United Way of Connecticut

United Way of Connecticut's 211 is a free, 24/7 information and referral service connecting Connecticut residents to essential health and human services, including mental health crisis intervention and the national suicide prevention lifeline (988). Residents can reach 211 by dialing 2-1-1 or visiting 211ct.org. 211 operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with multilingual contact specialists and tdd access available.in fy24, 211 responded to over 1.7 million assistance requests from Connecticut residents via phone and online. 211 maintains a computerized database of 3,866 health and human service agencies offering more than 37,159 services and more than 4,000 licensed childcare facilities.in 2024, 211ct secured the nice cx excellence award for outstanding cloud realization, recognizing 211ct's cloud-based technology implementation, which allows for contact center innovation at scale. 211ct was part of the nationwide roll-out of 988, the new three-digit mental health crisis line, in july 2022. In response, 211ct expanded our crisis team by more than 60%. Our 988 service is consistently among the top five performers in the nation. We were honored to receive the american association of suicidology 2022 crisis center of excellence award for the nation.

211 childcare serves as Connecticut's comprehensive childcare resource and referral system. It provides critical support to parents and childcare providers by helping them find suitable resources and referrals. 211 childcare also educates parents and providers on key quality indicators for early childhood programs, maintaining a robust database of approximately 5,000 licensed and license-exempt programs across the state. Additionally, 211 childcare offers orientation training and materials tailored for in-home providers and supplies information to assist unlicensed providers in obtaining licensure.beyond referral services, 211 childcare provides a range of professional development opportunities, including training programs, technical assistance, and professional growth resources for early care and education providers. The service also includes digital fingerprint collection services, supporting the licensing and employment process for providers in Connecticut.

Care4kids is Connecticut's childcare subsidy program that helps low- to moderate-income working families pay for childcare. Uwct's scope of responsibility includes call center, intake, eligibility, invoice processing, mailroom, grievance and mediation and program outreach. 26,691 children enrolled in care4kids received 216,915 calls and processed 62,000 invoices.

United Way of Connecticut is the state association for Connecticut's 14 local United ways and leads the network's collective efforts to improve the lives of residents struggling to make ends meet. Connecticut United ways partner with United for alice on a data-driven, comprehensive research project that provides a look at financial hardship for households across Connecticut that are alice, an acronym for asset limited, income constrained, employed. The goal is to raise awareness about the 39% of working Connecticut residents who are not able to afford basic needs and to advocate for policies that build a bridge to stability for Connecticut families, our essential workforce.