Standards Committee

Indiana 211 Partnership, Inc. (IN211) established high standards for individual IN211 Centers and for the IN211 System. IN211’s standards are based on the Standards for Professional I&R, as maintained by the Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS). The Standards include six major areas:

  • Service delivery
  • Resource database
  • Reports and measures
  • Cooperative relationships
  • Governance (Organizational Requirements)
  • Disaster Preparedness

The IN211 Standards Committee is responsible for the following activities

  • Managing IN211 Center application and endorsement process;
  • Recommending system-level and Center-level standards;
  • Reviewing and recommending Center-specific modifications to Operations Manual;
  • Overseeing maintenance of Operations Manual; and
  • Overseeing quality assurance and evaluation.

Steps to becoming a 2-1-1 Center in Indiana

  • The IN211 Executive Director meets with an organization interested in becoming a
    2-1-1 Center to explain the rigorous process.
  • The organization begins a self-assessment and seeks support from key stakeholders in the potential service area. IN211 and the potential applicant organization usually hold a “stakeholder meeting” to gauge community interest and support.
  • The organization submits the full application packet to IN211 and requests a site visit by the IN211 Executive Director, if not completed recently.
  • IN211 provides technical assistance to organizations during the application and endorsement process.
  • A three-person Review Team reviews the materials, summarizes strengths and areas for improvement, and then makes a recommendation to the Standards Committee. The Standards Committee discusses the recommendations, votes to make one of the following recommendations to the Board of Directors: table, deny, conditionally endorse or fully endorse the organization to become an IN211 Center. Only endorsed organizations may participate in the Center Roundtable.
  • Once an organization receives a “full endorsement” from IN211 and has applied for AIRS Accreditation, the organization may begin the contracting process with IN211 to begin 2-1-1 service.

Plan for statewide 2-1-1 service

IN211 adopted a plan that seeks to provide every Hoosier with 2-1-1 access through a linked system of regional Centers.  IN211 values local 2-1-1 service delivery where possible—balancing cost efficiencies and cost-effectiveness with quality of service and local support.  

Evaluation

In 2004, IN211 hired a consulting firm to conduct its first evaluation of Indiana 211 Partnership, Inc. (the organization), IN211 (the system), IN211 Centers and I&R Specialists. Methodologies included site visits, secret shopper calls, employee and staff surveys, resource database verification checks and caller database analysis. Overall, the findings indicated

 “…strong satisfaction regarding how the 211 System functions, the capabilities of specialists and administrative staff, and the support provided by the Partnership to the regional centers.  The System has grown rapidly and has risen of the challenges that accompany such rapid growth. Overall, it is clear that the Indiana 211 System accomplishes its primary task of providing referral and information services to the state’s residents in need of such assistance.”

The final report also identified areas for improvement. By mid-2005, the IN211 Standards Committee had already addressed most of the recommendations through changes in Centers’ operations or in Board policy.

Frequently requested documented related to IN211 Standards

• AIRS Standards for Professional I&R, Version 6.0
• Application for Organizations applying to become an IN211 Center
• AIRS Accreditation Self-assessment
• Criteria used in reviewing applications
• IN211 Center Agreement
• IN211 Center Operations Manual