Benefits.gov (formerly GovBenefits.gov) was launched by the U.S. Department of Labor in April 2002, as a website designed to provide American citizens with access to government benefit eligibility information. Benefits.gov helps citizens determine their potential eligibility for more than 1,000 government-funded benefit and assistance programs. Visitors can complete an on-line questionnaire, and Benefits.gov matches benefit programs with their needs and provides information on how to apply.

Benefits.gov includes information on a variety of benefit and assistance programs for veterans, seniors, students, teachers, children, people with disabilities, dependents, disaster victims, farmers, caregivers, job seekers, prospective homeowners, and more.

Facts and figures

  • People served: over 220 million people (as of Aug 2024)[1]
  • Referrals to partner agencies: 32 million
  • Average monthly visitors: 1.1 - 1.3 million
  • Benefits provided: over 1,100 (as of Aug 2024)[1]

Shutdown

At the end of September 2024, the website was shut down and replaced by benefits subpages found on the websites USA.gov and USAGov en Español.[1] This was a result of Executive Order 14058 by President Biden in 2021, which directed the General Services Administration to “develop a roadmap for a redesigned USA.gov website that aims to serve as a centralized, digital ‘Federal Front Door’ from which customers may navigate to all Government benefits, services, and programs, and features streamlined content, processes, and technologies that use human-centered design to meet customer needs, including consolidating content currently appearing on Benefits.gov, Grants.gov, and other appropriate websites […][2]

Key features include:[1]

  • A centralized, singular, user-friendly location to access benefits information.
  • A search engine called Benefit Finder that helps users locate benefits programs and determine eligibility.
  • Category-based navigation organized by type and “life events”.

However, there was some opposition to the new design. The first Federal Chief Information Officer, Mark Forman, told Nextgov/FCW that “A big focus for the original design was finding what you needed within 3 clicks or less […] noting that he was skeptical of USA.gov's new focus on ‘life events’ as a way to organize parts of the website.”[3]

Govloans.gov

Govloans.gov, the sister site of benefits.gov, was launched in 2004, and provides information about government loan programs. Govloans.gov features information about loans for:

  • Housing
  • Education
  • Agriculture
  • Small business
  • Veterans
  • Disaster relief

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Department of Labor, General Services Administration to centralize government benefits information on USA.gov and USAGov en Español". U.S. General Services Administration. 2024-08-07. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  2. ^ House, The White (2021-12-13). "Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government". The White House. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  3. ^ Alms, Natalie (2024-08-05). "Benefits.gov to shutter in September". Nextgov.com. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
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