Dialing 211 in California for referrals to social services

SAN FRANCISCO(AP) - California officials have taken another step toward giving residents a three-digit telephone number for referrals to health and social service agencies.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to adopt procedures for establishing a statewide 211 hotline similar to those already used in 10 other states. Eventually, dialing that number will connect callers to a regional clearinghouse that can provide information about local non-profits suiting their needs.

PUC President Michael Peevey said having a unified, easy-to-remember phone number as a point of entry would enable social service providers to reach more needy clients, people who may be too poor, too overwhelmed or too discouraged to make several calls for assistance.

"A teenage runaway looking for help, a family looking for a food bank, an abused spouse looking for a safe haven ... these are some examples of people seeking help. The first step is knowing where to go to find that help," Peevey said.

Residents will be able to access the system through all but wireless telephones when it is up and running, a process that is expected to take one to three years and vary from county to county.

Although the service is designed to be free, public pay phone operators retained the option of charging for the calls. The California Alliance of Information and Referral Services, which will be subsidizing the calls placed from private phones, plans to negotiate with pay phone owners so homeless individuals can also use the service at no cost.

"We are hopeful that the majority of pay phones will not be requiring a coin drop," said Sharon DeCray, the group's president.

Thursday 5-0 vote by the PUC comes more than two years after the Federal Communications Commission gave states the authority to establish dedicated 211 lines. California's system will be modeled after 211 programs already in place in Georgia, Idaho, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida and other states.

Some of those states saw calls to state and local information and referral agencies increase 40 percent in the year after their 211 hot lines began operating, said Mary Hogan, vice president of the United Way of Connecticut, which maintains a Web site monitoring the status of 211 nationwide.

Hogan said that in the four years since 211 became available in Connecticut, the most frequent users have been callers seeking information about substance abuse, food, shelter and other public assistance.

Her state's system also got an unexpected workout following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when it became a place people turned for information about donating and volunteering, as well as personal counseling.

"It's been hitting the target," she said.

DeCray said that nonprofit agencies that provide referrals would need to raise money to promote the new system, as well as to hire and train more staff.

"It's extremely difficult for an individual in need to navigate the social service system - 211 will be a great facilitator. It will enable a caller to get to the right service immediately rather than making a dozen calls to a dozen wrong organizations first," she said.