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DISCUSSION <br />The Alameda County 2-1-1 social service referral program officially started five (5) <br />months ago, and has served 15,656 clients through November 30, 2007 (82 Pleasanton <br />residents). Similar to the 9-1-1- Emergency System, callers to 2-1-1 describe their <br />individual situation and an operator refers them to the appropriate agency to obtain <br />required services. The goal of the 2-1-1 system is to simplify the availability of <br />information and referral services through a free and confidential system accessible 24- <br />hours aday, 7 days per week. <br />Nationwide, one of the many benefits of 2-1-1 is its ability to collect data that reflects the <br />needs and gaps in services throughout the community. Another major benefit is its <br />critical role during and after disasters. Proponents anticipate that 2-1-1 will save <br />jurisdictions money due to the reduced number of non-emergency calls to 9-1-1, and be <br />an efficient method to obtain service information after a disaster. In October 2007, Eden <br />I&R, Inc. dispatched two 2-1-1 Resource Specialists to Southern California to help in the <br />wildfire recovery efforts. <br />As noted above, preliminary 2-1-1 statistics for the Pleasanton area from July 2007 <br />through November 2007 indicate a total of 82 calls were received through Eden I&R <br />(Attachment 1). These callers were given 138 service referrals, and 15 housing <br />referrals. The types of services requested included emergency shelter (including <br />Domestic Violence Shelters), residential facilities, nursing homes, disability housing, <br />subsidized rental housing, housing payment assistance, legal aid, and emergency food <br />and utilities financial assistance. <br />A significant cost of the 2-1-1 system is staff time to ensure that all social service <br />agencies are listed, with complete and up-to-date information. Staff will work closely <br />with Eden I&R, Inc. to develop a plan to increase resident's awareness of the 2-1-1 <br />system. Also included for the Council's review is a per capita breakdown of funding <br />requests from the various cities in Alameda County (Attachment 2). <br />ubmitted by: Fiscal Review: Approve y: <br />~ ~ <br />. c..._ <br />a es W. Wolfe David P. Culver Nelson Fialho <br />Director of Parks and Director of Finance City Manager <br />Community Services <br />Attachments: 1. Correspondence from Eden I&R, Inc. -December 4, 2007 <br />2. Per Capital Funding Allocation for Alameda Co. Cities <br />Page 2 of 2 <br />