Who to call? 211 comes to KFL&A

Every neighbourhood and every little town has one. They might run the store, work in the post office, or work at a local social services agency. They’re the one person that knows who does what. Once you know who that person is, it saves a lot of time. You just walk up and tell them what the trouble is, be it a sore tooth, a sore foot, a problem with a furnace, some tough times, or not knowing who to call to sign up for hockey, and they will always say, “I know who you can call. The number is …”

The idea behind the 211 non-emergency help number is to give everyone instant access to the services they need, including information about health, recreation, employment, child care, education, sexuality, financial issues, and more.

211 is an initiative that has been up and running in the United States for several years. The national United Way organisation in Canada has taken it on as a project of their own, and has been rolling it out across the country. It should be in place throughout Ontario by the end of 2012.

Bhavana Varma, the President and CEO of the Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington
(KFL&A) United Way, described how 211 fits into the United Way’s plans. “It fits with our mandate because the United Way is not only about fundraising. We believe that access to services, especially in rural areas, is very critical.”

The KFL&A region now has the service up and running (It was launched last Friday – June 25) for a couple of reasons. “One thing that happened was the closing of Volunteer and Information Kingston. We were able to get their up to date database right away and use it for the 211 service before time passed and the database became outdated,” said Bhavana Varma.

The service works by routing calls to an Ottawa call centre, which is staffed by trained personnel for 90 hours a week at this time. The service is confidential, and the people answering the call will have all relevant information at their fingertips for all communities within KFL&A.

“We’ve also found that sometimes when someone calls for the location of a food bank, for example, it might be possible to suggest another kind of service they could use,” said Varma.

All calls will be tracked for statistical purposes, and this can help find gaps in services that are required in particular communities.

The service is expensive to start up, but according to Bhavana Varma it is not that expensive to maintain. The two major costs are the upkeep of the database that is at the core of the service, and the cost of maintaining the call centre, which is shared by several regions. The United Way is taking the lead in bringing on the service, but it is not the only funder. The federal Ministry of Citizenship and Culture, the
Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, the City of Kingston and Frontenac and L&A Counties have all invested in the service and committed to long-term funding to keep it up and running on a permanent basis.

The service is available in English and French, and 150 other languages are available through an interpretive service. In addition to the phone service, 211ontario.ca is available 24 hours a day. The KFL&A component at 211ontario.ca was not yet available early this week. It should be up and running in short order.

With the launch of 211 in this region, 184,000 residents will join the 10 million Canadians who already have access to 211. A survey of people using the service has shown a 94% approval rating.