COUNTY SET TO GET 211 PHONE SYSTEM.Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer Ventura County residents will soon be able to get information about a variety of social service resources with one three-digit phone call. Set to start in February 2005, the 211 system will help residents solve their most common social service problems - finding food, shelter, financial help and mental health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract - said Charles Watson There are multiple people named Charles Watson:
``Two-one-one is to social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales what 911 is to emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' ,'' Watson told the Ventura County Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. in a presentation this past week. The 211 system will take over for Helpline, an existing Ventura County social service referral agency, said David Smith, president of the United Way of Ventura County, one of the agency's partners. ``What's exciting about the 211 program is that it's going to take an existing service and make it much more accessible,'' Smith said. Although United Way will finance the system's startup costs, there is no public funding for the system, and the agency is seeking corporate sponsors, Smith said. Organizers also might seek a telephone surcharge, a state income tax check-off donation, or an assessment, Watson said. An annual financial contribution of $2.11 per household would generate $500,000 per year, enough to operate the system, he said. Helpline submitted its 211 application to the California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, on Jan. 2 and hopes to have it approved by July, Watson said. First activated in Atlanta in 1997, 211 systems are now operational in 24 states. Several California counties are in the process of developing 211 systems, with Los Angeles County's service expected to start sometime this year. Ventura County will partner with Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. counties to share resources and reduce costs during off-peak hours,
Watson said.
The 211 system will ease the crush of nonemergency calls to 911, Watson said. Studies in Texas and Nebraska show the system saves millions of dollars once it is up and running. All 911 calls made from wireless phones in the state are routed to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan handled 8 million 911 calls throughout the state last year, up from 6.5 million in 2000, CHP Officer Steve Reid said. ``We get a lot of calls that aren't emergencies,'' Reid said. ``Any resource that allows people to get information without calling 911 for nonemergencies is going to be beneficial.'' Andrea Cavanaugh, (805) 583-7602 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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