Some Online Government Services

Several years ago the president of the Florida Library Association asked reference librarians at Florida  public libraries for information about government agencies commonly accessed by the reference staff and public-access computer users.  I updated the list for new staff at our library, and thought I might as well post it here, in case anyone can use it.  I've added links and details for each agency after the initial list.

Local, state and federal agencies library staff and patrons commonly access online.

City of Tallahassee

Leon County

Access Florida, (Florida Department of Children and Families)
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration
Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
Florida Department of Corrections
Florida Department of Elder Affairs
Florida Department of Financial Services
Florida Dept. of Health & Vital Statistics
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Florida Department of Revenue
Florida State Courts
Office of the Attorney General of Florida
State of Florida.com Florida Regulated Industries Guide

Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education
National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

SafeLink Wireless
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
U.S. Internal Revenue Service
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
U.S. Small Business Administration

Services provided by each agency, (most in demand).

Tallahassee Code of Ordinances.

http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=19980&stateId=9&stateName=Florida

Code of Laws of Leon County.

http://library8.municode.com/default-now/home.htm?infobase=10008&doc_action=whatsnew

Leon County Property Appraiser - Property searches.

http://www.co.leon.fl.us/propappr/

Leon County Clerk of Courts - Legal forms, (e.g. quit claim deeds), passports, marriage records.

http://www.clerk.leon.fl.us/

Access Florida - Food stamps.

http://www.myflorida.com/accessflorida/

Florida Agency for Health Care Administration - Inspectors' reports on nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

http://ahca.myflorida.com/

Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation - Job searches, unemployment claims.

http://www.floridajobs.org/

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Complaints, gardening, licenses, permits, registrations, credit reports.

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/

Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation - Business licensing, esp. contractor's licenses.

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/index.html

Florida Department of Corrections - Inmate searches.

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/

Florida Department of Elder Affairs - Caregiver and housing searches, Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/index.php

State of Florida Vital Records - Apply for birth, death and marriage documents.

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/planning_eval/Vital_Statistics/index.html

Florida Department of Financial Services - Insurance Consumer Advocate, insurance fraud claims, Arson & insurance investigator, bail bond agent licensing.

http://www.myfloridacfo.com/

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles - Driver Licenses & Florida ID's, vehicle tags, titles.

http://www.flhsmv.gov/

Florida Department of Revenue - Register to collect and/or pay taxes.  Usually for sales tax exemption questions.

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/

Florida State Courts - Family law forms, Rules of Court.

http://www.flcourts.org/

Office of the Attorney General of Florida - Consumer complaints, fraud hotline.

http://myfloridalegal.com/

State of Florida.com, a commercial site, has a very useful Florida Regulated Industries Guide that helps find what state agency regulates what, though it is old and suffers from link-rot.

http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=25 

Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State - Embassy and passport information.  Country information, travel warnings and alerts.

http://www.travel.state.gov/

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor - Career and job searches, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Consumer Price Index.

http://www.bls.gov/

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Food and medicine safety questions, vaccination updates.

http://www.cdc.gov/

Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education - Student loans, FAFSA HQ.

http://studentaid.ed.gov

National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Health information, clinical trials, PubMed journal articles.

http://www.nih.gov/

SafeLink Wireless - A U.S. government supported program for income-eligible households providing basic cell phone service.

https://www.safelinkwireless.com

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - Visa issues.

http://www.uscis.gov

U.S. Internal Revenue Service - Tax forms and questions, e-filing.

http://www.irs.gov/

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration - Genealogy and military records.

http://www.archives.gov/

U.S. Small Business Administration - Small business planning and help, loans.

http://www.sba.gov/

The types of assistance reference staff are providing to access agency services.

AccessFlorida has to be the number one agency requiring major assistance to users.  Many persons applying for public assistance are illiterate.  The Department of Children & Families now has a service center for Leon County at 2810 Sharer Road, Unit 24, where residents can get help applying for assistance online.

Safelink Wireless similarly draws applicants who are unable to apply for themselves.  Enrolling is simple, and reference staff will do it for them.

The Department of Corrections inmate search is frequently used, but doesn't require much help from us.

Users need an e-mail address if they require a reply from the agency.  Often someone will have started work on an agency web site on their own and reach the point where they run into this obstacle.  We then help them get an e-mail address to enable them to continue.