About | Benefit Navigator

Currently offered in California and expanding to other states soon.

The Problem and The Solution

The Benefit Navigator seamlessly navigates the complicated web of public benefits and tax credits. Developing crucial safety nets and pathways out of poverty along the way.

The current system’s complexity and fragmentation hinders swift access to aid, compounded by fears of benefit loss upon employment and confusion over tax implications.

Partnering with USC Center for Social Innovation, research uncovered 30 distinct Federal, State and County benefits available in LA County, revealing the labyrinth of applications and compliance processes and highlighting:

The difficulty of identifying, applying for and receiving all benefits and tax credits, which results in both the underutilization of available benefits and time delays in receiving benefits which can exacerbate trauma and homelessness.

The fear and lack of understanding about taxes and tax credits including the fact these credits can generate significant cash for low-income tax filers — especially families — which means impactful tax benefits are often not utilized by the people who need them most.

The phenomenon of “benefits cliffs,” meaning a modest income increase unexpectedly triggers a severe benefit loss.

The fear of loss of benefits, and the lack of transparency on how it happens which can prevent people from earning income.

This landscape unwittingly leaves billions of dollars of critical resources untapped and enmeshes individuals, especially families, in poverty. The Benefit Navigator seeks to provide trusted information, transparency, and accessibility, to empower individuals and case managers with informed decision-making tools to navigate toward economic mobility.

Additionally, by collecting comprehensive benefit-use data, the Benefit Navigator aims to help inform policy change that will better provide easy access to immediate temporary relief for severe economic hardship, eliminate benefit cliffs, and better promote financial security and sustainable exits from poverty.

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Here for you, providing trusted information in a human centered way.

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Our Methodology

Over the past 18 years, our founding organization, Imagine LA, has helped thousands of families navigate out of homelessness and find financial security with Imagine LA. We’ve seen, first-hand, just how difficult it is to navigate our public benefits and tax credit system. The current landscape leaves billions of dollars of critical resources on the table, enmeshing individuals, and especially families, in poverty.

The Benefit Navigator was created to directly tackle the challenge of navigating complicated public benefits and tax credits to help you illuminate pathways toward financial security. We provide trusted information, systemic transparency, and help make economic mobility more accessible to all individuals.

We lean into human-centered design anchored in research and recommendations from USC’s Center of Social Innovation. Our tools are thoughtfully built using vast lived expertise, along with Imagine LA’s decade-plus of experience working alongside families wading through public benefits, and rigorous pilot feedback.

Beyond benefit navigation, by collecting comprehensive benefit-use data, the Benefit Navigator aims to help inform policy change to improve access to immediate temporary relief for severe economic hardship, eliminate benefit cliffs, as well as promote financial security and sustainability.

The Problem and The Solution

Social Benefit tackles the challenge of navigating the complicated web of public benefits and tax credits, crucial for both safety nets and pathways out of poverty.

The current system’s complexity and fragmentation hinders swift access to aid, compounded by fears of benefit loss upon employment and confusion over tax implications.

Partnering with USC Center for Social Innovation, research uncovered 30 distinct Federal, State and County benefits available in LA County, revealing the labyrinth of applications and compliance processes and highlighting:

The difficulty of identifying, applying for and receiving all benefits and tax credits, which results in both the underutilization of available benefits and time delays in receiving benefits which can exacerbate trauma and homelessness.

The fear and lack of understanding about taxes and tax credits and that they can actually generate significant cash for the low-income tax filer, especially families, means that impactful tax benefits are often not being utilized by the people that need them most.

The phenomenon of “benefits cliffs” when a modest income increase surprisingly triggers a severe benefit loss.

The fear of loss of benefits, and the lack of transparency of how it happens can also prevent people from earning income.

This landscape unwittingly both leaves billions of dollars of critical resources untapped and enmeshes individuals and especially families, in poverty. Social Benefit seeks to provide trusted information, transparency, and accessibility, to empower individuals and case managers with informed decision-making tools to navigate toward economic mobility.

Additionally, by collecting comprehensive benefit use data, Social Benefit aims to help inform policy change that will better provide easy access to immediate temporary relief for severe economic hardship, eliminate benefit cliffs, and better promote financial security and sustainable exits from poverty.

Our Methodology

Over the past 15 years, we’ve helped thousands of families navigate out of homelessness and find financial security with Imagine LA. We’ve seen, first-hand, just how difficult it is to navigate our current public benefits and tax credit system. The current landscape leaves billions of dollars of critical resources on the table, enmeshing individuals and especially families, in poverty.

Amplifi is created to directly tackle the challenge of navigating complicated public benefits and tax credits to help you illuminate pathways toward financial security. We provide trusted information, systemic transparency, and help make economic mobility more accessible to all individuals.

We lean into human-centered design anchored in research and recommendations from USC’s Center of Social Innovation. Our tools are thoughtfully built using vast lived expertise, along with Imagine LA’s decade-plus of experience working alongside families wading through public benefits, and initial pilot feedback.

By collecting comprehensive benefit-use data, Amplifi aims to help inform policy change to improve access to immediate temporary relief for severe economic hardship, eliminate benefit cliffs, and promote financial security and sustainability.

Your service-centered home for trusted information to help you Amplifi your impact.

Our Team

Jill Bauman
MPPM/MBA, Yale

Co-Founder

Brit Gilmore
MSSE, USC

Chief Product Officer, Co-Founder

Karen Van Kirk
MSMS, MIT

VP Product Implementation and Data

Erika Guzman, MSW

Director of Operations

Alejandro Gonzalez
MSW, Simmons

Senior Customer Success Manager

Makha Mthembu
MFA, USD

Operations Coordinator

Allen Lai

Engineer/Programmer

Paul Huntsberger

Fractional CTO and Compliance Specialist

Stephen Rockwell

Fractional CTO

Ryan Efendy

Senior Developer

Lincoln Hoey Moore

Developer

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Here for you, providing trusted information in a human centered way.

The Problem and The Solution

Social Benefit seamlessly navigates the complicated web of public benefits and tax credits. Developing crucial safety nets and pathways out of poverty along the way.