Add 211 to your list

So far, the phones have been mostly quiet at the Eastern Washington 211 call center, the last of eight state sites to start a nonemergency referral service that might one day rival 911.

But that’s expected to change today, when organizers launch Spokane’s program that will provide comprehensive health and social service resources with a single call.

A monthlong trial drew 150 inquiries, said Jan Dobbs, director of crisis services at Spokane Mental Health. That number likely will balloon soon into hundreds of calls about subjects from food and shelter to what to do when the next windstorm knocks out power.

“It’s great to see this all come together and to have this for our community,” Dobbs said.

The start of the Spokane-based program, which also covers Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, means that residents throughout the Inland Northwest have access to 211 services.

Idaho has had its 211 Idaho Cares Line since 1999, said Pat Williams, a program superintendent in Boise. The number of calls has increased by more than 450 percent since its start, and could top 165,000 by the end of this fiscal year. In North Idaho alone, nearly 7,200 callers inquired last year about problems ranging from child care to Medicaid, records showed.

“It’s such an easy, free first call where they can get a start on resolving the issues,” Williams said. “It’s my hope to have it as commonly known as 911.”

That’s a hope shared by David Panken, executive director of Spokane Mental Health, who has worked with Dobbs and others for several years on the Washington Information Network, or WIN211. Locally, the project is sponsored by Panken’s agency and the Spokane County United Way.

Just as 911 provides comprehensive help during an emergency, so will 211 offer one-stop assistance in crucial, but noncrisis, situations.

“The 911 people actually see this as a wonderful opportunity to redirect calls that aren’t emergencies,” noted Dobbs.

Washington’s 211 services started nearly a year ago on the West Side. Since then, more than 130,000 calls have been logged across the state, Panken said. Nationwide, 211 programs operate in 41 states and reach 65 percent of the U.S. population.

On Monday in Spokane, call-takers Liz Johnstone and Jayme Walter sat expectantly in the center’s basement offices.

“It’s exciting,” said Johnstone. “I’m excited for everything to launch.”

Callers can expect to provide a ZIP code and a description of their need. Call takers will offer detailed information from a newly updated database of 500 agencies and 1,500 programs. The average call lasts three to four minutes, said Michelle Morris, local coordinator.

If a call turns out to be an emergency, a staffer can transfer it to a crisis line – but not to 911, which operates on its own database, Dobbs said. Those callers will be asked to hang up and dial the emergency line.

Funding for Washington’s 211 program included a $2.5 million boost from the state Legislature during the last session, which combined with $1 million in state start-up funds and $1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It’ll cost about $350,000 a year to sustain the program, said Panken, who joins other organizers in hoping for more state and federal help.

“I don’t know where all the dollars to run all eight call centers 24/7 would come from without federal support,” Panken said.

For now, the Eastern Washington 211 center will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. People who need help after hours will get a recording, or they can log onto the statewide database.

That’s not ideal, acknowledged Panken. But after six years and considerable effort, it’s a start.

“What we’re inaugurating publicly is not where we hope to be in three years,” he said.