Willow Glen Resident
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Don't know who to call? Try county's new 211 help line
By Tiffany Carney
Questions about day care, schools, job training, counseling or emergency shelter in Santa Clara County? 211 now has the answers.
National 211 Day was held Feb. 11, but a celebration was held Feb. 9 at the County Government Center in San Jose, where United Way Silicon Valley introduced the newest information and referral service phone number to Santa Clara County.
Community donors and supporters of 211, including Jolene Smith of First 5 Santa Clara County and Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss, attended the launch party along with members of the Santa Clara County 211 advisory committee.
The 211 non-emergency three-digit dialing code offers information and referrals to health and human services, says Santa Clara County 211 manager Kirsten Ruf. The phone number is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Call specialists are now available to provide answers, in a confidential environment, to simple and complex questions in more than 140 different languages.
The program started in Atlanta, Ga., in 1997 when United Way launched the first 211 phone number, says United Way Silicon Valley president and CEO Mark Walker.
In 2001, United Way Silicon Valley joined the 211 campaign, eager to provide staff and funding to make 211 a reality in Santa Clara County.
"Interface Children Family Services has been doing information referral services for over 30 years, and they were the first 211 to launch in California," Ruf says.
Interface Children Family Services of Ventura County has been a part of the Santa Clara collaboration since December.
During regular hours, call specialists from Interface answer calls locally from the Santa Clara office on The Alameda in the Rose Garden neighborhood in San Jose. Night, weekend and rollover calls are currently being answered by Interface in Ventura, which launched 211 in that county two years ago.
Call specialists in Ventura and Santa Clara counties must undergo extensive training in order to answer questions correctly and direct people to the correct information.
"Interface Children Family Services has a six-week training that they do for all call specialists, and there is also ongoing training throughout the year," Ruf says.
Retired Campbell Police Capt. Russ Patterson joined ranks with the Santa Clara County 211 advisory committee last fall. Ruf worked with Patterson on a previous project and thought he would be an asset to the committee.
"When [Ruf] went over to the 211 program, she asked me to come on the advisory board with my expertise in emergency management," Patterson says.
Although 211 can be accessed daily for useful information, it can also be utilized in a disaster. The phone number will assist people locally with answers to questions involving donating or receiving food, money, supplies and shelter in or out of Santa Clara County in a time of crisis, Patterson says. Another goal will be to reduce the number of calls to 911 during that time, Patterson says.
He also explains that 211 will have information for those inquiring about disaster preparedness regarding their home and family at any given time.
Even though 211 has been in the works for six years in Santa Clara, the concept is still very new to the public. United Way Silicon Valley is working closely with nonprofit partners to spread the word.
"Our goal is to reach all 1.7 million residents," Ruf says. "We have a pretty extensive public information campaign, and truly, our intent is to reach all those in Santa Clara County."
Distributing collateral materials to the community through a variety of venues and utilizing nonprofit partners are just some of the avenues United Way Silicon Valley plans to use.
According to United Way Silicon Valley, 40,000 calls are estimated in the first year, and that number is expected to double within the next three to four years.
According to Walker, 10 counties and 70 percent of California's population already have access to 211 services. In addition, 211 is expected to launch in Alameda, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, Solano and Stanislaus counties later this year.
For more information, visit United Way Silicon Valley at www.uwsv.org.
