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Carbon, Schuylkill counties not ready for 211 system
[March 07, 2011]

Carbon, Schuylkill counties not ready for 211 system


Mar 07, 2011 (Standard-Speaker - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Pennsylvania is one of three states that doesn't yet have the national 211 system, which is designed to separate telephone calls for basic information from emergency calls.



While some parts of Pennsylvania, such the northeast including Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, are ready to enact the system, other places like Schuylkill and Carbon counties are not.

Tom Foley, director of Help Line -- a 24-hour crisis hotline that serves five counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania -- said the entire state is divided into regions that would manage the 211 service.


Foley provided a timetable for the northeast system to begin operation of the system, which will provide information on health and human services available to the public.

"We are hoping to have all of the work done by late spring," Foley said of the northeast system. "We will then start training people how to use it. We should be up and running by late summer, if everything goes right." Some regions are ready, Foley explained, because they already have a database of information and an operating service like Help Line.

Help Line has a database of services for its area, which is Luzerne, Bradford, Tioga, Sullivan and Wyoming counties. Pocono Info has the information for Monroe County, and Free Information and Referral Service Telephone, or FIRST, which serves Lackawanna County, has that county's information.

So all that has to be done is to add information for the other three counties in the northeast 211 region -- Susquehanna, Wayne and Pike counties.

"Susquehanna, Wayne and Pike counties do not have a lot of resources," Foley said. "So it will be mostly busy work putting all the information into one database." Help Line telephone operators are already pretty much trained to handle 211 calls.

"We've been doing it for 36 years, so we have a pretty good idea how to get it done," Foley said. "We have the staff in place. It's a lot easier to teach people how to use the new database than it would be to teach them everything." Foley said the call volume from 211 would determine if Help Line must add to its staff of six full-time and four part-time employees.

Foley said in addition to being a crisis intervention agency, Help Line also provides social service information to assist with a variety of topics -- mental health and mental retardation, including child abuse and neglect; drug and alcohol services, including runaway; energy assistance, and homeless services and victims' resources.

An easier way The 211 system -- used by residents of every state but Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Arizona -- was designated by the Federal Communications Commission as a free method for individuals to get information about health and human services.

Pat Ward, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Hazleton, said United Way of Pennsylvania has been working for a decade to enact the system, but approval to start was given just last year by the state Public Utility Commission.

"We've been working on this project for eight or nine years," Foley said. "It's been a long process to get it going." Ward said United Way is in favor of the system, because of the convenience it will provide state residents.

"We are looking forward to the day 211 goes live in Pennsylvania, because it will be a tremendous asset for the people of Pennsylvania," Ward said. "Rather than have to deal with dozens of information and referral centers, it will standardize the way people search for information. All they will have to do is dial 211." Ward said 211 will benefit people who don't know their way around a community.

"Let's say you have a relative in Reading who needs assistance," Ward theorized. "You're not from Reading, so you don't know where to go to get information. All you will have to do is dial 211 and you will get a regional call center." Kelly Malone, executive director of the Schuylkill United Way, said counties would also benefit from a 211 service during a disaster.

"If there is a disaster, the 911 center has to deal with that but sometimes they are also juggling nonessential, non-emergency calls. Those could be taken by the 211 system to take the pressure off 911," Malone said.

Ready or not? Two other counties that are ready, Berks and Lancaster counties, are slated to have their system in place by May.

Their 211 calls will be handled by the Lancaster Information Center, or LINC, as will Lebanon, Carbon, Schuylkill, Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Toni McCuistion, LINC's director, said Carbon County's calls are handled by Lehigh Valley Help, which also serves Lehigh and Northampton counties. So all that has to be done is to merge the LINC and Lehigh Valley databases.

Although she could not say for sure, Carbon's situation may be like that of Luzerne, where there is an existing database -- with very little extra effort and money needed to transition.

McCuistion also pointed out that Carbon does not have a lot of resources, so joining the 211 network may enhance the services of the smaller county.

"The idea behind the statewide system is if services are not available in that county, we can plug those residents into those services somewhere else," McCuistion said.

Carbon County may not have much work to do to join 211, but Schuylkill does.

Kelly Malone, executive director of the United Way of Schuylkill County, said Schuylkill does not have a database to provide to LINC.

Malone "guesstimated" it would cost $48,000 to implement the system in Schuylkill County.

To find the money, Malone said United Way directors are hopeful that Gov. Tom Corbett will add it as a line item in the 2012 budget, though she is looking to other sources.

"We understand the economy, so we'll look for funding from grant sources ... the county, community foundations and other agencies," Malone said.

Malone said a collaborative meeting is planned in the next few months to update everyone on the progress that has been made.

"We're looking for partners. Once we have the funding, United way is ready to get the database in the computer and get this service to the public," Malone said.

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