1. WHAT IS 211?

211 is a three digit telephone number that links people to community, social, health and government services and programs easily and quickly. It can be difficult to navigate the complex and ever-growing maze of health and human service agencies and programs. 211 makes it easy to find a wide range of services that can help improve the health and well-being of people in our communities by linking people with trained call takers who help them find the right service to meet their needs.

Combined with an on-line service, 211 is free, multi-lingual and is available 24/7.

2. WHO WOULD USE 211?

211 is for everyone and anyone who is seeking information about services in the province and in their community, such as:

• A senior citizen wanting home care support in order to live independently
• A teenager looking for job-seeking skills
• A young mother wanting advice on how to care for her newborn
• A homeless person seeking a shelter bed and a hot meal
• A recent immigrant needing language and employment training
• A family searching for child-care services in their community or close to work
• A concerned neighbour trying to help a friend in an abusive relationship
• A father trying to find services for his son with a newly diagnosed illness
• A laid-off worker wanting to find out about employment insurance
• A person with disabilities determining which community or government services are available in their community

211 is also for service providers themselves who want a comprehensive data base that will allow them to connect their clients to the services they need rapidly and easily, so more time can be spent concentrating on service delivery.

3. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A 211 SERVICE?

By simply dialing 211, callers can easily and quickly connect to the services they need, anywhere in the province, regardless of where they are located. 211 is easy to remember, reducing confusion, frustration and delay that can come from trying to search for services.

211 has also been proven to reduce congestion on 911 lines. 211 helps communities use their resources better, by providing information that can be used to identify service gaps, duplication, and emerging trends for service planning.  

Furthermore, the pattern of calls to 211 will tell policy decision makers what services are most requested in each area of the province. This will help direct the right resources and services to where they are most needed.

4. HOW WILL 211 HELP NOVA SCOTIANS USE THE RESOURCES WE HAVE MORE COST EFFECTIVELY ?

There are hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Nova Scotia in addition to scores of government agencies. When individuals go without help because they are unaware of services available to them, our communities waste valuable resources and people fail to get the support they need. With 211, communities can address the diverse needs of their residents and ensure increased coordination among services in the 211 service, identify gaps and overlaps in services by geographic mapping, and track human service usage. By providing a centralized point of information, 211 will help ensure the most efficient use of community resources.

5. WILL SERVICE PROVIDERS SEE BENEFITS FROM 211 AS WELL?

Absolutely - One of the significant "value added" elements of the service is the on line 211 data base we're creating as an assist to social service agencies and service providers. For the first time, information on every social service and program available in the Province will be assembled in one, easy to access and easy to search location. Nova Scotia`s service providers will have a new and very powerful tool right at their fingertips to find services people need that are outside of the scope of those provided by any given service provider. Of particular importance for field resources is the fact that the database engine is expected to be fully enabled for ease of access by all of the latest mobile devices including blackberry and Iphones.

6.  CAN’T PEOPLE JUST LOOK IN THE PHONE BOOK FOR SERVICES?

Telephone books are not organized in a manner to easily find services. Many organizations provide multiple services and are not listed by each service, nor are the services always reflected in the organization’s name. 211 centres maintain extensive databases of services that include information on how to access the service. 211 specialists assist callers by working with them to fully understand their problems or needs and determining the best way to address them.

7. WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE 211 NOVA SCOTIA INITIATIVE?

The goal of the 211 Nova Scotia Initiative is to develop a province–wide, free and confidential service that is effective, efficient, and sustainable. We are well on our way to achieving this goal with essential funding provided in 2011 by the Provincial Government and other key partners including Bell/Aliant and Nova Scotia Power Inc. The United Way of Halifax Region, in collaboration with United Ways across Nova Scotia have been longstanding advocates for this service and remain partners.  

211 Nova Scotia is a stand alone, not for profit entity. The implementation is being led by a newly established 211 NS staff team guided by the 211 NS Board of Directors.  

8. WHEN WILL IT BE AVAILABLE?

211 Service is expected to be available to the public in February 2013.

9. WHY A PROVINCE-WIDE 211 SERVICE?

A province-wide 211 service will ensure that all people – regardless of where they live – will have equal access to information. For example, this would allow a resident in Halifax to easily find home support for their father in Kentville, or assist an immigrant in finding services once they move from Sydney to Truro.

Both costs and benefits are optimized with a province-wide approach.   Furthermore, the overall goal is to eventually have 211 services across Canada. By starting with a province-wide service, it will be easier to create a national network, providing rapid and effective service for all Canadians.

10. HAS IT BEEN DONE BEFORE?

Currently, about fifty-five percent of Canadians, (18,000,000 people) have access to 211 services. Centres are located throughout Ontario and British Columbia, Edmonton, Calgary, and Quebec City.   In the USA,   211 serves over 80% of the population with 244 active systems in 48 states.

11. HAS ANY RESEARCH BEEN DONE REGARDING THE VALUE OF 211?

Comprehensive research on the costs and benefits of 211 systems has been conducted in both the US and Canada. United Ways in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario have worked with a number of organizations, including Deloitte, to develop specific business cases and identify the potential of a 211 service. These studies confirm the strength of the 211 business case and the inherent value of the service, as well as provide useful guidelines as to how this service might roll-out throughout the province.

Each of the studies concluded that the measurable benefits of a national 211 system outweigh the costs by a significant margin. Everyone – the public, governments, and service providers – stand to realize substantial benefits from the time and cost savings that 211 can provide.  

12. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE SHOULD BE PHONING 911 AND THEY PHONE 211?

The role of the 211 specialist is to talk through situations with people who are not looking for, and do not need, immediate intervention. If it becomes apparent that they do need immediate intervention, the telephone specialist is trained to determine if the person is capable of hanging up and dialing 911 themselves. This is because when a caller dials 911 directly, the centre has immediate access to their address, name and phone number. If the caller is not able to do this, the 211 telephone specialist will have a means to route the call to the appropriate local 911 centre.  

13.  HOW DOES 211 DEAL WITH PRIVACY CONCERNS?

A call to 211 is a confidential call. Information and Referral Specialists do not ask for the name, address, or phone numbers of callers*. Although an electronic record, for statistical purposes, is made of each call taken, it is non-identifying. The I&R Specialist only asks for the community in which the caller lives, in order that an appropriate referral can be made. 211 centres have found that callers are overwhelmingly pleased to have this further step taken, and have felt well cared for by the follow-up procedure.

14. WHY WILL 211 BE AVAILABLE 24/7 IF LOCAL SERVICES ARE CLOSED DURING NON-BUSINESS HOURS?

To be truly accessible, people need to be able to get information at all times of the day, whenever they may need it most. While they may not always be able to link with the services themselves at that hour, they can get the necessary information about the services, its location, contact information and hours to provide solutions and peace of mind. Alternatively, there are also certain community services that are available 24 hours a day that may be applicable to the caller’s need and 211 would assist them in sourcing those promptly.

15. WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

To learn more about 211 Nova Scotia:
Contact us by phone : (902) 461-3042
Attn: Mike Myette, Executive Director
7th Floor, Royal Bank Building
46 Portland St,, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 1H4
Email: mmyette@211NS.ca