This week Washington State became the first state in the nation to provide online access to its social services programs. By introducing a new, user-friendly website for its Department of Social and Health Services, Washington residents now have the option of going to a virtual office to get all the services and information available in one of the state's bricks-and-mortar offices -- except now they don't have to wait in lines.

Residents can now click on www.wa.gov/dshs to apply for cash, medical, childcare or food assistance. The site was designed for ordinary people and describes services in everyday language so users don't have to know the acronym or official program name of the services they need. If users don't know which services they're eligible for they can click on a trial calculator and enter information about their income, expenses, and family circumstances. To finish the application, users download forms to verify rent, income, and other eligibility factors and bring completed forms to the final interview. While determining eligibility is still a tedious process, getting information and applying online simplifies the task and connects residents with the food, medical, or other needed assistance faster.

Currently, only one in seven people who use Washington's social services has access to the Internet from home, but all but a handful of the state's public libraries offer access to the Internet. Citizens can also get information from the new Website through third parties, such as hospitals, child care centers, churches, and nonprofit agencies. Third party providers can click on directions to area social services offices, lists of other resources, and toll free telephone numbers for a services such as collecting child support and reporting elderly abuse and neglect. If these options don't meet users needs, there are even public comment forms to complain or suggest new ideas.

By harnessing information technology to meet the needs of citizens, and by treating citizens as customers, Washington is transforming the delivery of government services and tearing down an important barrier to the delivery of social services: the stigma and hassle of queuing up for help at a welfare agency. It's a prime example of how digital government can improve the lives of citizens.