Historical Highlights

Indiana 211 Partnership grew out of the work of Connect2Help (formerly Information and Referral Network, or IRN), Indiana Association of United Ways (IaUW) and the AIRS-Indiana (formerly Indiana Information and Referral Association, or IIRA). IN211 incorporated as a statewide nonprofit organization in 2000. What follows is a brief chronology of events.

1998 – the first 2-1-1 calls in Georgia

  • After having launched in 1997, United Way of Atlanta reported that 2-1-1 calls "to give or get help" grew 40% in first year.
  • Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) and United Way of America (UWA) led initiative to create the National 211 Collaborative.

1999 – a “contagious” idea sparks in Indiana

  • National 2-1-1 Collaborative filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reserve 2-1-1 for I&R. The Collaborative was joined by national organizations, specialized I&Rs, etc.
  • InfoLine 2-1-1 of Connecticut began operating five regional 2-1-1 centers to serve statewide.
  • Information & Referral Network created a 2-1-1 Task Force to petition Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to reserve 211 and to devise plan for sustainable funding.
  • Indiana Association of United Ways (IaUW) explored ways to link regional databases.
  • Indiana Information and Referral Association (IIRA) reconvened in August as informal state association for over 50 information and referral providers.

2000  - from idea to organization

  • IRN, IaUW and IIRA created the Indiana 211 Partnership (IN211) to plan Indiana’s 2-1-1 system.
  • The Partnership expanded its stakeholder base and developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlined guiding principles for the development of the plan.
  • On July 21, 2000, the FCC designated 2-1-1 for information & referral (I&R) purposes. Indiana 211 Partners shifted focus to standards, organizational structure and funding.
  • IaUW and IRN secured financial support to pay for planning and legal consultants.
  • The Indiana 211 Partnership incorporated as a nonprofit organization and formally requested reservation of 2-1-1 dialing code with Indiana’s Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers.
  • Chairman William McCarty of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission made a strong statement of support for 2-1-1 at the December conference of the Indiana Telecommunications Association.

2001 – the year of planning

  • The IN211 board approved a Definition of Human Services, Standards for IN211 Centers and Indiana's 2-1-1 System Standards.
  • Members elected inaugural Board and Officers and began circulation of 211 Status Report to stakeholders for feedback.
  • Board adopted phase-in plan for 2-1-1 center hubs to meet AIRS Accreditation criteria.
  • Board hired full-time executive director and telecommunications counsel and approved hiring of technology consulting firm to design technology system. IaUW secured second grant.
  • IN211 began regional center endorsement and development process.

2002 – 2-1-1 receives formal recognition

  • On February 20, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission issued an order authorizing Indiana 211 Partnership, Inc. as the sole authorized user of the 211 dialing code and ordered a Technical Conference to address issues such as translation costs, crisis training for I&R Specialists and wireless service.
  • Information & Referral Network was awarded AIRS accreditation.
  • President Bush signed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, which includes support of 211.
  • Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust awarded grant to support development of 211 in Indiana.

2003 – first 2-1-1 calls in Indiana answered

  • On March 20, 2003, IN211 submitted a "Report to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission," outlining the progress and barriers toward implementation of 2-1-1 in Indiana.
  • 2-1-1 Centers from around the United States gathered for the first "National 2-1-1 Assembly" at the AIRS Conference in June.
  • Information & Referral Network received certification from American Association of Suicidology.
  • IN211 was awarded two important grants to expedite implementation: the Indiana State Department of Health bioterrorism and public health preparedness grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the "Breaking the Barriers" grant from United Way of America, funded by Best Buy and Lilly Endowment.
  • First Call For Help/United Way of Allen County answers the first 2-1-1 calls in Indiana with a launch of 2-1-1 in November.
  • IN211 continued technical assistance to endorsed Centers and other developing regions. IN211 adopts Center Agreement and Operations Manual.

2004 – 2-1-1 expanded and recognized by State

  • On February 11, 2004 IN211 celebrated "2-1-1 Day" by announcing availability by 6 Centers, in 21 counties, or 40% Hoosiers. Gov. Kernan issued Proclamation and events were held in communities throughout the state.
  • Indiana General Assembly passed HEA 1344, which became effective 7/1/04 as I.C. 8-1-19.5. This 2-1-1 legislation encouraged the use of 2-1-1, prohibited state agencies from creating new hotlines without consulting 2-1-1, and established an account in state government.
  • IURC issued an Order 6/17/04, permanently recognizing IN211 as the sole authorized user of 2-1-1 in Indiana.
  • IN211 developed a system-wide marketing and outreach campaign.
  • IN211 completed its first comprehensive evaluation to review IN211 as an organization, IN211 as a system, individual Centers, and individual I&R Specialists.
  • IN211 completed its Emergency Operations Plan, held its first disaster tabletop exercise and met with all county emergency directors statewide.

2005 –IN211 responded to disasters

  • On February 11, 2005, IN211 celebrated “2-1-1 Day” by announcing two new Centers and an expanded service area. By yearend, 2-1-1 was available to 40 counties, or 53% of Hoosiers.
  • IN211 and its Centers provided a heroic response to the Hurricanes of the gulf coast. IN211 Centers connected thousands of Hoosiers seeking ways to donate or volunteer and hundreds of calls from evacuees needing help.
  • An external evaluator completed site visits to new Centers, a stakeholder survey, database verification and secret shopper calls in English and Spanish to all Centers. The evaluation report confirmed that IN211 was able—in spite of rapid growth—to keep focused on its mission, to maintain quality of service and to make improvements in response to performance review.
  • 2-1-1 again demonstrated its value in disaster in responding to the devastating tornados throughout southwestern Indiana in November 2005.     

2006 – 2-1-1 expanded rapidly

  • Six new IN211 Centers launched bringing the total number to fourteen Centers and expanding 2-1-1 access to 64 counties, or over 80% of Hoosiers.
  • IN211 Centers handled over 232,000 calls, recorded over 249,000 needs and provided over 331,000 referrals. Top caller needs include Housing, Food, Utility/Financial Assistance, Household Goods, Mental Health, Addictions and Legal Assistance. Top unmet needs were Financial Assistance for Rent and Utilities, Transportation and Shelter.
  • Callers rated satisfaction with the 2-1-1 service at the highest levels (90% or higher). Callers gave 2-1-1 Specialists overwhelmingly positive ratings regarding their ability to listen, understand their needs and act courteously.
  • IN211 moved into its own office space and expanded staff by one half-time marketing coordinator, who updated and distributed hundreds of thousands of materials.
  • IN211 secured protections similar to 9-1-1 in the Telecommunications Reform legislation.
  • IN211 and its Centers responded to floods in Lake and Vanderburgh counties in September.
  • IN211 coordinated trainings about Pandemic Influenza and other topics for information and referral providers throughout the state.
  • Adopted a new Database Plan in September 2006, with the goals of improving data-sharing, standardization and accessibility.
  • IN211 was a finalist for the Indiana Achievement Award in the Impact category, as presented by the Sycamore Foundation.

2007 – 10-year anniversary celebrated nationally

  • On February 11, 2007, the “Calling for 2-1-1 Act” was re-introduced in Congress at S.211 and H.R. 211. By the end of the year, the number of sponsors had grown, including Senators Lugar and Bayh and Representatives Souder and Donnelly.
  • IN211 launched new website in conjunction with “2-1-1 Day.”
  • 2-1-1 was uninterrupted through ice storms of February 2007, despite declared emergencies and massive power outages where five IN211 Centers are located.
  • IN211 Centers convened educational forums and 2-1-1 tours August through November.
  • IN211 coordinated trainings on basic needs and State programs for information and referral providers throughout the state.
  • In May, United Way of America and Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) celebrated the “10th birthday” of 2-1-1 since the first calls in Atlanta in 1997. The national report highlights Indiana for serving “as a model for system development, quality standards and disaster redundancy.”
  • IN211 was recognized for having the second highest rate of AIRS Accreditation and one of the highest rates of individual certification in North America. IN211’s executive director was awarded the AIRS Distinguished Service Award for her work in advancing information and referral and 2-1-1 nationally.
  • IN211 connected nearly 275,000 callers to vital human services.

2009 - a difficult yet rewarding year

  • In 2009, IN211 Centers handled over 444,000 calls, a 19% increase from 2008.  Over 453,000 needs were identified and nearly 637,000 referrals were given.  All were record highs as more counties are added and those in need become more and more aware of the benefits of 2-1-1.
  • New grants from Vectren, ProLiance and Arthur Jordan Foundation, along with a continuation of the IaUW/Lilly Endowment and Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation grants, carried us financially over into 2010.
  • Because of funding constraints, two IN211 Centers, United Way Elkhart County and Seven Counties Services, discontinued 2-1-1 service and a third IN211 Center informed us that it would be discontinuing 2-1-1 service.  However, other Centers were able to take over those areas without an interruption of service.  United Way of St. Joseph County 211 took over Elkhart County service and United Way of Greater Cincinnati took over Seven Counties Services area of Clark, Floyd and Harrison Counties.  LifeTime Resources informed the Board that it would discontinue service for Ripley, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland and Jefferson Counties early in 2010.  United Way of Greater Cincinnati has been selected to take over 2-1-1 service for those counties.
  • Despite the economic downturn, IN211 Centers were able to add 2-1-1 coverage for new six counties.  They are:

Greene – Generations
Gibson – United Way of Southwestern Indiana
LaPorte – United Way of St. Joseph County
Wabash – United Way of Allen County
Tipton – United Way of Howard County
Jennings – First Call for Help 211

  • Connect2Help switched its resource database software to Refer, a web-based software.    United Way of Greater Cincinnati also uses Refer and three other IN211 Centers expect to switch to Refer in 2010. 
  • Connect2Help remodeled their office and call center over a 3-week period in April, doubling their capacity.  During this time, most of their calls were routed to other IN211 Centers, each volunteering to take a percentage of Connect2Help’s calls.  The percentage of Connect2Help calls from center to center changed almost daily, depending on each center’s situation.  While tedious, this was a good exercise to demonstrate that IN211 Centers were capable of handling calls coming from Connect2Help’s area.  This had never been done before on a large scale operation.
  • On Christmas Eve, a fire destroyed the United Way Bartholomew county building, including First Call for Help’s 211 center.  FCFH211’s staff quickly moved and rebuilt their complete operation and their center was down only five days.  During those five days, Connect2Help voluntarily answered FCFH’s 2-1-1 calls.  This once again showed the resiliency of the ability of members of the Partnership to provide continual 2-1-1 service.
  • A lot of work went into efforts to get the State Legislature to help fund the Partnership.  Due to the State’s very tight budget restraints, we were not successful in gaining any funding this year.  However, giant strides were made as far as recognition and support from many Legislators.  On the Federal level, while not quite there, we are closer than ever at attaining federal funds.  Credit and thanks go to IaUW and its lobbying efforts, and to all the Centers, Board members and other stakeholders who have advocated on our behalf.  We are optimistic that these efforts will pay off in the future.

All in all, 2009 was a difficult yet rewarding year.  While funding remained tight, 2-1-1 coverage was increased and more Hoosiers in need found the help they needed through 21-1.