Date: Fri 23-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

211-Infoline-health-United-Way

Full Text:

Dial 211 For Answers To Life's Tough Questions

(with cut)

People face emergency situations every day when they need help and information

fast. A teenage runaway wants to come in off the streets. A family's heat is

cut off in the middle of winter. A single mother is missing work and will lose

her job because she can't find child care. A unemployed man is depressed and

is considering suicide.

If the trauma isn't acute or immediate -- if it's not burning or bleeding --

quite often 911 emergency dispatchers won't have time for it. For the past

month, however, Connecticut residents urgently needing different kinds of help

and information have had another number to call -- 211.

The 211 number, available throughout the state, rings through to Infoline, an

established information, referral, and crisis intervention service. This first

statewide use of the number could serve as a model for other states if the

Federal Communications Commission acts favorably on a petition to designate

the number nationwide.

In recent years, approximately 180,000 calls have come into Infoline annually.

They've included requests for everything from where to place a stray animal to

crisis calls for emergency shelter or suicide-related calls. Infoline expects

the calls to increase by about 50 percent as a result of the new number.

Donna Caruso, communications director for the United Way of Connecticut, which

administers Infoline, reports that just in the first weeks of the 211 service,

calls to Infoline had jumped 20 percent.

"We have a public awareness campaign going on which seems to have been

successful," she said. "And as time goes on more and more people will be

learning about it and using the service."

The 211 call center became a reality when Governor John Rowland and the state

legislature supported the action in the 1997-1999 biennial budget adjustments.

"Each and every day, thousands of people call different state agencies and

volunteer groups looking for guidance to get them over an unexpected bump in

the road. Today, we have the technology to make that call easier," said the

governor.

Infoline operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Professional caseworkers

help callers with simple and complex problems. Some callers are simply looking

for a volunteer opportunity. Caseworkers also are prepared to handle such

issues as substance abuse, gambling, domestic violence, suicide prevention,

and financial problems. Their most important resource is their database of

community services, which is maintained by Infoline information specialists.

The database is updated daily and includes more than 3,000 programs and 25,000

services in Connecticut.

A group of non-profit organizations, including the United Way, is awaiting

word from the Federal Communications Commission on whether the agency will set

aside 211 as a nationwide access number for information and referral services.

While there is a network of information and referral services across the

country, only one other service, located in the Atlanta metropolitan area, is

using 211. Infoline is the first service to use 211 on a statewide basis.

Several other states, however, are in the process of establishing such

services.

The most frequently requested services are for child care, financial

assistance, food, protective services, legal assistance, utilities/heat,

social support, housing, and mental health. More than half of all calls come

from vulnerable populations groups, including the elderly, poor, disabled,

minorities, victims, and families in crisis.