Access to Information

Multnomah County, Ore.

hen Van Le began a study to determine the causes of poverty in Oregon, she didn't realize just how much the state's bureaucracy was keeping low-income residents from getting a leg up.

Le, a policy analyst with the Budget and Quality Office in Multnomah County, discovered that although more than 10 forms of economic assistance were available for poor people, there was no single resource they could consult to determine which programs they qualified for. Many applicants spent hours talking to a number of social workers.

In 1999, Multnomah County launched a Web site called Oregon Helps. It pulled together information from a dozen assistance programs and created a single questionnaire people can use to find out which benefits are available to them.

In 2000, the program went statewide, and now, says Le, the process of learning about benefits has been shortened to less than 10 minutes. Oregon Helps costs less than $3,000 a year to run, which is welcome news to the cash-strapped state.

-Shane Harris

WHY IT WON

Showed there was a better way to deliver financial assistance to the citizens who qualify for it.

WHY IT'S INNOVATIVE

Consolidated the state's muddled application process into a single form.

WHAT DIFFERENCE IT HAS MADE

Gave Oregonians access to aid they previously didn't know they qualified for.