2007 Year in Review
The NJ211 Partnership makes vital connections between those in need and those best equipped to provide assistance. This annual summary covers accomplishments achieved and enhancements made to the system over the last year.
2-1-1 answered 155,000 calls for help and www.nj211.org handled 2 million database searches.
During this 12 month period, the dominant need of those who contacted 2-1-1 was for housing, followed closely by inquiries about financial assistance. We also received a consistently high volume of calls and Web visits throughout the year that pertained to health and medical situations, mental health resources, and facilities and services for senior citizens and disabled residents of our state.
“Reach Out for Life: Somebody Needs You™” is a community-based grassroots initiative to promote breast cancer awareness, encourage breast self-examination, and provide free screenings to eligible women in central and southern New Jersey. This partnership program between 2-1-1 and the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Central and South Jersey Affiliate targets African American and Latino women. They have been identified as being close to 37% more likely to die of breast cancer due to late detection of the disease. Since the inception of this initiative hundreds of women have called 2-1-1 to learn more about breast cancer and to be screened. 2-1-1 care managers were available to assist women who required follow-up to find healthcare. Countless lives have been saved.
“2-1-1 has proven invaluable in coordinating level of care information throughout the Region. It has improved the access to Short Term Care Facilities which has been pivotal in providing quality mental health services closer to an individual's home.” Charles Nussbaum, Division of Mental Health Services, NJ Department of Human Services
The 2-1-1 system was built by people who understand social services and know first-hand how challenging it can be to find solutions. That understanding prompted the creation of a Web application that can be accessed by mental health professionals throughout New Jersey. Before
2-1-1, screeners had to call every residential treatment facility in the state until they found an opening. Now, both the care centers and the screening professionals can log on to a secure portion of www.nj211.org and, in just seconds, update and access available psychiatric beds any where in the state.
When we heard from the IRS that only a small percentage of those eligible were taking advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 2-1-1 committed to helping working poor families get connected to free tax filing services provided by trained volunteers as part of a program sponsored by the IRS, NJ Department of Human Services and PSE&G. As much as $4,536 in federal refunds and $943 in state taxes were returned to each family in need! With so many in our state seeking solutions to concerns regarding housing, utilities and food shortages, we were thrilled to be able to provide real assistance by educating callers about tax credits. Our success was based on the connections that are at the heart of 2-1-1.
Tens of thousands of citizens in New Jersey suffered through torrential downpours this past spring that left destruction in their wake. The need for assistance was great and 2-1-1 again took charge by directing folks to www.nj211.org where information and essential links provided the vital solutions. Visitors to our site could find answers to everything from, “How do I clean up the mold that is covering my basement?“ to “Who do I contact for disaster assistance?”
No sooner had the floods abated, than southern New Jersey residents were faced with wildfires. Again, 2-1-1 took the lead by posting pertinent news to its Web site and educating the call center operators on the best exit routes and the most current wildfire locations. By working hand-in-hand with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, we were able to communicate with NJ citizens, empowering them with the information they needed to make critical decisions.
NJ 211 responds to inquiries of an everyday nature as well. When we equipped our site with information about how to combat the gypsy moth infestation, we were stunned by the volume of visitors we received. With the help of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, we were equipped to provide a wealth of information including facts about gypsy moth habitat and feeding habits, the state’s Gypsy Moth
Suppression Program and alternatives to spraying.
We received a similar response from the public when it came to our postings on the heat wave that affected New Jersey citizens in the summer months. We provided information about everything from staying safe in the heat to saving energy and keeping food from spoiling.
- This year we continued our efforts to ensure call center excellence. Eight call center operators achieved certification from the Alliance of Information and Referral Specialists (AIRS), an organization that sets the standard for information and referral, crisis intervention and disaster preparedness.
- We enhanced the capabilities of our Web site and furthered our reporting initiatives.
- We welcomed Jennifer Hay, Bill Kay, and Barbara Gallagher to our
2-1-1 management team.
- Jennifer Hay became the data content manager for NJ 211 in October, 2006, after working in the Information and Referral field for over 10 years. She brings with her a wealth of experience in direct customer service; case, database, and project management; and disaster response.
- Our telecommunications manager, Bill Kay, joins 2-1-1 with over 35 years of experience with Verizon. In his last assignment before leaving the company, Bill was a member of the technical staff in Verizon Labs and was responsible for planning and designing new services. In fact, the 2-1-1 routing system that our call centers now rely on was invented by Bill’s Verizon Labs group.
- Barbara Gallagher, director of client services, brings years of corporate experience to the position. Her expertise extends to the technical telephony issues that call centers face, the “how-to” of call center staff recruiting, hiring and training, as well as the management reporting that is so critical to accurate monitoring of the caller’s experience.
- The year was filled with infrastructure improvements that supported growth and ensured premier customer service. Our continuing goal is to have a robust database that truly incorporates all of the services that are available to New Jersey’s citizens and keep all of that information current! Not an easy thing to achieve, but we made great strides this year with the help of organizations such as local United Ways, the Salvation Army, NJ Homecare Association and the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative. We did some staff training within the NJ Department of Children and Families that ensured proper inclusion of their vital services as well.
- A database of this size can quickly become filled with redundant entries and, by virtue of its very size, can get to be too cumbersome to use if people entering data do not follow strict guidelines. We put those guidelines in place this year. By standardizing search terms and needs-classification terminology, we enhanced the database’s functionality, advanced synchronicity between call centers and improved our reporting capabilities.
- 2-1-1 is all about connections. We improved ours this year with new digital phone networking that resulted in a higher call capacity, and improved transmission and call quality. Enhanced automated call transfer capabilities meant better service to the deaf and hearing impaired citizens of our state, and enabled us to provide round-the-clock service statewide. And, by upgrading all call software, we improved our ability to efficiently capture vital statistics on our callers, leaving us with a heightened understanding of the greatest needs of New Jersey’s citizens and the ability to share this insight with government leaders when they need it most.
We look forward to acquiring the funding that will permit us to enhance the
2-1-1 system by incorporating the public work details from each municipality, similar to New York City’s 3-1-1 system which Mayor Bloomberg so strongly endorses: “3-1-1 is not just a citizen service hotline, it is the most powerful management tool ever developed for New York City government. I can’t imagine running the city without it.”
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