Presidential Initiatives
Program Manager(s) |
Curtis Turner |
---|---|
Managing Partner |
Department of Labor (DOL) |
Description |
Provides a single point of access for citizens to locate and determine potential eligibility for government benefits and services. |
Progress to Date |
|
Next Steps |
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Web Site |
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Performance |
GovBenefits.gov Performance Measurements |
Exhibit 300 |
GovBenefits.gov empowers people to make decisions for themselves and their families by providing a single website – www.GovBenefits.gov – for access to information on more than 1,000 government benefit and assistance programs. Launched in April 2002, GovBenefits.gov features an easy-to-use on-line screening tool to help individuals or caseworkers quickly determine potential eligibility for benefit programs. By answering a few confidential questions, such as income, marital or employment status, and family size, users are guided to a list of benefits they may be eligible to receive. Program descriptions and contact information are provided for each benefit program.
GovBenefits.gov significantly reduces the amount of time individuals spend trying to identify and access relevant information about government benefit programs that match their specific needs. GovBenefits.gov improves the ability of government agencies to assess program performance and pinpoint duplicative or redundant services, which creates opportunities for more efficient resource allocation. GovBenefits.gov allows local government or social service caseworkers to quickly identify and match alternative programs with an individual’s specific needs.
In spring 2004, GovBenefits.gov made it possible to launch a new E-Government initiative, called GovLoans.gov, by re-using the GovBenefits.gov architecture. GovLoans.gov is now an integrated companion site of GovBenefits.gov and features information about Federal loan programs, including business, agricultural, housing, veterans and disaster assistance. In addition, the project unveiled GovBenefits.gov En Espaņol, offering Spanish-speaking communities greater access to benefit information.
To date, more than 26 million people have visited the GovBenefits.gov site, and, as a result, 6.5 million citizen-referrals were made to government programs.
In March 2008, GovBenefits.gov launched a customized connection for the Social Security Administration’s Benefits Eligibility Screen Tool (BEST). The customized connection replaced the existing BEST tool, leveraging GovBenefits.gov’s powerful screening technology while preserving BEST’s detailed eligibility screening for 17 different SSA related benefit programs. It also provides citizens with a list of the Social Security benefits they may be eligible to receive.
FAST FACT:
More than 80 million people receive government benefits
through hundreds of Federal domestic assistance programs and Federally
funded programs managed by state and local governments. Previously, information
about these programs was spread across 31 million Federal government
web pages.