211 Tampa Bay Cares

211 is a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year, contact center based service that assists individuals and families in navigating the complex and ever growing maze of health and human service providers, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and community service organizations. 211 improves the way in which people learn about and connect with the services they need by providing access to comprehensive, up-to-date information at any time by telephone, text or online at no cost to the inquirer. 211 helps create new efficiencies in the delivery of health and human services by saving time for individuals seeking help, and eases the frustration of people searching for appropriate services for which they are eligible. 211 also helps service providers do their jobs more easily, refers ever more callers to the right places, and reduces costly duplication of effort by other service providers by building and maintaining databases.211 serves as a resource for businesses and local employers by assisting their employees and helping to maintain productivity. 211 supports stressed employees, decreases absenteeism and supports employee assistance programs.211 serves as a support system for emergency management by assisting before, during, and immediately after emergencies such as health crises, blackouts, natural disasters such as tornadoes and floods, or man-made crisis such as terrorism events. 211 is recognized by Pinellas County Government as a central telephone number for all health and human service information in the event of a disaster.211 provides trend data on health and human service needs (met and unmet) for planning and resource allocations. Many times, data provided by 211 is the first place to see emerging needs and demands for existing services. 211 data can be organized in a variety of ways, including geographically. 211 is particularly helpful in mapping relative locations of high areas of needs and locations of resources. As a result, 211 contributes to better use of scarce resources, including both tax dollars and charitable contributions. 211 connects people with opportunities to "give help" as well as "get help." 211 provides an easy to remember number for individuals interested in volunteering or donating to call and be directed to various volunteer projects or donation opportunities in the community.In this last fiscal year (October 1, 2022-September 30, 2023), highly trained 211 contact center staff handled 135,662 calls, emails, online requests and text messages from local Florida residents seeking assistance. 211 continues to provide intensive support and in some instances life-saving assistance to callers in need of immediate intervention.-11% of callers identified having minor children in the home; -9,497 callers were older adults 65 years or older;-4,034 callers identified as military veterans; -871 sexual assault calls were connected to sexual assault servicesThe types of 211 contact center need requests by percentage include 40.5% housing assistance; 11.9% utility assistance; 4.3% food and meals; 3.4% health care; 2.7% mental health and addictions; 2.1% clothing, personal, and household needs, 2.3% legal, consumer and public safety services, 6.8% employment, income support and assistance; and 26.0% other services such as arts, culture, disasters, information services, transportation, recreation, volunteers, donations, government, and economic services). 988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), which is now active across the United States.211 Tampa Bay Cares began serving as a national text and online chat backup center for 988 in April 2022 and began answering 988 Florida telephone calls for 10 Florida Counties (Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto, Lee, Hendry, Glades and Hillsborough County) instate calls for 988 in August 2022.In FY 22-23, trained 988 staff had handled 29,677 texts and online chats and 13,686 calls from individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Additionally, in FY 22-23, $1,684,062 in financial assistance (rent, utilities, etc.) was distributed to over 650 individuals and families to stabilize their housing and employment.