2-1-1
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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 services.
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History
Atlanta was the first to introduce 2-1-1 service in 1997, as operated by the United Way. On July 2000, the FCC approved 2-1-1 for nation-wide use as a short number in the United States.
The 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
Accredited 2-1-1 centers are always open on a 24/7 basis to refer callers to organizations that provide services in such areas as:
- job counseling
- suicide prevention
- debt counseling
- affordable housing
- homeless services
- senior citizen programs
- youth programs
- counselling
- addiction counselling
- financial assistance
- emergency food, such as food banks and soup kitchens
- volunteer opportunities
- donation opportunities
Where available, 2-1-1 is operated by a private non-profit community-service organization, local government or local affiliates of the national organization the United Way. 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.
Recently in Florida, Texas and the Gulf Coast region, 2-1-1 centers have been instrumental in coordinating with local government officials and providing information to communities before and after a disaster.
Availability
United States
A list of currently active 2-1-1 services in the United States is available at 2-1-1. As of March 2006, the service is available to 163 million Americans in 38 states and Washington, D.C., or 55% of the national population. 2-1-1 is available for the entirety of 13 states. The number is also available in Puerto Rico.
2-1-1 is not implemented in every community in the United States or Canada, but is quickly gaining momentum. The number 2-1-1 nationally has caught on quicker historically and its implementation grown quicker than the numbers 4-1-1 or 9-1-1. Template:Citation needed
Canada
In Canada, 2-1-1 is available in the following communities (with starting date):
- Calgary (2005)
- Edmonton (2004)
- Niagara Region (2005)
- Simcoe County (2005)
- Toronto (June 2002)
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.
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 accredidation process for 2-1-1 centers. AIRS also certifies 2-1-1 Call Center Representatives as Certified Information and Referral Specialists (CIRS) 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 Memberships 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 CRTC approval.
External links
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