advancing the role of 211 presentation to pemcc june 2014
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PEMCC June 26 2014
Advancing the Role
of 211 in Emergency
Response and
Recovery
Presenters
Pam Hillier is the Executive Director of
Community Connection, an NGO based in
Collingwood. Community Connection is the
211 Regional Service Partner serving Central
East Ontario.
Pam has 27 years experience in community
information & referral services, and has
been involved in the development of the
211 system in Canada since its inception in
2001.
Pam sits on an international team
overseeing the Accreditation of 211 services
in the United States and Canada.
Andrew Benson is the Executive Director of
Ontario 211 Services, a non-profit
established with support from Ontario
Government, United Ways, municipalities
and Trillium Foundation.
Prior to joining O211S in 2012, Andrew
worked for 15 year with governments and
non-profits in the human services sector on
business transformation initiatives enabled
through technology.
Andrew sits on the Board of Inform Canada
and chairs the United Way 211 Canada
Transition Committee for Information
Technology
Presentation
Outline
1. 211 Everyday
2. 211 in Emergency Response & Recovery
3. Discussion - advancing the role of 211 in emergency response
and recovery
4
Free information and referral service that helps people find the organizations/programs they need
Front door to access government funded and community based human services (in Canada and United States)
Two ways to access service
�Three-digit phone number: 2-1-1
�Online service: www.211ontario.ca
=
What is 211?
Components of 211 Service - Everyday
Public Inquiry Online Directories Caller Needs
Targeted, live, confidential help: calls to 211 are answered by certified information and referral specialists
Multilingual: capable of serving in more than 150 languages
Around-the-clock access: available 24/7/365
Comprehensive database: The most comprehensive database of community, social, health and related government services in Ontario
Standards-driven: 211 Regional Service Partners are professionally Accredited information and referral organizations
-Accreditation provides objective evidence of achievement across 28 standards, measured against 221 quality indicators (including specialized training, quality assurance procedures, effective management practices and program evaluation)
Key Features of 211
Current % of Population Served by 211
Canada
60% or 20 million Canadians
United States
90% or 283 million Americans
36 Data Partners
across Ontario
share local data to
support 211
service delivery
Seven Regional
Service Partners
deliver province-wide
telephone service &
manage regional
responsibilities
Ontario 211 Services (based in Toronto)
provides coordination for the Ontario
system, including funding oversight
(Ontario Ministry of Community and
Social Services, Ontario United Ways &
Municipalities)
The 211 Ontario Network:
Built from the Community Up
Aligned nationally
Events with 211 Involvement
• Toronto, SARS, 2003
• Toronto, H1N1, 2009
• Durham, tornado, August 2009
• Owen Sound, multi-tenant fire, April 2010
• Midland, tornado, July 2010
• Goderich, tornado, August 2011
• Northern Ontario, floods/fires, May 2012
• Niagara Region, Hurricane Sandy, October 2012
• Windsor, LaSalle recycling plant fire, May 2013
• Meaford, main water line break, July 2013
• Toronto, flooding, July 2013
• Ottawa, bus/train crash, September 2013
• Toronto, ice storm, December 2013
• Stratford, gas line break, January 2014
• Angus, tornado, June 2014
Ice storm, December 2013 - Toronto
Scenario:
• As the Christmas holiday period was beginning, a severe
winter storm brought strong winds and coated many parts of
Ontario and Eastern Canada in a 30 mm layer of ice
• 300,000 Torontonians lost power
• After 24 hours, Toronto Hydro was still working to restore
power to 254,000 customers
• Two Toronto hospitals, Sunnybrook and East General, were
without power and running on back-up generators
211 Central answered 1,535 calls from residents in the first 48 hours.
Call examples:
– families in the cold and needing warm shelter
– basic needs, access to food
– health concerns for bedridden older person
– inability to get oxygen delivered
Project: April 2012 - March 2014211’s Role in Emergency Response Recovery
Project Funding: Ontario Trillium Foundation & Ontario 211 Services
Project Goals:
1. Explore, develop and document the role of 211 in emergency
response and recovery
2. Develop relationships with those involved in emergency
response and recovery
3. Develop tools and templates which build on best practices
4. Share information and communicate what we learned
Where 211 is situated during Emergencies
14
Developing Communications and Support Protocols between 211 Regional Service Partners and Municipalities
Why Establish Communications & Support
Protocols with 211?
211 is increasingly well known and will receive calls about events
that occur in municipalities (e.g. power outages, water issues,
traffic accidents, weather warnings)
A protocol including 211 in a municipal emergency plan will ensure:
� 211 is providing the information the municipality wants
communicated to callers before, during or after an event
� The municipality has access 211 senior staff 24/7/365 to
establish support
� The municipality knows exactly how 211 can support the
municipality and its residents
List of contact people and contact methods to advise the 211
Regional Service Partner of pending or occurred events.
Protocol – Step 1 (Notification)
211 Staff
Procedures to establish two-way communications between the EIO
and 211 Regional Service Partner. Following notification,
communication procedures are confirmed to ensure 211 has
current, accurate information.
Protocol – Step 2 (Communication)
Procedures to engage 211 Regional Service Partner’s emergency
support services. To request emergency support services, the
municipality will schedule a telephone meeting to clarify what
supports are needed and to receive agreement from 211 to provide
support services and when.
Protocol – Step 3 (Activation)
Components of 211 Service –During Emergency Response and Recovery
Public Inquiry Online Directories Caller Needs
Public Information- everyday and during
emergency response and recovery
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PUBLIC INQUIRY- everyday andduring emergency response and recovery
Everyday
� 24/7, confidential & multilingual
� TTY , chat & email accessible
� trained in serving vulnerable
populations including advocacy &
follow up support
� trained in crisis intervention &
creating safety plans for endangered
callers
� protocols with 911, crisis & distress
lines, volunteer centres
� monitoring news & social media,
posting facts or notices to call 211
Emergency Response & Recovery
� maintain a continual information exchange with EIO to ensure only authoritative information is disseminated
� centralized telephone access point to register volunteers and/or donations of goods
� rumour control by monitoring social media and posting facts or notices to call 211 or visit specific websites
� capacity to handle large call volumes through mutual assistance agreements across the 211 Ontario Network
� in-person access points in reception or evacuation centres
Public Information- everyday and during
emergency response and recovery
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ONLINE INVENTORIES - everyday and during emergency response and recovery
Everyday
� continually updated comprehensive
database of human services across
Ontario
� province-wide database accessible
online at 211Ontario.ca
� annually updated pre-disaster listings
of organizations that provide services
in times of disaster
Emergency Response & Recovery
� maintain a continual information exchange with EIO to verify information & emerging services for the disaster database
� make disaster database available (public or private) to other organizations in the community
� collect customized details about people who want to volunteer and/or donations of goods & make available in real-time to emergency management personnel
Public Information- everyday and during
emergency response and recovery
22
TRACKING NEEDS - everyday andduring emergency response and recovery
Everyday
� collect non-identifying details about
calls, and TTY, social media & email
contacts
� track caller needs & trends
� identify unmet needs & service gaps
� produce reports to support
community planning & advocacy
organizations
Emergency Response & Recovery
� customize details collected about calls, and TTY, social media & email contacts
� provide real-time reports to EIO to support emergency response
� produce after action reports with aggregated data to support disaster debriefing activities
Municipal Protocols Established So Far
• The Blue Mountains (Grey)
• Brockton (Bruce)
• Champlain Township (in development)
• City of Brantford
• City of Ottawa (in development)
• City of Toronto
• City of Waterloo
• Cornwall (in development)
• Fort Erie
• Grey County
• Grey Highlands (Grey)
• Huron County
• Huron Kinloss (Bruce)
• Innisfil (Simcoe)
• Kincardine (Bruce)
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (in development)
• Meaford (Grey)
• Muskoka District
• Niagara Falls
• Niagara Region
• Perth County
• Simcoe County
• Simcoe Muskoka Vulnerable Populations Emergency Plan
• Thorold
Municipal EOC
With Partners
Emergency
Information Team
Deputy
Director
EOC
Director
Liaison
Officer
County of Simcoe
Municipal EOC
For the County of
Simcoe 211 would sit
within the Emergency
Information Team
County of Simcoe
Municipal EOC
With Partners Emergency
Information Team
Deputy
Director
EOC
Director
Liaison
Officer
But would sit with
Community Agencies
when providing support
services
211 Ontario Roadmap
Discussion
• 211 Ontario could support OFMEM objectives to enhance province-wide capacity for prevention and mitigation of, response to and recovery from large scale emergencies
• Engaging at a provincial level will help 211 Ontario establish protocols with CEMCs and MEMCs
• How can we work together to make this happen?
Contacts
Andrew Benson, Executive Director
Ontario 211 Services
543 Richmond Street West · Suite 119
Box 114 Toronto, ON M5V 1Y6
416-777-0211 x 221
Pamela Hillier, Executive Director
Community Connection/211 Central East Ontario
275 First Street, Box 683
Collingwood, ON L9Y 4E8
705-444-0040 x 234