Oaem 211 ontario presentation june 13 2013

Presentation Overview 1. What 211 is 2. Our role in the Goderich Tornado 3. Our Exercise Highlights from Huron Challenge 4. Questions

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• 211 is an easy to remember telephone number that helps people find the right community and social services in their community • Calls to 211 are answered live by trained information and referral specialists 24/7 • Interpretation services are available in 150 languages • It is also accessible by TTY and email

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•This is a list of current 3 digit numbers approved by the CRTC • Not all of these numbers are in use across the country •There are three unique characteristics of N11s: • they are assigned for a purpose, NOT to an organization • they are for services of a universal social value • they offer enhanced access

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• It is simplest to think of 211 services as having three primary components • The most obvious is the inquiry service, or call centre • Supporting the inquiry service is a comprehensive, professionally maintained database of services and programs (60,000 programs and services) • The searchable 211 database is also available online • Details about calls (not callers) are collected, analyzed and reported to stakeholders and community partners, enhancing community planning with information about service demand and use.

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• The first 211 service was first launched in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997 • In the US 211 now reaches into all 50 states • The first Canadian service was launched in Toronto in 2002.

• Two provinces are now provide-wide: Ontario and Nova Scotia • In addition to Ontario and Nova Scotia there are 211 services operating in Quebec City, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver

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• In Canada and the US 211 services must be Accredited through AIRS an association which sets the standards for information and referral organizations • Disaster preparedness is one of the areas of the Accreditation standards

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• 211 simplifies access to information about services in your community • Callers can remain anonymous, have a conversation with an information specialist who will help them find services they need • Most people find out about these services by: • Phone – ask friends, colleagues, county, town hall • Phone book, however you need to know the name of agency (ie food banks not listed under “F’ for food) • Online – Google • When you think of those 60,000 organizations, and the number of staff and volunteers that work for them….

• How do they keep up with the current services are available for their clients?

• 211 is for staff to use too.

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• Here in Ontario we have divided 211 into seven regions, served by seven organizations • Community Connection serves the Central East region, shown in green •The next three slides will give you an example of our three core service areas

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1 - Public Inquiry • In 2012 we answered 51,000 calls, which represents 5% of the population or 11% of households in Central East • Our highest % of calls are received from: • Simcoe (9% population or 19% of households) • Grey (8% or 18% of households) • Bruce (4.0% or 8.5% households)

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2 - Online directories • We work with a number of partner agencies across Central East to continually update about 13,000 programs and services • These listings are regularly uploaded to 211Ontario.ca • We also make a number of online directories available through our website • One of the most critical areas is the database, if it is wrong or out of date, than our referrals could be wrong

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3 - Caller Needs • Our staff track detailed information about each call (location, age, income sources, etc) • We do not collect any identifying information about callers • One item we track is why people call (shown on slide) • This information can provide key information to stakeholders, such as unmet needs in our communities

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• We had been serving Huron County for just one year when the Tornado struck in August 2011 • Huron County Social Services staff had visited our offices in July and so they had a good understanding of what we do • At 9 a.m. on August 22nd, I received a call from Huron County’s OW Manager Michele Gaynor asking if we could help.

• Early that afternoon, media releases began going out saying to call 211 for volunteer registration

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• This graphic shows the number of disaster-related calls we answered each day over the first two weeks • Calls peaked on the Wed with about 220 calls • Calls fell off on the weekend, spiking on the seconded Monday with close to 150 calls • A total of 1,157 calls diverted over a two week period • This demonstrates 211’s existing capacity as a public information line • Phone lines are already in place • Professional staff skilled in answering calls

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• Here are the reasons people called • 211 has existing capacity to track and report caller needs, and produce reports

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• This slide shows the results over the first six weeks • Note these numbers won’t add up as some callers were registering donations and to volunteer

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• We made the disaster database available online – infoHuronCounty.ca • 42 new listings were added in the first six weeks • Continually updated listings are necessary to provide real-time information to callers • Received changes from Social Services • Monitored social and news media • Informed by callers • Attempted to validate with key officials before going live • And the database supported call centre

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• Here is a screenshot of some disaster database listings • Animals – found/lost • Scam Artists – tips • Banking services • Building inspection • Business updates • Court services • Donations • Emotional/trauma support • Laundry services

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• This is an example of a database listing for laundry services • 211 has the skills and capacity to manage databases • Our data system already in place • Professional staff skilled in data research, collection and maintenance

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• We had never registered volunteers or donations before • Used Google Drive’s free APP to create shareable excel file • We colour coded important entries, such as other municipalities offering crews and equipment; department stores with large donations of supplies; money • It was simple to use, no training needed • All 211 staff could enter at one time • File was shared with specific County and Town staff who could download, sort and print lists

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• We used the same tool for donations, colour coding financial donations

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• The day after the tornado, there were many FB pages up • This is a screen shot of one in particular that had over 7,000 followers • We used this page to actively post news…things like: “211 is registering volunteers and providing lists back to Town Officials. Call 211 to register.”

• Actively posted news to: Promote the 211 phone number for volunteering Direct volunteers to specific activities (when groups were needed for things like handing out flyers) Redirect unwanted donations (don’t bring used clothing, have a sale and donate the funds) Redirect unwanted volunteers (deterring people from showing up, asking they register) Drive specific donations (able to drive specific donations such as milk and dish soap)

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• Here are usage stats for that FB page for the first six weeks • The reach is staggering

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Just to recap – during response and recovery we can do three things Public Inquiry: • central access point to register volunteers & 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 with 211 providers across Ontario • in-person access points in reception or evacuation centres Database/Internet • continually update disaster database with information & services that emerge through response, relief & recovery periods • make database available to other organizations in the community • maintain a continual information exchange with EIO to ensure only authoritative information is disseminated • collect customized details about people who want to volunteer & donations of goods & make available in real-time to emergency personnel • support case management for vulnerable populations fan out procedures Caller Needs • provide real-time reports to EIO to support emergency response • produce after action reports with aggregated data to support community planning activities

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• Since Goderich we have had a lot of interest in 211 and there has been confusion and concern about our role • A significant amount of relationships have been to developed to help us and we continue to learn •We created this slide to illustrate where we think 211 fits

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• Trillium Resolve was a multi-jurisdictional disaster response exercise developed by Emergency Management Ontario (EMO) and Bruce Power • The exercise was conducted during mid October 2012 with the emergency simulations taking place in Huron, Bruce, Grey and Wellington counties • Thanks to Lynda Rotteau (former CEMC Goderich), we were able to make the right connections with EMO • This was the first functional disaster exercise with multiple Regional Service Partners in Ontario • Some of our goals were to: • Test timelines for the exercise • Activate notification and communication protocols • Invoke mutual assistance agreements • Test telecommunications routing systems

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• We had the opportunity to play in three locations • Thanks to Doug Smith, CEMC Bruce County and Roberta Trelford, CEMC Kincardine – who both helped to guide where we should be.

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• • • •

One key outcome from our exercise was the development of a cloud-based portal It provided a centralized access point for all 211 providers across the province to the disaster database, call handling tools and important information We will further develop the portal for future exercises And it remains in place ready to support public inquiry services during future emergencies

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• • • • •

We deployed a mock disaster database which also runs on a cloud-based system It was modified with dozens of new and changing mock resources relayed by 211 staff at the EOC and EIC This slide shows the disaster database, example database listings, and a sample organization listing We are using this framework to develop new standards for pre-disaster database development in Ontario And it remains in place ready to support public inquiry services during future emergencies

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• • • • •

Online registration tools were also centralized so 211 providers across the province could register volunteers and donations Multiple call takers simultaneously tested viewing and entering mock volunteer registrations and donations in real time A survey-like entry form controlled standardized data entry and automatically fed into an excel spreadsheet, including a time and date stamp The excel file was sharable online, which allowed designated people to search, sort and print lists of donated goods or registered volunteers And it remains in place ready to support registration services during future emergencies

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• For the exercise a tracking tool was also centralized to collect information about each of the contacts received through mock calls, social media, email and TTY • The contact tracking tool contained 15 questions and a total of 69 possible data elements • This shows screen shots of some sections of the tracking tool • The tool was tested, accumulating disaster call information which demonstrated a range of data that could be collected from calls about community needs and service gaps • And it remains in place ready to support public inquiry services during future emergencies

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• The data collected from the tracking tool used during the exercise was downloaded into an excel file which enabled the contact data to analyzed and reports produced. • This is the report example produced from the mock calls.

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