MyFriendBen was created by Gary Community Ventures, a Denver-based organization. We co-designed MyFriendBen with a group of Colorado families who are participating in a direct cash assistance program. Families told us it was difficult and time-consuming to know what benefits they were entitled to. We are defining “benefits” as public benefits (includes city, county, state and federal), tax credits, financial assistance, nonprofit supports and services. MyFriendBen only includes benefits and tax credits with an annual value of at least $300 or more a year.
Taking inspiration from AccessNYC, and connecting with PolicyEngine's API for benefits calculation, we built out a universal benefits screener with the goal to increase benefit participation rates by making key information - like dollar value and time to apply - more transparent, accessible, and accurate. The platform is currently live in Colorado and has been tested with over 40 benefits.
This is the repository for the backend Python/Django rules engine that takes household demographic data and returns benefits eligibility and estimated values. The frontend repository can be accessed here.