Glossary

Common terms used across CiviForm.

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• Applicant — A resident using CiviForm to find and apply for government benefit and service programs. The terms "applicant" and "resident" are used interchangeably across the docs.

• Block — Used interchangeably with screen.

• CiviForm Admin — Government staff who manage CiviForm for their jurisdiction. CiviForm Admins create and manage questions, build program application forms, publish programs, and manage permissions for Program Admins and Trusted Intermediaries. They do not review submitted applications — that is the role of Program Admins.

• Common Intake Form — A cross-program eligibility screener that helps residents understand which programs they may qualify for before they begin a full application. Also referred to as a pre-screener.

• Enumerator question — A question type that allows applicants to create a list of one type of entity, such as household members, vehicles, or jobs.

• Enumerator screen — A screen that contains an enumerator question. Repeated screens can be created from enumerator screens to ask follow-up questions for each entity the applicant has listed.

• Jurisdiction — A government entity that has deployed CiviForm, such as a city, county, or state. Also referred to as a civic entity.

• Personally identifiable information (PII) — Any data that could potentially identify a specific person, either directly or by combining it with other available data.

• Pre-screener — See Common Intake Form.

• Program — A government benefit or service offering that has been configured in CiviForm. Each program has its own application form, eligibility rules, and set of assigned Program Admins. Residents see and apply to programs through the CiviForm portal.

• Program Admin — Government staff who review submitted applications and manage workflows for a specific program. Program Admins can only view applications and applicant data for the programs they are assigned to. They do not build or manage forms — that is the role of CiviForm Admins.

• Question bank — A shared library of questions available across all programs in a jurisdiction. When a CiviForm Admin creates a new question, it is saved to the question bank and can be reused in any program application.

• Repeated question — A question associated with an enumerator question that is asked once for each entity the applicant has listed. For example, a question about employment status asked once per household member.

• Repeated screen — A program screen created from an enumerator screen that contains repeated questions.

• Resident — See Applicant.

• Screen — A single step within a program application, displaying one or more questions. Programs are made up of one or more screens, presented one at a time. Also referred to as a block.

• Trusted Intermediary — A staff member of a community-based organization (CBO) or other third-party organization who applies for programs on behalf of residents they serve. Trusted Intermediaries have their own CiviForm accounts and can manage applications for multiple clients from a dedicated dashboard.

• Trusted Intermediary Group — A community-based organization or other third-party organization whose staff members are authorized to act as Trusted Intermediaries. Trusted Intermediary Groups and their members are added and managed by CiviForm Admins.

• Version — CiviForm tracks versions of programs and questions. When a CiviForm Admin publishes changes to a program, a new version is created. Previous versions are preserved for reference and for applications that were already in progress.