Benefits Access Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Through the use of our innovative technology, you can find out your benefits eligibility and get connected to community resources. Then, if you want to learn more or have us help you apply for benefits, a caseworker will reach out.

 

1. Single Stop owns this technology, which includes SST, our comprehensive benefits screener, community resources map and case management suite, and Connects our short screener and referral tool.

 

2. The technology suite is licensed for use by organizations and agencies to provide benefits access support to clients. Connects is accessible by the public in New York City.

 

3. You will need to share some of your personal information to get results. If you open an account, you will be able to return and use our website again with the saved information. You are not required to save your information.

 

4. You can use this technology only as we have intended. It is illegal to hack or damage our software.

 

5. The information entered is accessible to the organization whose domain you have entered through or, in the case of Connects, who you have referred yourself to.

 

6. Single Stop does not have control over whether or not you receive certain benefits or services, even if you believe that you should have them. Single Stop’s technology simply screens for eligibility based on the information you provide and does not guarantee that you will qualify for or receive any benefits or services.

 

 

You are important to us, and your privacy is also important to us. This policy tells you how SST and Connects uses and protects your personal information.

 

 

We are a non-profit organization that helps people identify and obtain benefits to which they may be lawfully entitled. We are not the government. We are not a healthcare provider or insurance company. We are not a moneylender, credit provider, or credit rating agency. We do not provide funds or benefits or guarantee eligibility for, or receipt of, any benefits. We do not have the final say on whether you are eligible for benefits. We are not the actual source or provider of any benefits to which you may be entitled.

 

 

It takes a lot of personal information to help you get benefits. Single Stop only asks you for as much information as needed in order to screen you for benefits for which you can apply. We may also ask you for information needed to caseworkers to better provide you with assistance. We may ask you for information in the following categories: household, finances, work, education, military service, health, and citizenship. It is voluntary for you to share your personal information, but without it, we cannot screen your eligibility for benefits. When we ask you about something, it’s because that information is needed to assess your eligibility for benefits and resources.

 

 

SST asks for information about your family and household only when it is required for a benefits search or application.

 

 

We use your personal information in order to look through our list of top government benefits and find estimates of benefits or services that might be a match for you. These are benefits that you may be able to apply for. We look for federal and state benefits, including, but not limited to EITC, SNAP, and healthcare.

 

 

In the case of SST, we save your personal information as a client file so that you can return to Single Stop offices and talk to case managers about your needs, including checking up on your benefits or looking for additional support. With Connects, your information is not saved unless you, or someone you have given permission to, make a referral to an organization.

 

We also study and evaluate our performance as a nonprofit by looking at how much we have helped clients and how we can help you better. We do not study you as an individual, but we study all our clients as an aggregated group, in which the personal information (names, email and postal addresses, etc.) have been anonymized. This anonymized and aggregated data helps us improve our services to you and helps us report on our products to our funders (i.e., the people and organizations that give us money).

 

 

Your personal information goes straight into our secure database. It is saved into the system each time you advance to the next page/step. Specifically, the Single Stop Connects tool saves your information after you complete the first page, even if you do not make a referral. Any pages you complete beyond the first page are added to your record as well. We do not save your personal information on any standalone computers. Our database is stored in computer servers operated by companies that specialize in safely storing data. They are called cloud storage companies. We work with these companies to safeguard Single Stop data as much as possible. Who is looking at it?

 

Some of our staff have permission to look at the information in the database in order to do their Single Stop work. They can do so from any computer using a protected login and password. We have a lot of rules for our employees and partners about how to protect access to our database and how to use the database. Also, caseworkers are looking at your information to provide you with assistance in accessing benefits and services. Your information is made available to a caseworker when they make a referral to a provider. These caseworkers will reach out to you to schedule an appointment. You have no obligation to meet with them. Your information is only shared with the caseworkers at locations whose domain (website) you have entered through or who you have referred yourself to. Why do you need my contact information?

 

This information is needed so caseworkers can reach out to you to set up an appointment. We will also send you follow-up information on your account and on your appointment through the communication method (phone or email) you have entered. Single Stop may also use this information to send you reminders about your benefits and to inform you of any important information about rules or policy updates that may impact you. Finally, Single Stop may reach out to let you know of additional services being offered that you may be interested in.

 

 

You can close your account at any time so that you will no longer be an active Single Stop client. This does not remove your information from our database, where it stays as a record of how we helped you. If you want to delete your file from our database, please email support@singlestop.org, and we will remove as much of your personal information as possible to the best of our ability. Once you remove your information, Single Stop will no longer be able to assist you with the online screening process.

 

We do track analytics on pages visited and submit buttons clicked using a paid service, https://segment.com. This is only session-identifiable information stored as cookies, not personal information. We also use cookies only to store non-client

 

information, such as session_id, segment’s analytics id, etc. You may remove our cookies by accessing your browser’s settings which will allow you to delete cookies. For more information on how to delete cookies from your browser, see: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-delete-cookies-2617981.

 

 

Single Stop wants this technology to be as accessible as possible to those people that need it. We do not advertise this technology to anyone under the age of 13. The technology is not directed at children under the age of 13. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from a child under the age of 13, please contact us at support@singlestop.org.

 

 

Sometimes, an answer to one question tells us that you might be able to get other kinds of benefits. This may prompt you to answer some additional questions, which indicates that we are trying to determine if you qualify for additional benefits.

 

 

No, this website does not use online tracking. We do not sell any information about your online behavior or track any information about individuals through social media. We do not let third parties collect visitors’ information from our website. We do not share information about what happens on our website except to work on the software and Single Stop program and make it better.