Review, change, or renew Medicaid; PeachCare for Kids®; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS); and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) and Georgia Public Library Service are partnering to provide free self-service benefits kiosks at Georgia public libraries.
The kiosks provide convenient access for the public to access Georgia Gateway, the state’s integrated eligibility system, to review, change, or renew their benefits including Medicaid; PeachCare for Kids®; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS); and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
“We are excited to offer these self-service kiosks to Georgians, allowing them more flexibility to manage their benefits. With weekend hours and internet access in rural parts of the state, public libraries offer our customers additional access points so they can complete a renewal or manage their cases easily,” said DHS Commissioner Candice Broce.
The self-service kiosks will reduce wait times and provide access at the point of need, helping benefits-eligible Georgians to maintain their own and their family’s coverage.
A map of kiosk locations is available at georgialibraries.org/kiosks.
At Dougherty County Public Library in Albany, about three hours south of Atlanta, patrons have commented that the kiosk is easy to use to manage their benefits, enabling them to manage any updates on their own, without staff engagement.
“Our library is open during evening and weekend hours, which is convenient for people who are working during the day and may not be able to visit the DHS offices when they’re open,” said Library Director Gail Evans.
“This gives the community more time to access a service that might otherwise only be available at a DHS office. Through this partnership, the library is able to provide access to this essential service,” she said.
“With weekend hours and internet access in rural parts of the state, public libraries offer customers additional access points to renew or manage their cases easily.”
The kiosks are supported by Google Chrome and light-weight enough to be wheeled anywhere, capitalizing on familiar technology to help connect Georgians to the services they rely on. While library staff are not trained to answer benefits eligibility questions or handle sensitive data, they will be able to direct customers to the appropriate Division of Family and Children Services office for support.
“Georgia Public Library Service is proud to partner with DHS and provide our expertise in scalable technology and tools to help people update their social services benefits,” said Vice Chancellor for Libraries and Archives and State Librarian Julie Walker. “The kiosks are one more way our libraries are helping to bridge the digital divide and ensure that Georgians have access to the resources they need to make life easier.”
ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS: The kiosks have a Spanish-language option, which users can access by tapping the language option in the upper right corner of the tablet, as well as accessibility settings like a built-in screen reader, zoom and font size adjustment, dictation, high contrast, and alt-text image descriptions. The kiosk stand is height-adjustable, with a gooseneck that allows for maximum visibility regardless of whether the user is standing or seated.
