April 5,2002

LOS ANGELES TIMES
Phone system puts health services close at hand
Information line will work similar to 411 service; senior citizen agencies cite referrals as important contribution.

By Pam Noles / pam.noles@latimes.com

ONTARIO -- Senior citizens in Los Angeles County could be among the first to use a new telephone code designed to provide contact information for health and social service organizations.

The 211 system for health and human services is one of the new codes approved by the Federal Communications Commission in 2000, but local agencies are in charge of implementation. Dialing it will work similar to dialing 411, with an important twist, said Sharon DeCray, president of the California Alliance of Information and Referral Services.

"The difference is information and referral," DeCray said. "With health and human services there's an assessment that takes place with the caller. The individual who calls may have multiple needs. It's going to provide easy access of information to the most vulnerable of the community." The alliance is a nonprofit whose members provide contact information for nearly every service agency in the state. For example, if someone calls InfoLine Los Angeles, the alliance member slated to provide the 211 database for Southern California, a specialist figures out what the caller needs -- be it food, housing or disabled assistance -- and then puts the caller in touch with the agency that handles that need.

Mary Kitayama, program coordinator for the Joslyn Senior Center in Claremont, said the 211 system would be useful for seniors and sounds quite a bit like the case management services offered through the center.

"I think this would be an excellent service," she said. "This is the sort of thing we offer [seniors]. Not everyone comes in here. It's [211] another type of access."

Local counties will choose the service provider behind 211, but a statewide structure was needed for the entire system. The alliance petitioned the state Public Utilities Commission to provide those standards and the commission is slated to issue its final rules in June, a commission spokeswoman said.

Once it is ready for use, the system will be launched quietly to prevent it being overwhelmed by users right out the gate, said Kimberly Kwon, project administrator for InfoLine of Los Angeles. The first phase will target those populations most likely to find the system of use in Los Angeles County, with agencies serving senior citizens high on that list.

System organizers are meeting with service providers in each county to help them prepare for the service's eventual launch in their areas, said Burt Wallrich, project director for the statewide 211 steering committee. He just finished three weeks of meetings with providers in Riverside County.

But no one will be able to use the system immediately, he said. First it has to be created.

"No place in California is going to have it until several months," Wallrich said.

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