MILWAUKEE – The seven new kiosks come from an idea Milwaukee County Child Support Services employees and administrator Artis Landon.
“What we wanted to do was have direct satellite locations and make our services more accessible and to bring in services where community is,” said Landon. “Overall, it was a collective idea to make payments easier.”
The new kiosks are located across Milwaukee county including the Martin Luther King Community Center, W-2 Offices, and Gee’s Clippers.
Author and motivational speaker Kwabena Nixon says the new payment kiosks make it easier for father to spend more time with family.
“You know how you have a snowball effect? This will have a ripple effect,” said Nixon. “One, it’s in the community so that makes it accessible and two, it takes away a little shame away from fathers having to admit that they need to pay child support and the stigma that comes with it. So now there’s a pride in it where you can go pay it, it’s discreet in some fashion, and it also gives a person who’s going through that the ability to talk to someone else about the wrongs and rights they made in life.”
County Executive Director David Crowley says the ease of access is extremly helpful for families.
“This right now is easier access. Removing transportation, removing parking barriers, having to park and pay for it downtown, this is going to be a good thing in our community,” said Crowley. “We just want our community to know that with all the uneasiness that may be happening within government, there are some things in government in which we can celebrate here locally in Milwaukee County and just know we are continuing to put together innovative solutions on the table.”
The county-wide child support kiosks will be available within 60 to 90 days.
With the announcement of the satellite kiosk stations at the Martin Luther King Community Center on Monday, Child Support Services also helped fathers getting access to job opportunities, on-site child support case managers, and distributed 250 free laptops for engaged fathers.
