At a time when rising costs have made it harder for many families to meet basic needs, public benefits like food assistance, housing support, and health coverage are more important than ever. But accessing these programs is notoriously difficult. Benefits vary by state and locality, eligibility rules are often complex, and many people do not know what they qualify for or how to apply. As a result, many eligible families miss out on critical support.

To bridge these gaps, the Colorado-based philanthropic organization Gary Community Ventures launched MyFriendBen in 2023. MyFriendBen is a free online screener that provides fast, location-specific estimates about eligibility, resource amounts, and application timelines for benefits and community resources. Its goal is to help people understand what support may be available and decide whether applying is worth the effort. Users cannot directly apply for benefits through the screener. Since its launch in Colorado, MyFriendBen has scaled rapidly. It is now operating in five other states—Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington—and will soon launch in Kansas and Missouri.

Urban Institute researchers recently evaluated MyFriendBen’s early implementation in its first two rollout states, Colorado and North Carolina. We analyzed data from nearly 100,000 screeners, fielded surveys to people immediately after they completed the screener and three months later, and conducted in-depth user interviews. Our six main takeaways offer insights into how digital screening helps connect people with benefits that can make a tangible difference in their lives and where additional support is needed.

The screener reaches economically disadvantaged households seeking critically needed support

Our analysis confirms that MyFriendBen reaches households experiencing acute economic strain. About 43 percent of users reported no household income and another 22 percent earned less than $25,000 annually. Survey respondents flagged housing (73 percent), utilities (42 percent), and food (41 percent) as financial stressors.

Interview feedback demonstrated that many turned to the screener when facing crises. We use pseudonyms to protect respondents’ privacy and confidentiality. For example, Dorothy shared her sudden path to housing instability:

“Never, ever, ever did I think that I would be in a situation where I would be homeless …. [My daughter’s] trailer caught on fire … I was in the hospital … on life support for 9 days. So that’s where my homelessness started.”

Others described struggling with rising living costs when they chose to use the screener. Zachary, for example, explained how a sharp rent increase contributed to financial difficulties.

“I ran out of money completely for the first time in my entire life … my rent went from no more than $800 a month to $2500 … just one year of that extortionate rent just wiped me out … everything collapsed.”

MyFriendBen’s design is accessible to a range of users

A core goal of MyFriendBen was to create a tool that is simple, fast, and useful. The evaluation results suggest it is largely meeting that goal. Among users who completed the screener, the median completion time was 6.6 minutes, and 77 percent finished in 10 minutes or less. On the baseline survey, 79 percent of respondents said the screener was “very easy” to use, and 95 percent said the questions were clear. Participants said they valued being able to find multiple programs in one place instead of having to search across many websites, and several described the tool as trustworthy, private, and easy to navigate.

MyFriendBen’s may help immigrants access benefits at a time when they are facing access barriers

Because recent immigration enforcement policies have made many immigrants hesitant to engage with public benefits, MyFriendBen asks for minimal identifying information. The tool is also available in 18 languages. Camila and other Spanish-speaking immigrant users said they appreciated the platform’s multilingual accessibility and data privacy.

“I felt [MyFriendBen] served as a guide—it walks you through everything step by step. To start, you open it up, and it asks you to select a language. I thought, ‘Wow, I love that.’ … It also asks for only very general information—nothing that made me feel like I was compromising my privacy …. Honestly, I think it is very well designed.”

The tool increases awareness of benefits and support follow-through

The evaluation data indicate that users learn new information about programs through MyFriendBen: 64 percent of baseline survey respondents learned about at least one new benefit or resource, and 62 percent gained new information about programs they already knew existed.

This expanded awareness translated into program applications and participation: 86 percent of follow-up survey respondents applied for at least one new benefit or resource after screening and 85 percent of those applicants were approved for at least one program.

These additional benefits and resources provided vital daily essentials like food and access to health care, lowering household stress. Interview participant Lucy summarized the impact on her family.

“[Accessing a food pantry] helped out a lot, because now me and my family are eating more …. I’m able to get out and do things that I never was able to do with my granddaughter … food-wise, because she loves her apples and bananas. Now I make sure she has [those things].”

Digital screening alone cannot remove all barriers to program access

The evaluation also shows the limits of what an eligibility screener can do on its own. Three-quarters of follow-up survey respondents applied for fewer benefits or programs than they had planned to apply for after receiving their MyFriendBen screener results. Among those who did apply, 43 percent reported challenges with applications. The most common challenge was not understanding all the steps required to apply. Interview participants also described barriers such as confusing documentation requirements, transportation challenges, and concerns about immigration-related consequences.

Furthermore, because this study only captured people who interacted with the platform, it does not fully reflect the experiences of those facing the greatest challenges accessing a digital tool—such as unhoused people and adults with low technology comfort or limited internet connectivity. These groups may be particularly likely to require additional support beyond a screener to successfully enroll in benefits.

Digital screeners may have the greatest impact when they are built into the broader benefits-access ecosystem

MyFriendBen’s early successes show that benefit screeners can be a key first step toward accessing supports. But our evaluation demonstrates that screening alone is not enough for many people seeking benefits. After using the tool, many users still needed help understanding eligibility, deciding whether to apply, and navigating next steps.

These findings point to a few ways screeners can better support benefit seekers as part of the broader benefits-access ecosystem. Notably, since we completed our evaluation, MyFriendBen has done substantial work to address each of these recommendations with the aim of enhancing benefit accessibility for its users.

• Include handoffs to navigators. Users often wanted more individualized follow-up. Connecting users to professionals who have experience providing hands-on support with benefit applications could help people complete enrollment.
• Engage hard-to-reach groups through trusted organizations. Some people who are likely eligible and would benefit from accessing additional programs are unlikely to find or use a screener on their own. Expanding partnerships with organizations that work with underserved people, such as shelters, churches, and food banks, could extend the screener’s reach.
• Clarify the path from screening to application. Though MyFriendBen provides links to applications, many users still did not apply for everything for which they were eligible. In some cases, this was because they expected follow-up from MyFriendBen that was not part of the screening process. More explanation of the screener’s role as only a first step separate from applications, plus more information about next steps could help increase follow-through.
• Explore deeper application integration where possible. Some users wanted screener results to feed into integrated application systems to smooth the enrollment process. This may be difficult to achieve given the numerous agencies and programs involved, but where feasible it could make enrollment much easier.

These results show that online benefits screeners can strengthen benefits access by reducing information barriers, surfacing relevant supports efficiently, and helping people engage more confidently with the next steps in the process—especially when the role of the screener and the path to additional support are clear.