North Texas organizations, including the Center for Transforming Lives, are leading efforts to bring a Colorado-based online tool into the hands of social services. The Fort Worth-based nonprofit, alongside Dallas’ Child Poverty Action Lab, are the first Texas adopters of MyFriendBen, a screening service allowing individuals to check their eligibility for services and benefits — from food and rent assistance to tax credits.

Streamlining the Process

In the first couple of weeks since MyFriendBen was implemented in Texas, 97% of users have qualified for new benefits, MyFriendBen interim CEO Laura Glaab said. The technology company has connected more than 115,000 households, according to the organization’s press release.

Using the online service simplifies a process that can often be daunting and time-consuming, said Carlye Tyler, chief program officer at Center for Transforming Lives. “It can often become really overwhelming to not know where to start and how to navigate all of those complex systems,” Tyler said.

Of the 12 Texas counties where MyFriendBen users reside, Tarrant has the most users to date, Glaab said. As of May 22, the median value in monthly benefits facilitated by Center for Transforming Lives customers was $3,116, Tyler added. The median monthly income for those same users was $1,733.

Local Partnerships

Child Poverty Action Lab led statewide efforts to launch MyFriendBen in Texas. The nonprofit is working with early adopters like Center for Transforming Lives and the Dallas office of First Step Staffing, a national organization working to lift individuals out of homelessness into stable employment.

The Texas Accelerator, supported by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, allowed MyFriendBen to be retooled to specifically service local residents. One example Glaab pointed to was homestead exemptions, a unique Texas benefit now accessible through MyFriendBen.

Original reporting: Fort Worth Report — read the source article.