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No more “Give me the 4-1-1” now it’s “Give me the 2-1-1”
Topics: help, poverty, self sufficient, 211, 2-1-1, Community Action, Volunteering, assistance, Services, child care, food, substance abuse, counseling, aid
Posted by communityactionpartnership Thu Sep 27, 2007 09:13:54 PDT
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We dial 9-1-1 for an emergency, 4-1-1 for phone number directory service. Now , effective October 1, callers throughout Kern County can dial 2-1-1 for information and referral services – linking all of Kern County to human service agencies and programs helping callers avoid being shuffled from agency to agency. The service will also link callers to volunteer opportunities.

 

Sprint Nextel wireless customers can dial the three digit 2-1-1 as well and other wireless providers will be providing this service to their customers before year’s end.

 

The free service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Similar to dialing 4-1-1, using the telephone book, or an internet search engine, 2-1-1 is an information source of all non-profit and government services available in the community. From utility and food assistance to volunteer opportunities, from child care to referrals for seniors, 2-1-1 cuts through the red tape and connects real people with real services. 2-1-1 provides callers with help and is crucial to disaster preparedness and planning.

 

The system will reduce the burden on the 9-1-1 services. Even though a crisis feels like an emergency, 9-1-1 services are set up for crimes in progress, fires, disasters, automobile accidents etc. 2-1-1 will allow callers to be assisted without weighing down the 9-1-1 system, allowing faster dispatcher response, and weed out nonemergency calls in times of crisis or in times of everyday needs and challenges.

 

Twenty-six states already have access to 2-1-1 services that reach 94 million Americans – more than 34% of the population. The remaining 24 states – including California – are planning and developing the community-based 2-1-1 service.

 

A recent call to the Salt Lake City’s 2-1-1 line, from a mother who was seeking help for substance abuse issues with her teenage son, said “I wish I had known about you ten phone calls ago. You’re the first to have the information that I needed.”

 

What happens when someone calls 2-1-1?

·        Operators speak English and Spanish and the system is linked to a conference call translator system which allows efficient translation for the specific need or

     needs in approximately 150 languages.

·        Operators establish a rapport with callers, diffusing emotional barriers by being a nonjudgmental, non-ideological third party.

·        Operators establish need by assessing the situation and prioritizing need.

·        Operators then conduct an information and referral search for solutions providing spot-on accurate help through the health and human services maze.

 

"I've called when I didn't know who to call. I've told them my problem and they told me who to call. It's always available. And some of those things are very hard to find. I am 71 and there are people I know that can't see well, and it just helps to have 2-1-1, “ said Pat Vasic, a Salt Lake resident.

 

2-1-1 Kern County is funded in part by United Way, Kern County Public Health Department, and First 5 Kern.

For more information contact Community Action Partnership of Kern at 661-336-5236 or email info@capk.org.

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