ATLANTA — The Georgia Secretary of State's Office recently adopted a new online system for license registration and renewals, which will be used by hundreds of thousands of professionals statewide who are required to regularly renew their licenses to continue working.
The new system GOALS, or Georgia's Online Application Licensing System, which is designed to streamline the licensing process, just rolled out this fall, but some say it's got some technical issues.
Physical therapists are just one group of several required to renew by Dec. 31. Benny Hayes, who has worked in the profession for 34 years in Georgia, said it's been a challenge to get his license renewed.
“It’s a cluster bomb," Hayes explained.
He said the online system isn't recognizing people's logins and ultimately isn't accepting their applications for renewal.
“The state of Georgia may use some therapists even (if) it’s for the first 3 months or so.”
The Georgia Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association says they have been working with state leaders to extend the renewal deadline until errors are fixed. Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson with the Secretary of State's Office said their office had decided to extend the deadline for physical therapists from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31.
The extension will also impact service parts and long-term care providers. Other professionals in careers such as cosmetology, sports medicine, and librarians will have to use GOALs. However, the renewal deadlines and requirements all vary.
The SOS has also pushed the deadline for the late period of finding to Feb. 28.