An initiative developed by Google is saving the citizens of Seattle, Wash., some serious cash. Families can repurpose up to $25,000 in annual living expenses because of measures taken by their elected officials and Google to make access to services easier than ever.

The Affordable Seattle Initiative connects residents with 30 programs that help reduce the cost of living in Seattle and reduce the amount of time spent applying for programs. It began in 2017 when then-mayor Jenny Durkan signed an executive order directing city departments to collaborate on a portal designed to improve access to city programs and reduce living expenses for low-income residents.

“The initial development focused on addressing residents’ main hurdles to accessing city services,” explained Mayor’s Office Digital Strategy Lead Ben Dalgetty.

The Affordable Seattle Initiative includes four components that together make benefit programs more easily accessible. The process took six months, and the city received pro bono labor from 13 Google.org fellows for it to implement the idea.

Google.org, the philanthropic wing of Google, works with municipalities to develop solutions based on specific needs. It helps them develop open-source technology built upon what’s already being used within that community. In Seattle’s case, the result was CiviForm.

CiviForm is an innovative, open-source portal designed to allow residents to quickly and conveniently be connected to all city assistance services at once. All city departments are required to adopt or integrate the CiviForm platform by the end of 2024.

“Community-based organizations were heavily involved from the start, with partners including El Centro de la Raza, Chinese Information and Service Center and Refugee Women’s Alliance providing invaluable input throughout development,” Dalgetty said. “CiviForm was designed knowing that caseworkers at trusted community-based organizations often apply for programs on behalf of their clients.”

Four of the fellows worked with the project for an additional six months to add features and tools in the aftermath of the launch, bridging the support gap while the city worked to hire full-time staff to maintain the CiviForm platform.

The platform makes it faster and easier for residents to apply for city-based benefit and discount programs and was designed with community input to ensure it works for those who will benefit the most, Dalgetty said. The city of Seattle is the custodian of all data entered by residents and data is not shared with Google.org.

CiviForm cost $124,000 to implement, between staffing and cloud storage costs. The city used Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for the initiative, but Dalgetty said total city spending on the Affordable Seattle Initiative has been approximately $1.3 million from 2021 to August 2023.

The staff consists of five full-time technologists and program specialists dedicated to helping onboard programs to CiviForm and perform community outreach and marketing. They also maintain the site and develop new site features. “The program costs are almost entirely staffing costs and seem to be reasonable for the scope of work of the initiative,” Dalgetty said.

The pandemic accelerated the need for improved access to city services via digital applications, allowing for rapid piloting of programs that previously relied on paper applications to distribute benefits, continued Dalgetty.

In July, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced an expansion of the initiative and signed his own executive order directing all city departments to adopt the platform.

“CiviForm is a game changer for our communities. This exciting initiative and new technology are already making a meaningful difference supporting Seattle residents, helping them save time, save money and increase access to the resources and programs they need,” he said. “Rooted in Seattle’s spirit of big ideas and support for those in need, we are leveraging innovation and collaboration to make it easier for people to understand what assistance programs they qualify for and then apply in just minutes. CiviForm exemplifies our One Seattle approach to public-private collaborations: Its development was supported by know-how from technology companies and its design was informed by testing with community nonprofit partners.”

The initiative averages a time reduction from 30 minutes down to just five minutes to fill out and submit applications. The savings are pretty substantial as well.

“For qualified households, total available savings through programs that use CiviForm was up to $23,000 per year when Mayor Harrell signed the Executive Order in July,” Dalgetty said. “The city has continued to add more benefits to the tool with a goal of including over 20 assistance programs by the end of 2024, and current total potential savings has already increased to $25,517 per family per year.”

Programs currently available to access through CiviForm include the Seattle Parks and Recreation Scholarship Program; Seattle Preschool Program; free smoke/carbon monoxide detectors; utility discounts including internet and sewer repairs; college assistance; SNAP/EBT match; Transit Pass assistance; discounts for several groups; the Low Income Restricted Parking Zone Permit; free toilet installation; emergency assistance programs; weatherization; Trees for Neighborhoods; the Gold Card for senior discounts to attractions, services, and retail; and FLASH cards for disabled residents. Smart Cities Connect recently named CiviForm one of the 50 most transformative smart projects of 2023. Learn more at www.seattle.gov/affordable.

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