In 2002, the White House began an intensive effort to build, launch and manage a diverse portfolio of government-to-citizen, government-to-business and government-to-government websites. Operated, managed and supported by Federal agency partnerships, these initiatives provide high-quality solutions such as citizen tax filing, Federal rulemaking, electronic training, and benefit information delivery. The beneficiaries include citizens, businesses and Federal and State government employees.

The first of these initiatives to reach the Internet was GovBenefits.gov, an effort to provide citizens with easy online access to government benefit and assistance programs. The GovBenefits.gov mission focuses on reducing the expense and difficulty of conducting business with the government and increasing citizen access to benefit information. At the time of the site’s launch, it featured 55 programs, representing the ten original Federal agency partners. The website now includes over 1,000 programs representing 17 Federal partners.

Prior to the launch of GovBenefits.gov, Internet users had no choice but to search through a complicated and confusing maze of web pages for benefit information. No easy-to-use, single source of benefit information previously existed and even people familiar with a particular program could be confused about where to go for additional information.

The site’s core function is the eligibility pre-screening questionnaire. Answers to the questionnaire are used to evaluate a visitor’s situation and compare it with program criteria to determine potential eligibility for benefit and assistance programs.

GovBenefits.gov is a collaborative effort of 17 Federal agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Labor (Managing Partner), Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, the Office of Personnel Management, the Small Business Administration, and the Social Security Administration. New benefit information is added as GovBenefits.gov continues to expand information on Federal, State and local government benefit programs.

For an in-depth review of our activities take a look at GovBenefits.gov: A Progress Report to Citizens, a summary of our mission and efforts to serve citizens.

• A Progress Report to Citizens - December 2008