, SNAP and the administrative burdens that keep eligible people from benefits.
- Thinking beyond the possible: How YSPH is shaping public health policy (Yale School of Public Health, 2025)
- SCALE Lab website (coming soon)
About · News & features · Website
About
- Thinking beyond the possible: How YSPH is shaping public health policy (Yale School of Public Health, 2025)
News & features
- From research to impact: Yale’s Tobin Center drives work that shapes policy and improves lives (Yale News, 2026)
- The paperwork trap: A sneaky way to cut Medicaid in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’? (NPR Planet Money, 2025)
- Chima Ndumele: Reinventing Medicaid (Health & Veritas podcast) (Yale Insights, 2024)
Website
- SCALE Lab website (coming soon)
Connecticut Medicaid Partnership
With generous support from Arnold Ventures and the Connecticut Project, a SCALE team has worked inside Connecticut’s Department of Social Services, which runs HUSKY Health (the state’s Medicaid program) and SNAP. With agency staff, we co-design and field randomized evaluations of care management, member outreach and benefit take-up, and provide rapid-cycle analysis on the state’s most pressing questions, including those related to H.R. 1 implementation, so that results feed directly into program decisions.
Trials & registrations · News & features · In the state’s words
Trials & registrations
- Increasing SNAP Enrollment Among Eligible Medicaid Beneficiaries: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Informational Messaging and Application Assistance (AEA RCT Registry, 2026)
- Testing Approaches to Increase SNAP Take-up Among CT Medicaid Beneficiaries (J-PAL, 2025)
- Connecticut Medicaid Vaccination Outreach: Optimizing Targeting for Immunizations for Adolescents (OPTIMA) (OSF Registries, 2025)
- Connecticut Medicaid PCP Attribution: Evaluating Community Health Worker Outreach (OSF Registries, 2025)
- Connecticut Medicaid Readmission Avoidance: Evaluating Care Management Outreach (OSF Registries, 2025)
- Connecticut Medicaid Avoidable ED: Evaluating Targeted Care Management Outreach (OSF Registries, 2025)
News & features
- Our impact in Connecticut (Phase One Report) (Tobin Center for Economic Policy, 2026)
- Officials say DSS, Medicaid face potentially bleak future (CT News Junkie, 2025)
- Alumni Day highlights data-driven leadership (Yale School of Public Health, 2023)
- J-PAL North America and Results for America announce 18 collaborations with state and local governments (MIT News, 2023)
In the state’s words
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“Currently conducting a four-month pilot program in partnership with Yale University’s SCALE Lab, Connecticut Foodshare, and Frontdoor Benefits with the goal of increasing SNAP enrollment and evaluating varied communication techniques”
— DSS presentation to the Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council (Connecticut DSS, May 2026)
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“We are interested in partnering with researchers that can give us what I call actionable intelligence on how to inform policy in real time, not five or 10 years later.”
— Yale unites scholars, policymakers to improve Medicaid (Bill Halsey, Connecticut Medicaid Director, in Yale News, 2024)
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“DSS and the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University are modeling the financial impact should one or several of the discussed proposals pertaining to Medicaid be enacted”
— Medicaid federal financial modeling, presented to the Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council (Connecticut DSS, March 2025)
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“The goal of the Test & Learn is to build rigorous evidence and enable data-driven decision making for the Medicaid program.”
— Testimony to the Human Services Committee (Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves, Connecticut General Assembly, 2025)
Medicaid Learning Lab
Developed by J-PAL North America with the SCALE Lab, the Medicaid Learning Lab helps state Medicaid agencies build test-and-learn capacity: using evidence in real decisions and, when conditions are right, generating new evidence through randomized evaluation. Agency teams receive a customized curriculum of workshops, peer learning and technical assistance, and strong designs can compete for evaluation awards of up to $400,000. The first cohort launched in June 2026 and convened at MIT that September.
- Letter from the Scientific Advisor, Jacob Wallace (J-PAL North America newsletter, June 2026)
About · News & features · Related research
About
- Letter from the Scientific Advisor, Jacob Wallace (J-PAL North America newsletter, June 2026)
- J-PAL North America Medicaid Learning Lab (J-PAL, 2026)
- February 2026 North America Newsletter (J-PAL, 2026)
News & features
Related research
- Supporting Innovation in Medicaid Policy — Interventions to Increase Adoption of RCTs (New England Journal of Medicine, 2022)
- As Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement Ends, Randomized Controlled Trials Can Minimize Churn (Health Affairs Forefront, 2022)
- Randomized communication nudges to increase primary care engagement among Medicaid enrollees in Maine (Health Affairs Scholar, 2026)
SNAP Payment Accuracy
Starting in 2027, states’ share of SNAP benefit costs will depend on their payment error rates. In partnership with the Better Government Lab, we are working with five states to deploy predictive models that flag the cases most likely to contain errors, so that states can catch mistakes without adding burden for families. The project just received $1.7 million in funding from the Public Benefit Innovation Fund. Our team also co-convenes workshops where states share data, code and lessons openly.
- Center for Civic Futures Awards $11 Million to Tackle the Toughest Barriers in Safety Net Delivery with AI (Center for Civic Futures, 2026)
News & features · Resources
News & features
- Center for Civic Futures Awards $11 Million to Tackle the Toughest Barriers in Safety Net Delivery with AI (Center for Civic Futures, 2026)
Resources
- Yale SCALE Lab on the Safety Net Response Network (Safety Net Response Network, 2026)
- QC Data Workshop: Predictive Analytics for SNAP Payment Error Reduction (workshop summary) (Better Government Lab, SCALE Lab and Aspen Financial Security Program, 2026; original)
- SNAP PER Modeling Workshop: Evaluation discussion (slides) (Better Government Lab, Aspen Financial Security Program and SCALE Lab, 2026; original)
- SNAP PER Analytics Workgroup: Implementing a predictive model within Connecticut (slides) (SCALE Lab, 2026; original)
- Is This Working? Data-Driven Strategies to Reduce SNAP Payment Error Rates (Safety Net Response Network, 2026)