Systems that assist individuals in identifying government or community provided benefits and services.
Background reading:
- Startups Are Finally Taking on Food Stamps
Outdated social programs are desperately in need of innovation. A new wave of apps aims to fill that niche. Wired magazine, 2017. - Leveraging Text Messaging to Improve Communications in Safety Net Programs.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2019.
Grundsicherung in Berlin
- odis-berlin.de
- Civic data, Civic maps, Data visualization, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Mapping, The Tech
Berlinweit gibt es ca. 84.000 Menschen die staatliche Unterstützung in Form von Grundsicherung zur Sicherung ihres Lebensunterhalts bekommen.
PIP Kit
Work together on the UK Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefit claim form
Integrated Benefits Initiative
Code for America partnered with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Nava Public Benefit Corporation to conduct pilots in Michigan (in partnership with Civilla), Colorado, Alaska, Vermont (led by Nava PBC) and Louisiana.
Boulder eligibility calculator
"Google.org and Boulder, Colorado, are teaming up to create a new eligibility calculator, which residents of that city will be able to use to determine if they qualify for public programs, discounts or rebates"
Pokket
- acivilate.com
- Adjacent Fields, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Legal tech, Tech for public challenges, The Tech
Pokket℠ connects justice agencies and human service providers with returning citizens to break the cycle.
Code for Australia Legal Aid Checker
- codeforaustralia.org
- Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Govtech, Justice tech, State and regional government technology, The Tech
Legal Aid Checker is an online triaging system, helping to determine if people are eligible to recieve services and help from Victoria Legal Aid.
CityBlock
Bringing a new approach to urban health, one block at a time
Chalmers
- sites.google.com
- Artificial Intelligence, Bots, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, High-tech civic tech, The Tech
Chalmers can help you find things like: free meals, overnight shelter, clothing banks, emergency contacts and can point you to offline and online mental health services.
Unite Us
Unite Us is an outcome-focused technology company that builds coordinated care networks of health and social service providers.
Ryecatcher
RyeCatcher is online collaboration software that makes it easy for everyone involved in a student’s success to work together.
Alia
Alia is an online platform to help house cleaners get benefits.
Single Stop
Single Stop brings together America's most effective anti-poverty tools to create economic mobility for families and individuals.
18F Eligibility Rules Project
Exploring a new way to make eligibility rules easier to implement
Healthify
WE help healthcare organizations find community services, track social needs, and coordinate referrals with community partners to radically improve the health of the people we serve.
C-App
- c-app.org.uk
- Adjacent Fields, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Legal tech, Tech for public challenges
C-App provides guidance, support, and advice for most parts of the application process for Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independent payment benefits, respectively.
Wetaase
- wetaase.org
- Adjacent Fields, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Govtech, Justice tech, Legal tech, Tech for public challenges, The Tech
A web and mobile platform serving high-risk individuals, victims and survivors of human trafficking from Uganda
Crisis Text Line
- www.crisistextline.org
- Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Meet the others, Organize campaigns, SMS campaign tools, Socialize online, Solidarity networks, The People, The Tech
Crisis Text Line is the free, 24/7, confidential text message service for people in crisis. Text HOME to 741741 in the United States.
NYC Benefits Screening API
- screeningapidocs.cityofnewyork.us
- Civic data, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Govtech, The Tech
Create modern web applications that evaluate household data against eligibility rules for 31 different City, State, and Federal benefits programs (including SNAP, Cash Assistance, WIC, HEAP, and more).
ACCESS NYC
- access.nyc.gov
- Build something, Building inside government, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Govtech, The People, The Tech
Find help in NYC with food, money, housing, work and more on ACCESS NYC.
Haqdarshak
- haqdarshak.com
- Adjacent Fields, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Legal tech, Tech for public challenges, The Tech
Haqdarshak enables citizens to access government welfare schemes for which they are eligible. They provide onlineand offline support with documentation and applications.
JobKraftwerk
The platform makes it easy for social workers and refugees to create and access digital records related to their settlement and integration into Germany, also supporting local labour market integration.
Soliguide
a user-friendly platform that centralizes data about all public services and facilities that can cater to the needs of vulnerable citizens, such as where to eat, to shower, to find shelter or get social welfare
Veterans Affairs Canada Find benefits & services tool
By answering just a few questions, this tool can provide a list of benefits from Veterans Affairs Canada that are the most relevant to you.
Service Net
- benetech.org
- Data schemas and standards, Engagement tech, Get social benefits, Resource matching and sharing, The Tech
Benetech Service Net is an open standards data exchange platform that makes it easier to share and maintain information on local social and human services.
NowPow
NowPow connects people to high quality community resources to help address their chronic health and social conditions or just stay well.
The Impact Lab
- web.archive.org
- Data science for social good, Get social benefits, Graveyard, Learn about civic tech, The People
We're launching the analytics platform for smarter social services.
Pie For Providers
A digital assistant for your child care business.
Panacea
Panacea allows you to check your food stamps and cash benefits balance all on your smartphone.
Propel, FreshEBT
We build software for low-income Americans who are often overlooked by traditional tech innovation focusing on EBT Food Stamps.
Communally
Assisting low- and moderate-income individuals and families to move from the Crisis of poverty to being able to make real Choices in their lives through the practical application of innovative technology, public policy expertise, and community outreach.
Ask Izzy
Ask Izzy helps people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to find the services they need, right now and nearby.
iCarol
iCarol non-profit and charity help line software for crisis, referral and emotional support lines.
HealthLeads
Health Leads believes that a different kind of healthcare is possible...and we work to fulfill this vision.
Open Referral
We develop data standards and open platforms that make it easy to share and find information about community resources.
Healthify
Healthify is the leading software solution for addressing individuals' social determinants with care coordination between health care and community services.
Curated by Greg Bloom
Greg Bloom (@greggish) is the founder of Open Referral, a civic technology initiative that is promoting a shift towards open sharing of resource directory data (i.e. information about who does what for whom, across all fields of health, human, and social services). Greg is a cooperative developer and community organizer, with more than a decade of experience in GOTV, class-action labor lawsuits, municipal budget battles, death penalty abolition campaigns, community wireless networks, and even a backyard chicken legalization movement. His writing has been published in In These Times, Civic Quarterly, Personal Democracy Forum, and Code for America’s Beyond Transparency.
Curators are not responsible for all of the entries in their categories.
Would you like to become a curator of the Civic Tech Field Guide? Drop us a quick note.