Community Information Toronto

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211 Saskatchewan United Ways Meeting June 3rd,
2006
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Agenda

• 211

• What is 211
• Saskatchewan Update
• United Way of Canada Centraide Canada
• Discussion and Next Steps

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What is 211?

• Quick, easy link to community services
• to get help
• to give help

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What is 211?

• Comprehensive database
• Up to 24/7
• Trained IR specialists

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Why 211?

• Maze of services hard to navigate
• One entry point to find and give help
• Easy to remember

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Why 211? (contd)

• Infuses public consciousness
• Enhances access to services

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History

• United States
• Atlanta 1997
• 38 States
• 55 of Americans (165 Million)
• Cost Benefit 1.1 Billion over next 10 years

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History

• Canada
• Partnership between United Way of
  Canada-Centraide Canada, Inform Canada, United
  Way of Greater Toronto and Community Information
  Toronto
• Application to CRTC 2000
• Approval 2001
• Toronto Launch Spring 2001

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1st Canadian Sites

• Toronto 2002
• Assisted nearly 1 million callers
• Edmonton 2004
• 98 of callers say they would call again
• Calgary 2005
• 20,000 callers first six months

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Other Canadian Communities

• South Georgian Bay and Niagara Regions
• British Columbia
• Nova Scotia
• Quebec City
• Manitoba

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(No Transcript)
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211 Components

• Governance and structure
• Stakeholder relationships

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211 Component

• Database
• Call/contact center
• Staffing and training
• Technical

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211 Components

• Fund raising
• Development
• Ongoing
• Marketing
• Promotion/education
• Launch
• Ongoing

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Saskatchewan Update

• 2003 Community Stakeholder Meeting
• 2004 United Way of Saskatoon United Way of
  Regina
• Situational Analysis
• Improved Access Ease of Access
• More Appropriate referrals
• Majority wanted to be part of future planning

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Saskatchewan Update

• 2005 Deloitte Feasibility Study Commissioned
• Objectives
• To define an optimal operating model
• Build a business case including cost/benefit
  analysis
• Create a road map to implementation

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Saskatchewan Update

• Deloitte results
• Benefits outweigh the cost
• Annual benefits from a low of 2.7 million to a
  high of 15.6 million
• Save 1 million in agency time spent responding
  to misdirected calls

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To provide additional analysis, a range of annual
benefits was calculated. The total annual
benefits range from 2.7 to 15.6 million
Benefit Name Description Annual Value ( 000s) Annual Value ( 000s)
Benefit Name Description Low High
Time Saved by 211 Users Access to a single, easy to remember number with multilingual services saves users the time of making multiple phone calls to find appropriate services. 236 1,716
Misdirected Calls The availability of a simple, easy to remember number for community and social service information reduces the burden of agencies responding to mis-directed phone calls. 136 1,001
Volunteer Brokering People with time to volunteer can be more easily and more suitably matched with organizations in need of volunteers. 542 2,168
Inappropriate 911 Calls A number of calls to 911 are considered non-emergency calls that could be more appropriately dealt with by 211, freeing up 911 resources for real emergencies. 122 785
24 Hour Access to 211 24 hour access is convenient for individuals with daytime obligations or seeking services when most agencies are closed. Providers are assured that clients receive some assistance after hours 74 215
Community Planning Tool Data that is captured by 211 can be used by communities to map where services are provided and caller statistics can provide service demand information. This information can be used as a community planning tool. 15 75
Non-reimbursed Services to Govt 211 centres provide readily available infrastructure and services to provide ad hoc public service announcements or crisis assistance to governments free of charge 25 53
Optimization of IR Service Delivery A 211 system providing community and social service information will reduce the need for existing information referral agencies allowing those resources to be focused on other value-added initiatives 8 90
Reduction in Employment A number of factors affect unemployment including the ability of unemployed workers to gain access to programs and benefits designed to help them re/enter the workforce. 211 provides information and referrals that help workers re/enter the workforce. 1,555 10,876
Productive Enterprise A 211 system would develop and maintain assets such as data that can be leveraged in productive ways to generate income. 13 50
Total Total 2,725 15,551
All figures in Millions
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The one-time costs to launch a provincial 211
system are 173,250 not including the cost of
staff to implement the launch
Cost Name Description First Year Cost ( 000s) First Year Cost ( 000s)
Cost Name Description Low High
Call Centre One time set up costs for the call centre include AIRS accreditation, technology and equipment, supplies, furnishings, software and licenses 70 119
Website The one time cost for the website is for a mass electronic data migration of the agency program records 5 8
Database Database one time costs include production server, router and networking, equipment and software 15 22
Marketing One time costs are budgeted for a public launch event and accompanying marketing collateral 15 25
Total Total 105 173

• One-time costs total 173,250 under the high
  estimates primarily consist of physical
  infrastructure investments and technology
  purchases such as computer equipment, telecom
  equipment, etc.
• Staffing costs in the first year range from
  238,000 to 301,000.
• Total first year costs total 406,940 to
  554,550.
• The total costs can be lowered to 104,500 under
  careful management and soliciting the community
  for donations in-kind

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(No Transcript)
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Saskatchewan Update

• Results so far shared with
• Provincial government ministers/mlas
• Provincial 911 Board
• PVSI
• Senior staff at SaskTel
• United Ways in Saskatchewan

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Next Steps..

• 211 Champions
• Resources dedicated over the next 6 months
• United Ways leadership
• Letters of Support
• Local community conversations
• Local governments

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Discussion