San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee this week launched Promptly, an application to send text message notifications for clients at the San Francisco Human Services Agency (HSA).
The app was developed by Code for America Fellows at City Hall in collaboration with the HSA and the mayor’s office. It will first be rolled out to CalFresh clients, then proceed to other programs.
"Our City strives for strong, healthy communities that can participate in a prosperous economy, and Promptly helps us achieve this by enabling beneficiaries of programs like CalFresh to keep food on the table for their families," Lee said in a press release.
Currently, when client benefits change or need to be renewed, the HSA or particular program mails a paper notice to the client informing them of the change; however, if the client moves away and forgets to leave a forwarding address or the paper notice is missing in the mail, the benefits could expire without the client being aware of the change until they try to buy groceries.
The Promptly app currently has 700 users signed up to receive text messages, according to a press release. An early pilot of 100 users showed a 50 percent response rate, a much higher rate than by snail mail or email. The text messages are able to be translated into six different languages.
"Both HSA and our team believe that text messaging is a quick and easy way to reach people who are in danger of not receiving necessary benefits," said Andy Hull, a Code for America Fellow. "If clients receive a text message that enables them to stay on benefits — that’s food that a client has for the next six months."
Federally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, CalFresh is aimed at providing healthy and nutritious food on the table by giving electronic benefits accepted at most markets and food stores, according to the state program’s website.
