News

Iowa quietly abandons 700 job assistance kiosks

February 10, 2017

Iowa no longer services or tracks the more than 700 self-help computer kiosk locations it installed to replace dozens of unemployment offices Gov. Terry Branstad closed in 2011, state officials acknowledged this week, according to The Des Moines Register.

The governor promoted the system — known officially as "virtual access points" or VAP — as a way to expand resources to veterans and those seeking jobs through career and educational tools, without the added expense of staffed offices.

But now the kiosk system has been abandoned.

It's unknown how many of the kiosks, which were placed in public places such as libraries and homeless shelters, remain dedicated to unemployment assistance, said Courtney Greene, a spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development.

Also gone is the program's website that included a live chat and toll-free number that offered technical assistance to kiosk hosts.

Iowa Workforce Development has been unable to say when the department discontinued the program. No public announcement was made, and board minutes do not reflect the issue was publicly discussed in the past two years.

Greene said improved technology that now allows Iowans to file for weekly unemployment claims by smartphone has made the kiosks less essential to its customer-service efforts.

The kiosk system was discontinued as part of the department's ongoing efficiency efforts and to streamline services, Greene said.