• Twelve Google.org Fellows – Google employees with skills in engineering, design and program management – will work full-time, pro bono with the State of Arkansas for six months to deploy CiviForm, a tool that makes it easier for residents to apply to government and community-based programs and services
• Supported programs may include government assistance, employment, education and training, and social services
• Arkansas will be the first state government to use this tool, which was initially developed by a team of Google.org Fellows and has since been adopted by multiple cities

Little Rock, Arkansas–Governor Asa Hutchinson announced today that the State of Arkansas has kicked off a project with Google.org with the goal of increasing access and utilization of government and community-based programs. The state will deploy CiviForm, an open-source tool that makes it easier for residents to apply to programs online. A team of 12 Google employees will work pro bono, full-time with the State of Arkansas, for six months as part of a Google.org Fellowship to help with the tool’s development and initial launch.

“Workforce development is of utmost importance for the residents of Arkansas, and I am excited to work with Google.org Fellows to make these opportunities easier to access online” said Governor Asa Hutchinson. “I am grateful for this support that will bring greater awareness and a more efficient way to apply to the programs that the State of Arkansas has available.”

“Google.org is excited to support the state of Arkansas in integrating CiviForm into the application process for government programs,” said Katharine McAden, Head of Public Policy and External Affairs South, for Google. “By bringing together the best of Google’s tech expertise with the State’s knowledge of resident needs, this tool will improve access to critical services and save Arkansans time along the way.”

“We are so excited about the support of the Google.org Fellows on a project that will help make it faster and easier for Arkansans to apply to multiple statewide programs at once,” said Jake Walker, Chief Research Officer at the Department of Transformation and Shared Services. “We look forward to implementing and growing this service with the Fellows.”

The team of Google.org Fellows traveled to Little Rock in June to collaborate with the program administrators who will be adopting CiviForm. The kickoff meeting helped the Google.org Fellows learn about the programs and better understand the needs of both administrators and Arkansas residents.

PROJECT SUMMARY
The State of Arkansas’s goals for the project include:

1. Developing a common intake process for residents that will efficiently connect them with services based on identified barriers and needs.
2. Streamlining the application experience for residents so that they can easily apply to multiple programs through a single website.
3. Creating a process that will lead to improved intake, referral, and case management for residents served by multiple agencies.
4.  Allowing community-based organizations to assist residents in the application process.

ABOUT GOOGLE.ORG FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

• Google.org works to bring the best of Google to nonprofits and civic entities working to address society’s greatest challenges. The Google.org Fellowship embeds teams of Googlers with nonprofits and governments for up to six months of full time, pro bono work. Fellows and their host organizations build solutions together, working to ensure their collective work has a sustained and lasting impact.
• The Fellowship is Google.org’s flagship employee engagement and professional development offering
• The Fellows participating have expertise in software engineering, user experience research and design, marketing, product management, data science, and more.