Press Releases

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) is committed to transforming its systems and work to meet its goals of serving customers. In support of these efforts, DHS has submitted seven requests in recent months to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for waivers to improve outcomes for Division of Family & Children Services customers and benefits workers. Three of seven waivers have been approved, and the remaining four – pending FNS consideration and approval – will help ensure children and families get the services they need in a timely manner, enhance work processes and supports, and improve caseworker effectiveness.

Augusta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) announced that the Richmond County DFCS office is relocating to a new office space next month.
 

Atlanta, GA – Today, the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) announced approval from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to renew Georgia’s Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP) through Jan. 31, 2028. ESAP is a federal demonstration project that seeks to simplify the SNAP application and verification process for eligible households. SNAP applications are eligible for ESAP if all eligible household members are age 60 or older and have no earned income.

Marietta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) announced that the Cobb County DFCS office is relocating to a new office space next month.

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) has received multiple reports of criminals using phony text messages to obtain EBT card numbers and PINs to steal Georgians’ SNAP benefits. These are known as phishing scams and are a type of fraud.

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) and Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) are asking Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids® members to confirm their contact information as soon as possible before Medicaid redeterminations begin on April 1, 2023, following the passage of the federal omnibus spending bill in December.

Atlanta, GA – Today, the Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services began issuing a third round of 2021-22 P-EBT benefits, this time covering the 2022 summer months for eligible children. SNAP-enrolled children ages 0-5 and 5 who turned 6 during the school year, as well as K-12 students who participated in the National School Lunch Program, will receive the one-time $391 benefit issuance.

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption are proud to announce a partnership that will lead to more adoptions of the longest-waiting youth waiting in foster care.

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) and Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) are urging Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids® members to confirm their contact information in their new public service campaign, “Stay Informed. Stay Covered.” 

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) today announced the newest batch of State of Hope sites. The 26 selected sites will receive technical assistance and funding from DHS’ Division of Family and Children Services to invest in safety nets that ensure Georgia’s children and families are safe, thriving, and full of hope.

Atlanta, GA – While the nation faces higher energy costs this winter, the Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services is ready to help vulnerable Georgians stay warm through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This federally funded program assists low-income, elderly, and disabled Georgians with heating bills through payments to home energy suppliers.

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) is proud to announce the Atlanta-based Nam Dae Mun Farmers Market, a retail and wholesale international food company, as the state’s newest Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) retailer. Beginning this month, SNAP recipients can use their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to purchase SNAP-eligible products in all eight of the company’s physical locations and online at ndmmarket.com.

Atlanta, GA – Today, the Georgia Department of Human Services’ Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) began issuing a second round of 2021-22 P-EBT benefits to the state’s youngest SNAP-enrolled children. For children to qualify, they must have been under age 6 at the start of the 2021-22 school year and enrolled in SNAP from August 2021 to May 2022.

Atlanta, GA – Earlier this month, the Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) received a five-year Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES) grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF). For FY23, DCSS will be awarded $313,873 to aid in SAVES efforts. SAVES is a new national demonstration model designed to develop, evaluate, and implement best practices to provide safe access to child support and parenting time services. Parenting time services determine the schedule and conditions for when each parent is with their child(ren).

Atlanta, GA – Medicare Open Enrollment runs from Saturday, Oct. 15, through Wednesday, Dec. 7. During this time, adults aged 65 and older and qualified people with disabilities under 65 can review their coverage options and make a choice that meets their health care needs.  

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) is urging customers to be on high alert for phishing schemes through their personal emails and third-party accounts as bad actors attempt to exploit the Cash Assistance Program to steal personally identifiable information with illegitimate emails, text messages, social media posts, and unexpected phone calls, among other things.

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) today confirmed that the technical issues impacting some Cash Assistance Program prepaid card transactions have largely been resolved.

The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) has identified a technical issue affecting some transactions with the Cash Assistance Program Prepaid Cards. This payment processing issue can result in declined payments in some stores and at restaurants.

Within the first three days, 272,873 Georgians on Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids®, SNAP, and/or TANF have claimed $95,505,550 and spent $30,090,461.42 through 582,138 successful transactions.

Today, Governor Brian P. Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, Department of Human Services Commissioner Candice Broce, and Promise686 CEO Andy Cook called on Georgia residents to mobilize and engage in an online platform where generous Georgians can financially support or volunteer their time to meet the needs of vulnerable children. These children, and the families caring for them, face tangible needs such as clothing, cribs, diapers, car seats, laundry assistance, and similar requests.

After extensive efforts to find an allowable approach, Georgia this week received federal approval to provide food benefits to our youngest Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients for the 2021-22 school year. For children to qualify for this benefit, they must have been under age 6 at the start of the 2021-22 school year and SNAP-enrolled during the months of August 2021 through May 2022. Families of eligible children will receive about $30 dollars for each month they were eligible. 

Governor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, and Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner Candice Broce today announced a new statewide marketing campaign to help recruit and retain more foster parents for youth in state custody.

On Friday, the Biden Administration announced the official extension of the federal public health emergency (PHE) through October 13, 2022. During the PHE, state Medicaid agencies are required to continue health care coverage for all medical assistance programs, even if someone’s eligibility changes. To ensure all Georgia Medicaid recipients are informed when their coverage needs to be redetermined, the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) and Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) continue to urge Medicaid recipients to update their account information and communication preferences.

Georgia’s State of Hope (SOH) opened its fifth round of applications on Monday, June 20, 2022, and is seeking “big ideas” that will help children and family service providers, community members, families, and businesses create and sustain nurturing environments for healthy families.

Georgia Medicaid recipients will soon receive one or more text messages from the Georgia Department of Human Services asking them to update their account information and communication preferences.