2-1-1

2-1-1 is a special abbreviated telephone number reserved in Canada and the United States as an easy-to-remember three-digit telephone number meant to provide quick information and referrals to health and human service organizations.

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History

United States

For many years New York Telephone (now a unit of Verizon) used 2-1-1 as an automated credit request number for disconnected or mis-dialed calls. This service was in service from the 1970's through the early 2000's.

United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta was the first to introduce a 2-1-1 service in 1997. Many states began implementation plans soon after, aided by the United Way of America in partnership with the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (www.airs.org). On July 20, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved 2-1-1 for nation-wide use as a short number in the United States along with 5-1-1. In Texas, particularly in the Coastal Bend area, 2-1-1 is also the number to call for elderly and handicapped people needing evacuation assistance in the event of a pending disaster such as a hurricane.

Canada

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved the use of 2-1-1 throughout Canada on 9 August 2001. The first Canadian 2-1-1 service opened in Toronto on 13 June 2002.

Operation

2-1-1 center hours vary. Many are open 24/7 to refer callers to organizations that provide services in such areas as:

• Addiction counseling
• Affordable housing
• Alzheimer's assistance
• Child care
• Debt counseling
• Disaster relief
• Donation opportunities
• Education
• Emergency food, such as food banks and soup kitchens
• ESL
• Financial assistance
• Homeless services
• Job counseling
• Parenting programs
• Psychotherapy counseling
• Senior citizen programs
• Suicide prevention
• Telephone reassurance, care for the elderly
• Volunteer opportunities
• Youth programs

Where available, 2-1-1 is operated by a private non-profit community-service organization, local government or local affiliates of the national organization of the United Way of America. 2-1-1 provides information and referral to callers on where to obtain assistance from local and national social service programs, local and national governmental agencies and local and national non-profit organizations as well as where to volunteer or make a donation locally. Referrals are often given from databases accessed by call specialists. These databases could be housed off site or on site, are often regional, and linked to a specific brand of software used to access and edit database records. To ensure the most up to date referrals are given to callers information in the database should not be older than one year.

Many 2-1-1 centers are exploring Memorandums of Understanding with state and federal governments to facilitate the efficient handling of future disasters. Television or Radio stations could easily tell citizens to call 2-1-1 in the event of an emergency. Call specialist at these centers would be informed of current disaster plans or place to receive help and could then inform the public of the correct course of action. Recently in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts and the Gulf Coast region, 2-1-1 centers were instrumental in coordinating with local government officials and providing information to communities before and after local disasters.

Availability

United States

As of August 2007, the service is available to 198 million Americans in 42 states and Washington, D.C., or 68% of the national population. 21 states have complete 2-1-1 coverage, and it is available in Puerto Rico.

Canada

In Canada, 2-1-1 is available in the following communities (with starting date):

• Calgary (2005)
• Edmonton (2004)
• Halton Region (2007)
• Niagara Region (2005)
• Simcoe County (2005)
• Toronto (June 2002)
• Windsor-Essex County (November 2007)

Plans to introduce 2-1-1 services are also in development in other Canadian communities, see 211Canada.ca [1] and 211.ca [2] for current details.

In the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, for unknown reasons, when 2-1-1 is dialed it causes a busy signal to occur, and the dialer's telephone line will "go dead" for several minutes afterward.

The Windsor Star has reported on March 20, 2003 that Windsor, Ontario intends to have a 2-1-1 service up by 2009, as the Provincial Government has allocated $311,000 to start it up, with much of the money being donated by the United Way of Canada, but has a set time limit on how long those funds are available. On November 26, 2007, the City of Windsor's website had announced that 2-1-1 service for Windsor and Essex County has begun, and is being run by the United Way (who also runs the local 3-1-1 service).

Accreditation

United States

The American accrediting body for 2-1-1 centers is the Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS). AIRS provides an in-depth accreditation process for 2-1-1 centers. AIRS also certifies 2-1-1 Call Center Representatives as Certified Information and Referral Specialists (CIRS), Certified Information and Referral Specialists for Aging (CIRS-A) and Certified Resource Specialists (CRS) annually. AIRS standards have been created to provide a benchmark for 2-1-1 centers and its staff. The standards regulate nationally how a 2-1-1 centers provides services and how they collect and store information.

AIRS has developed a national taxonomy of human services that provides a standard language for information and referral providers nationally. This taxonomy provides standard definition of terms, an exact coding structure for referrals and search methodology for providing referrals to consumers. More information about the AIRS/Infoline Taxonomy of Human Services can be found at www.211taxonomy.org.

Accredited 2-1-1 centers must have active Memorandums of Understanding with local 9-1-1 service as well as domestic violence providers, elder care providers, mental health providers and local law enforcement to name a few.

Canada

In Canada, professional certification is handled by InformCanada [3]. The national 211 initiative is a partnership between InformCanada and United Way of Canada - Centraide Canada.

Work is underway to create a bilingual, Canadian Taxonomy of human services based on the AIRS/Infoline Taxonomy. This project is led by InformCanada and significant steps have been made on the creation of a starter taxonomy by the 211 Ontario phase 2 project, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the government of Canada. Updates on the Canadian Taxonomy Project are maintained by 211.ca [4].

The process of implementing 2-1-1

The number 2-1-1 must be captured and approved for assigning through the local telecom companies providing services in the local area. The process of implementing a 2-1-1 service in a community has taken many paths since its beginning in 1997. Some places have a centralized state-wide system while others have decentralized regional networks with different types of affiliations.

In the United States, each implementation is monitored by the national accrediting entity Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) and its local statewide affiliate.

In Canada, the deployment of 2-1-1 service is subject to InformCanada accreditation and Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval.