Advancing the Role of 211 in Emergency Response and Recovery PEMCC June 26 2014
Presenters Andrew Benson is the Executive Director of Ontario 211 Services, a non-profit established with support from Ontario Government, United Ways, municipalities and Trillium Foundation.
Pam Hillier is the Executive Director of Community Connection, an NGO based in Collingwood. Community Connection is the 211 Regional Service Partner serving Central East Ontario.
Prior to joining O211S in 2012, Andrew worked for 15 year with governments and non-profits in the human services sector on business transformation initiatives enabled through technology.
Pam has 27 years experience in community information & referral services, and has been involved in the development of the 211 system in Canada since its inception in 2001.
Andrew sits on the Board of Inform Canada and chairs the United Way 211 Canada Transition Committee for Information Technology
Pam sits on an international team overseeing the Accreditation of 211 services in the United States and Canada.
Presentation Outline 1. 211 Everyday 2. 211 in Emergency Response & Recovery 3. Discussion - advancing the role of 211 in emergency response and recovery
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What is 211? Free information and referral service that helps people find the organizations/programs they need Front door to access government funded and community based human services (in Canada and United States)
Two ways to access service Three-digit phone number: 2-1-1 Online service: www.211ontario.ca
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Components of 211 Service - Everyday
Public Inquiry
Online Directories
Caller Needs
Key Features of 211 Targeted, live, confidential help: calls to 211 are answered by certified information and referral specialists Multilingual: capable of serving in more than 150 languages Around-the-clock access: available 24/7/365 Comprehensive database: The most comprehensive database of community, social, health and related government services in Ontario Standards-driven: 211 Regional Service Partners are professionally Accredited information and referral organizations -Accreditation provides objective evidence of achievement across 28 standards, measured against 221 quality indicators (including specialized training, quality assurance procedures, effective management practices and program evaluation)
Current % of Population Served by 211
Canada
United States
60% or 20 million Canadians
90% or 283 million Americans
The 211 Ontario Network: Built from the Community Up Seven Regional Service Partners deliver province-wide telephone service & manage regional responsibilities
Ontario 211 Services (based in Toronto) provides coordination for the Ontario system, including funding oversight (Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, Ontario United Ways & Municipalities)
Aligned nationally
36 Data Partners across Ontario share local data to support 211 service delivery
Events with 211 Involvement • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Toronto, SARS, 2003 Toronto, H1N1, 2009 Durham, tornado, August 2009 Owen Sound, multi-tenant fire, April 2010 Midland, tornado, July 2010 Goderich, tornado, August 2011 Northern Ontario, floods/fires, May 2012 Niagara Region, Hurricane Sandy, October 2012 Windsor, LaSalle recycling plant fire, May 2013 Meaford, main water line break, July 2013 Toronto, flooding, July 2013 Ottawa, bus/train crash, September 2013 Toronto, ice storm, December 2013 Stratford, gas line break, January 2014 Angus, tornado, June 2014
Ice storm, December 2013 - Toronto Scenario: • As the Christmas holiday period was beginning, a severe winter storm brought strong winds and coated many parts of Ontario and Eastern Canada in a 30 mm layer of ice • 300,000 Torontonians lost power • After 24 hours, Toronto Hydro was still working to restore power to 254,000 customers • Two Toronto hospitals, Sunnybrook and East General, were without power and running on back-up generators 211 Central answered 1,535 calls from residents in the first 48 hours. Call examples: – families in the cold and needing warm shelter – basic needs, access to food – health concerns for bedridden older person – inability to get oxygen delivered
Project: April 2012 - March 2014 211’s Role in Emergency Response Recovery Project Funding: Ontario Trillium Foundation & Ontario 211 Services Project Goals: 1. Explore, develop and document the role of 211 in emergency response and recovery 2. Develop relationships with those involved in emergency response and recovery 3. Develop tools and templates which build on best practices 4. Share information and communicate what we learned
Where 211 is situated during Emergencies
Developing Communications and Support Protocols between 211 Regional Service Partners and Municipalities
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Why Establish Communications & Support Protocols with 211? 211 is increasingly well known and will receive calls about events that occur in municipalities (e.g. power outages, water issues, traffic accidents, weather warnings) A protocol including 211 in a municipal emergency plan will ensure: 211 is providing the information the municipality wants communicated to callers before, during or after an event The municipality has access 211 senior staff 24/7/365 to establish support The municipality knows exactly how 211 can support the municipality and its residents
Protocol – Step 1 (Notification) List of contact people and contact methods to advise the 211 Regional Service Partner of pending or occurred events.
211 Staff
Protocol – Step 2 (Communication) Procedures to establish two-way communications between the EIO and 211 Regional Service Partner. Following notification, communication procedures are confirmed to ensure 211 has current, accurate information.
Protocol – Step 3 (Activation) Procedures to engage 211 Regional Service Partner’s emergency support services. To request emergency support services, the municipality will schedule a telephone meeting to clarify what supports are needed and to receive agreement from 211 to provide support services and when.
Components of 211 Service – During Emergency Response and Recovery
Public Inquiry
Online Directories
Caller Needs
PUBLIC INQUIRYeverydayeveryday and Public Informationand during during emergency andand recovery emergencyresponse response recovery Everyday 24/7, confidential & multilingual TTY , chat & email accessible trained in serving vulnerable populations including advocacy & follow up support trained in crisis intervention & creating safety plans for endangered callers protocols with 911, crisis & distress lines, volunteer centres monitoring news & social media, posting facts or notices to call 211
Emergency Response & Recovery maintain a continual information exchange with EIO to ensure only authoritative information is disseminated centralized telephone access point to register volunteers and/or donations of goods rumour control by monitoring social media and posting facts or notices to call 211 or visit specific websites capacity to handle large call volumes through mutual assistance agreements across the 211 Ontario Network in-person access points in reception or evacuation centres 20
ONLINE INVENTORIES - everyday and and during Public Informationeveryday during emergency andand recovery emergencyresponse response recovery Everyday continually updated comprehensive database of human services across Ontario province-wide database accessible online at 211Ontario.ca annually updated pre-disaster listings of organizations that provide services in times of disaster
Emergency Response & Recovery maintain a continual information exchange with EIO to verify information & emerging services for the disaster database make disaster database available (public or private) to other organizations in the community collect customized details about people who want to volunteer and/or donations of goods & make available in real-time to emergency management personnel
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TRACKING - everyday and Public NEEDS Informationeveryday and during during emergency andand recovery emergencyresponse response recovery
Everyday collect non-identifying details about calls, and TTY, social media & email contacts track caller needs & trends identify unmet needs & service gaps produce reports to support community planning & advocacy organizations
Emergency Response & Recovery customize details collected about calls, and TTY, social media & email contacts provide real-time reports to EIO to support emergency response produce after action reports with aggregated data to support disaster debriefing activities
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Municipal Protocols Established So Far • The Blue Mountains (Grey) • Brockton (Bruce) • Champlain Township (in development) • City of Brantford • City of Ottawa (in development) • City of Toronto • City of Waterloo • Cornwall (in development) • Fort Erie • Grey County • Grey Highlands (Grey) • Huron County • Huron Kinloss (Bruce)
• Innisfil (Simcoe) • Kincardine (Bruce) • Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (in development) • Meaford (Grey) • Muskoka District • Niagara Falls • Niagara Region • Perth County • Simcoe County • Simcoe Muskoka Vulnerable Populations Emergency Plan • Thorold
EOC Director
County of Simcoe Municipal EOC Municipal EOC With Partners Deputy Director
Liaison Officer
For the County of Simcoe 211 would sit within the Emergency Information Team
Emergency Information Team
County of Simcoe Municipal EOC With Partners
EOC Director
Deputy Director
Liaison Officer
But would sit with Community Agencies when providing support services
Emergency Information Team
211 Ontario Roadmap
Discussion • 211 Ontario could support OFMEM objectives to enhance province-wide capacity for prevention and mitigation of, response to and recovery from large scale emergencies • Engaging at a provincial level will help 211 Ontario establish protocols with CEMCs and MEMCs • How can we work together to make this happen?
Contacts Andrew Benson, Executive Director Ontario 211 Services 543 Richmond Street West 路 Suite 119 Box 114 Toronto, ON M5V 1Y6 416-777-0211 x 221 abenson@211ontario.ca
Pamela Hillier, Executive Director Community Connection/211 Central East Ontario 275 First Street, Box 683 Collingwood, ON L9Y 4E8 705-444-0040 x 234 phillier@communityconnection.ca