Nava Labs Announces AI-Powered Referral Tool Pilot

Nava Labs will launch a pilot of a resource referral tool, powered by artificial intelligence, with a focus on health and social services.

The pilot will be held in Texas and Pennsylvania in collaboration with two Goodwill partners as part of a grant from the Gates Foundation, marking the second such effort in a series of AI-powered tool testing initiatives that support resource navigation and public benefit enrollment for people with low incomes and the caseworkers who help them, Nava Labs said Wednesday.

How Does the AI-Powered Tool Work?

According to the company, the resource referral tool will simplify how Goodwill staff refer clients to health and social services beyond the organization’s existing offerings. As part of the pilot, the software will be integrated into Goodwill’s case management workflows, enabling caseworkers to access the tool in their daily interactions with clients and provide feedback iteratively.

“This AI-powered referral tool has the opportunity to reduce administrative burden for caseworkers, enabling more and better tailored referrals for clients,” said Genevieve Gaudet, director of Nava Labs. “Testing the referral tool with two Goodwill partners will help us gain insights into scaling to multiple environments with different operations and existing technology.”

The software pilot with Goodwill will follow the company’s deployment of an AI-powered assistive chatbot for Imagine LA’s caseworkers to evaluate the chatbot’s capability to help families understand program eligibility and enrollment requirements.

Recently, Nava Labs was selected to join the latest cohort of Google.org’s Generative AI accelerator, which aims to provide funding and technical expertise in support of organizations that offers AI tools in the social sector. Imagine LA and the First 5 Riverside County Children & Families Commission will serve as Nava Labs’ partners as it develops and tests a suite of generative AI-powered agents or software systems that use AI to help complete benefit applications with caseworker oversight.