Memorandum
Date: November 30, 2021
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Carol J. Huchingson, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
Brian L. Martin, Lake County Office of Emergency Services Director
Subject: Consideration of a Presentation by United Way of the Wine Country Regarding Possible Expansion of 2-1-1 Lake County from Disaster-Only to Full Service
Executive Summary:
As your Board is aware, when fully implemented, 2-1-1 is a comprehensive information and referral service that strives to help community members access the best local resources and services to address any need. 2-1-1 services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with information accessible in 150 languages through phone interpretation services. During times of disaster, 2-1-1 can provide incident-specific information in coordination with local emergency services, including road closures and shelters, both locally and nationwide.
Presently, Lake County has disaster-only 2-1-1 service, provided by Interface Children and Family Services of Ventura County. To date, this service has been fully State funded (SB1212), and this limited partnership has enabled Lake County to develop service databases that can be built on with full 2-1-1 implementation: https://211lake.org/
You will also be aware, United Way of the Wine Country (UWWC) serves families and individuals living and working in Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte counties. They are deeply committed to improving family financial stability by serving as a vital link between residents, nonprofit organizations, businesses and government leaders.
UWWC is the operator of 2-1-1 Sonoma and 2-1-1 Mendocino and a funder of 2-1-1 Humboldt.
They partner with Interface Children and Family Services for operation of 2-1-1 Sonoma and Mendocino’s call center services. Since 2005, Interface, the call center provider, has overseen 2-1-1 calls for Ventura and 21 other counties in California. Interface’s expertise and technology have brought Sonoma County callers two-way texting capabilities and an immediate capacity to scale up call center resources in the event of an emergency-all at a lower cost-per-call than the previous service due to Interface’s size, digital capacity, and singular focus.
UWWC’s goal is to have a full service 2-1-1 in each of the five counties in its service area, and they are currently exploring the possibility of supporting the expansion of 2-1-1 Lake County from disaster only to full service. Staff conceptually agrees full 2-1-1 implementation could importantly augment existing public information services.
Today’s presentation from UWWC is informational, only, but your Board may wish to provide direction to staff to continue work toward implementation.
If not budgeted, fill in the blanks below only:
Estimated Cost: ________ Amount Budgeted: ________ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
Consistency with Vision 2028 (check all that apply): ☐ Not applicable
☒ Well-being of Residents ☒ Public Safety ☒ Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, Recovery
☐ Economic Development ☐ Infrastructure ☐ County Workforce
☒ Community Collaboration ☒ Business Process Efficiency ☐ Clear Lake
Recommended Action: Informational report only, today. Consider Direction to Staff to continue work toward implementation of full 2-1-1 services, in partnership with United Way of the Wine Country.