DHS office offers options to clients to limit contact

To protect the health and safety of clients and staff during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Arkansas Department of Human Services is allowing clients to email documents to their local county office or drop off documents in boxes in the lobbies, an agency representative said Tuesday.

“On the one hand, we have a lot more people coming into our offices applying for services, but because of the need for safe distancing, we are

only allowing 10 people or less in the lobby at any one time,” Lainey Morrow, a DHS public information specialist with the Little Rock office, told The Sentinel-Record.

“We’re trying to get people to apply online or to call and now we’re offering an email option,” she said.

Clients applying for Medicaid, ARKids, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Temporary Employee Assistance or those asked to provide additional documentation can email the Garland County office directly at 261Garland@arkansas.gov or call 321-2583. The office is located at 115 Stover St.

“It’s important that clients do not email multiple county email addresses because it will take us much longer to process the information. They also should include the word ‘sensitive’ in the subject line to protect their private information,” DHS said in a release.

“Clients can scan in documents or take a photo of them with their phones and email those in. As soon as possible, DHS will provide a receipt by email showing the department received the documents,” it said.

“The more clients who can access our services remotely, the safer everybody will be,” Mary Franklin, director of the DHS Division of County Operations, said in the release. “Our offices are open, but we’re trying to greatly limit the number of people who need to come in as we deal with this public health emergency.”

Morrow noted the limiting of clients in the lobby is “creating long lines outside the office and we want to prevent that from happening. We want to keep our clients and employees safe.”

Because of the directive issued by the Arkansas Department of Health, it may take longer than usual to be able to apply in person, the release said.

To avoid lines like the ones that have been seen this week at some of DHS’s larger offices, Medicaid, SNAP, or TEA applicants are asked to apply online at www.Access.Arkansas.gov or by phone at 855-372-1084, it said.