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About Benefits Data Trust
For the more than 1 in 10 Americans living in poverty, choosing whether to buy groceries, pay for medication or heat their homes is a devastating reality. Financial stability, as well as improved health and well-being, is difficult to achieve when families can’t meet their most basic needs.
Public benefit programs, like SNAP, Medicaid and WIC, exist to help people facing financial hardship. Yet these programs do not reach everyone who is eligible for them. Benefits Data Trust (BDT) estimates that $80 billion in benefits to help people pay for food, healthcare, education, and more goes untapped by eligible people today.
A nonprofit since 2005, BDT helps individuals connect to assistance programs while working with government and other partners to modernize the benefits system using data, technology, and policy.
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Since our founding in 2005, BDT has...
- Secured more than $10 billion in food, healthcare, housing, and other critical assistance for individuals and families.
- Helped streamline access to benefits in 18 states through policy and practice changes, affecting 10 million people.
- Developed more than 40 data sharing agreements to help government agencies pro-actively outreach to people eligible for but not yet enrolled in benefit programs.
- Sent text messages to nearly 2 million people about enrolling or staying enrolled in benefit programs.
- Helped more than 30,000 college students secure nearly $40 million in federal financial aid for college, using our digital FAFSA advisor, Wyatt.
Our Founding
What We Do
- Help state and local governments, colleges and universities, and healthcare organizations use data to identify and inform people eligible for but not yet enrolled in benefit programs.
- Screen and apply individuals for benefits through our Benefits Centers serving residents of Maryland, Michigan, New York City, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
- Provide guidance on the role of artificial intelligence in helping people access benefits and develop data and technology systems to connect people to benefits in a dignified, efficient way.
- Work closely with local, state and federal government agencies to make policy and practice changes that streamline access to benefits for eligible individuals.
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