Report to/Rapport au :
Community and Protective Services Committee
Comité des services communautaires
et de protection
and Council / et au Conseil
12 January 2007 / le 12 janvier 2007
Submitted by/Soumis par : Steve
Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,
Community and Protective Services/Services communautaires et de
protection
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : Donna Gray, Manager
Strategic Initiatives and Business Planning/ Gest, Initiatives strat
& Planif activ
(613) 580-2424 x25684, Donna.Gray@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
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OBJET : |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Community and Protective Services Department
recommend that Council:
1.
1.Endorse
the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region as the service provider of 211 in Ottawa and;
2. Direct
staff to work with United Way Ottawa and the Provincial government to pursue a
detailed business case that identifies operating costs and potential funding
sources for the implementation of 211 in Ottawa and to report back to Committee
and Council prior to the 2008 budget process.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU
RAPPORT
Que les Services
communautaires et de protection recommande au Conseil municipal :
1. d’approuver le
Centre de détresse d'Ottawa et de la région avoisinante (Distress Centre of
Ottawa and Region) comme le fournisseur du service 211 à Ottawa;
2. de
charger le personnel de travailler avec Centraide Ottawa et le gouvernement
provincial afin de produire une analyse de rentabilisation détaillée qui
indique les coûts de fonctionnement et les sources de financement potentielles
pour la mise en œuvre du service 211 à Ottawa et de faire rapport à cet
égard au Comité et au Conseil avant le début du processus budgétaire de 2008.
211 is an easy to
remember telephone number that refers people to a full range of non-emergency
community health and social services.
Certified Information and Referral Specialists answer 211 calls, assess
the needs of each caller and link them to the best available information and
services. Underpinning the 211 service
is a comprehensive, professionally maintained database of services and
programs, which is available on the Internet to assist service professionals
and to serve those individuals who prefer the convenience and self-help nature
of 211 online.
211 was approved
for use nationally by the CTRC in August 2001.
Correspondingly, in November 2001, City Council approved a report
ACS2001-PEO-GMR-0001 that endorsed in
principle the concept of 2-1-1 as a coordinated information mechanism for
accessing information and referral services that serve the Citizens of
Ottawa. That same report directed that
broad support and a collaborative approach be developed with United
Way/Centraide Ottawa and other key community stakeholders.
Many communities
across Canada are preparing to meet the 211 standards set by the CRTC. Toronto launched Canada’s first 211 service
in June 2006. The CRTC decision
includes references to agreed upon standards, sustainability of service
delivery, hours of service required, and coverage of all associated costs (none
to caller). One of the CRTC’s criteria
is that, “organizations providing 211 must receive endorsement from the level of
government for the area served by 211.”
Key components of a 211 service include:
· Qualified information and referral specialists to answer phones and assess caller needs, and qualified resource specialists to manage the database.
· The development of a comprehensive and accurate database of community services to support the work of information and referral specialists.
· Call centre technology and the necessary facility and equipment infrastructure.
In early 2006, United Way organizations across Ontario banded together
to collectively call on the Government of Ontario to make “211 accessible to
all residents of Ontario”. The Ministry
of Community and Social Services provided a $1.4 million grant to develop a
business plan for a province-wide 211 system, the telephony architecture and
governance model. In addition, it
earmarked start up and capital costs for 4 communities – Halton, Thunder Bay,
Windsor and Ottawa. $212,000 has been
set aside for Ottawa. It also
ear-marked $1.4 million for the call centre start-up activities required to
launch the 211 service. This funding is
conditional on local 211 initiatives first obtaining the operational funding
necessary to provide the 211 service for at least one year.
The 211 Ottawa service will
play a pivotal role in this province-wide system in a number of ways. The plan is for 211 Ottawa to serve citizens
across the entire area served by the 613 area code. This would encompass most of Eastern Ontario, including Kingston,
Renfrew, Cornwall, Brockville and Belleville.
The 211 for All Ontario report
also calls for the 211 Ottawa service to provide information to francophone
Ontarians through the 211Ontario.ca web portal and its call centre. Therefore, 211 Ottawa would become the focal
point for French language services in a consolidated network of call centres,
offering bilingual 211 services across the province.
Le 211 est un numéro de téléphone
facile à retenir qui permet aux particuliers d’avoir accès à une panoplie de
services sociaux et de santé communautaires non urgents. Des spécialistes certifiés
en information et en aiguillage répondent aux appels 211, évaluent les besoins
des appelants et les renseignent le mieux possible ou les dirigent vers le
service le plus approprié. Le service 211 s’appuie sur une vaste base de
données sur les programmes et services mise à jour par des professionnels et
accessible par Internet. Cette ressource s’adresse aux professionnels et aux
particuliers qui aiment mieux faire leur recherche seuls et préfèrent le côté
pratique du service en ligne.
La mise en œuvre du service 211 a été
approuvée par le Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications
canadiennes (CRTC) en août 2001. De ce fait, en novembre de la même année, le
Conseil municipal a adopté le rapport ACS2001-PEO-GMR-0001, qui appuie en principe
le concept du 211, mécanisme coordonné donnant aux résidents d’Ottawa accès à
un service d’information et d’aiguillage. Dans ce rapport, il était recommandé
d’adopter une démarche globale de soutien et de collaboration avec
Centraide/United Way Ottawa et d’autres intervenants communautaires clés.
De nombreuses communautés des quatre coins du
pays travaillent à des projets en vue de satisfaire aux normes 211 établies par
le CRTC. La Ville de Toronto a pour sa part lancé son service 211 en
juin 2006. Pour rendre sa décision, le CRTC tient compte du respect des
normes convenues, de la viabilité du service assuré, des heures auxquelles
celui‑ci sera offert et du fait que tous les coûts qui y sont associés
sont couverts (l’appelant n’en assume aucun). L’un des critères du CRTC est le
suivant : « Les organismes qui
assurent le service 211 doivent obtenir l’approbation à cet égard de
l’ordre de gouvernement responsable du secteur bénéficiant du service. »
Les principales composantes du service 211
sont les suivantes :
·
Des
spécialistes de l’information et de l’aiguillage répondent aux appels et
évaluent les besoins des appelants, et des spécialistes en ressources gèrent la
base de données.
·
Une
base de données exhaustive et exacte sur les services communautaires est créée
pour soutenir le travail des spécialistes de l’information et de l’aiguillage.
·
Le
service 211 utilise la technologie des centres d’appels ainsi que les
installations et l’équipement nécessaires.
Au début de 2006, les organismes Centraide de
partout en Ontario se sont unis pour demander à la Province de rendre le
service 211 accessible à tous les résidents de l’Ontario. Le ministère des
Services sociaux et communautaires a par la suite consenti une subvention de
1,4 million de dollars pour élaborer un plan d’activités visant à mettre
en place à l’échelle de la province un système 211, une architecture de
téléphonie et un modèle de gouvernance. Il a également alloué des fonds de
démarrage et d’immobilisations à quatre municipalités, soit Halton, Thunder
Bay, Windsor et Ottawa. Un montant de 212 000 $ a d’ailleurs été
réservé pour Ottawa. Le Ministère a enfin affecté 1,4 million de dollars
aux travaux de démarrage des centres d’appels qui serviront à assurer le
service 211. Pour pouvoir bénéficier de ce financement, les municipalités
doivent obtenir les capitaux d’exploitation requis pour assurer le
service 211 pendant une période minimale d’un an.
Le
service 211 de la région d’Ottawa jouera un rôle déterminant dans la
province, et ce, pour plusieurs raisons. D’une part, il est censé être offert
aux résidents de tout le secteur dont l’indicatif régional est le 613, ce qui
englobe presque tout l’Est de l’Ontario, y compris Kingston, Renfrew, Cornwall,
Brockville et Belleville. D’autre part, le rapport 211 for All Ontario prévoit qu’à Ottawa, le service 211 devra
aussi être assuré en français tant par l’entremise du site Web 211Ontario.ca
que par les spécialistes du centre d’appels. Par conséquent, le
service 211 d’Ottawa deviendrait, à l’intérieur du réseau global de
centres d’appels, le coeur des services en français offerts aux francophones
des quatre coins de la province.
211 is an easy to
remember telephone number that refers people to a full range of non-emergency
community health and social services.
Certified Information and Referral Specialists answer 211 calls, assess
the needs of each caller and link them to the best available information and
services. Underpinning the 211 service
is a comprehensive, professionally maintained database of services and
programs, which is available on the Internet to assist service professionals
and to serve those individuals who prefer the convenience and self-help nature
of 211 online.
211 was approved
for use nationally by the CTRC in August 2001.
Many communities across Canada are preparing to meet the 211 standards
set by the CRTC. Toronto launched
Canada’s first 211 service in June 2006.
The CRTC decision includes references to agreed upon standards,
sustainability of service delivery, hours of service required, and coverage of
all associated costs (none to caller).
One of the CRTC’s criteria is that,
“organizations providing 211 must
receive endorsement from the level of government for the area served by 211.”
211 is a highly visible, easily recalled number for all citizens to call that provides a single point of access to a broad range of community, social, health and government services. 211 will assist people to access appropriate services efficiently by providing referrals to appropriate agencies and organizations with the help of specifically trained information and referral staff. 211 will assist the most vulnerable of our citizens, particularly those with disabilities, low levels of literacy, individuals who do not speak either of our official languages, and seniors, All calls would be answered by a bilingual information and referral specialist who would link them to the most appropriate information and service.
Examples of calls to 211 include:
Key components of a 211 service include:
· Qualified information and referral specialists to answer phones and assess caller needs, and qualified resource specialists to manage the database.
· The development of a comprehensive and accurate database of community services to support the work of information and referral specialists.
· Call centre technology and the necessary facility and equipment infrastructure.
The 211 service complements the 311
service. In Ottawa, 311 has proved very
useful in providing access to non-emergency municipal government services. Similarly, the 211 service would provide
people with information and referral about all human services and programs,
regardless of whether these are delivered by governments or by non-government
providers.
In November 2001, City Council approved a report ACS2001-PEO-GMR-0001 that
endorsed in principle the concept of 2-1-1 as a coordinated information
mechanism for accessing information and referral services that serve the
Citizens of Ottawa. That same report
directed that broad support and a collaborative approach be developed with
United Way/Centraide Ottawa and other key community stakeholders. Following this report extensive consultation
was conducted and in 2003 a Feasibility Study was completed and followed by a
July 2004 Review of Organizational Capacity. The review:
It
also included a capacity assessment of the organizations, which had expressed
an interest in delivering the 211 service.
This capacity assessment, undertaken by third party consultants, was
based on each organization’s response to 130 questions, supporting
documentation, interviews with six other community groups and site visits.
The
assessment recommended harnessing the infrastructure of the Distress Centre of
Ottawa and Region (DCOR) as the managing agency for the delivery of the 211
Ottawa service. The DCOR was found to
have the greatest strengths in terms of its governance, management and
administration, and extensive call centre operations experience. It delivers four services: The Ottawa Distress Line, the Outaouoais
Distress Line, the Champlain District Mental Health Crisis Line, and the Grey
Bruce Mental Health Crisis Line.
Building
on the importance of experience and expertise, the review also recommended that
the Community Information Center of Ottawa (CIC) be selected as the 211 Ottawa
database provider. The CIC annually produces The Directory of Ottawa Community Services, maintains a bilingual
database of 1400 community services and provides local information to
provincial portals. The CIC has also
contributed to the development of francophone records, both at a local and
provincial level.
In 2005, a
comprehensive business and technical plan was developed, which requested
sustained funding over five years to launch the service. Unfortunately, due to budgetary constraints
at United Way/Centraide Ottawa, the municipal and provincial levels of
government and other funding sources, this magnitude of funding was not
forthcoming at the time.
Consequently,
in early 2006, United Way organizations across Ontario banded together to
collectively call on the Government of Ontario to make “211 accessible to all
residents of Ontario”. The Ministry of
Community and Social Services provided a $1.4 million grant to develop a
business plan for a province-wide 211 system, the telephony architecture and
governance model. In addition it
earmarked start up and capital costs for 4 communities – Halton, Thunder Bay,
Windsor and Ottawa. $212,000 has been
set aside for Ottawa. It also ear-marked $1.4 million for the call centre
start-up activities required to launch the 211 service. However, The Government of Ontario placed restrictions on the use of
this start-up funding. First, it cannot
be used to fund 211 operations. Second,
communities must demonstrate that they have secured adequate funding from other
sources to operate the 211 service for a minimum of one year. In the absence of knowing the full cost
implication of implementing 211 in Ottawa, further analysis is required to move
forward on this initiative in an effort to secure the first year of required
operating funds. The United Way and
city staff are committed to working together to define costs, potential funding
partners and operating models in a detailed business case and will present
their findings and recommendations to Council prior to the 2008 budget process.
In
addition, the Ministry of Finance provided a $3 million grant to Find help over
three years from the Strengthening our Partnerships program, to expand and
enrich 211. The online service delivery
of 211Ontario.ca is an internet based directory of over 60,000 human services
available in Ontario. This will include
new money for 211Ontario.ca to extend data collection across Ontario and to
further its work on the development of the human services classification
system, or “taxonomy” in both French and English. By standardizing references to human and social services and
needs, this taxonomy will enable the Information and Referral Specialists using
211Ontario.ca to better search and find the information they need to help 211
callers.
CONCLUSION
The 211 Ottawa service will
play a pivotal role in this province-wide system in a number of ways. The plan
is for 211 Ottawa to serve citizens across the entire area served by the 613
area code. This would encompass most of
Eastern Ontario, including Kingston, Renfrew, Cornwall, Brockville and
Belleville. The 211 for All Ontario
report also calls for the 211 Ottawa service to provide information to
francophone Ontarians through the 211Ontario.ca web portal and its call centre.
Therefore, 211 Ottawa would become the focal point for French language services
in a consolidated network of call centres, offering bilingual 211 services
across the province.
At
this time, the operating budget and funding necessary
to access the provincial grants for
211 Ottawa has not been finalized . The City will work with United Way
Ottawa to complete a detailed business case identifying full costing and all
potential sources of funding for operating cost. Once City staff know
the full financial impact of implementing 211 in Ottawa, they will report
back to Committee and Council prior to the 2008 budget process.
The 211 Ottawa
Project Team is approaching potential funders, including the Federal Government
(Service Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada), foundations and corporations
to fund the operating component of the 211 service. In addition, s. Ottawa 211 would
be
requesting financial support from the City of Ottawa prior to the formal launch
of 211 Ottawa in 2008. Preliminary
estimates indicate that the amount of support would be $52,975.00 which
could be a combination of financial support and in kind services.
taff from
Community and Protective Services will continue to explore options with other
Departments for in kind services or other service synergies, prior to the
launch of 211
A formal public launch of 211 in Ottawa is
anticipated for early 2008 once operating funds have been secured.
From its inception the 211 Ottawa
project has been one of collaboration, partnership and consultation. Consultations with community stakeholders
around a 211 service in Ottawa began in December, 2001 Community consultations
have continued and the plan is to hold more formal briefing meetings with
community groups during the second quarter of 2007.
There
are no financial implications for 2007, with the approval of the
recommendations contained in this report.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1: 211 Ottawa Launch Business Case - On file with the City Clerk
Community and Protective Services to report back prior to the 2008 budget process.