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| Central Referral Service, Inc. / 2-1-1 WNY - 2010 Annual Report |
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Central Referral Service
Certainly the biggest news of 2010 was Central Referral Service (CRS) becoming a subsidiary of The Olmsted Center for Sight. The joining of the two organizations strengthens both with Olmsted receiving database and contact center expertise and CRS receiving the strong infrastructure support from Olmsted. In 2011 it is anticipated the two organizations will merge into one with a common vision.
Central Referral Service staff remain very active throughout the region, state and nationally. Some of the activities and include active participation on:
- 2-1-1 National Disaster Response Team
- The N.Y. State Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (NYSAIRS) the professional association for our field in the state.
- NYSAIRS External Affairs Committee
- WNY Holiday Partnership (food and toy programs)
- CASH Coalition
- Economic Supports committee
- Disability committee
- Steering Committee
- Housing Independence Action Committee
- WNY Coalition for the Homeless
- Code Blue
- Education Committee
- Homeless Alliance of WNY
- DD InfoLink Advisory Committee
- Code Blue Coalition
- Native American Community Services
- P2 Collaborative
- Long Term Care Coalition of Erie County
- Mobile Safety Net (an Oishei Foundation initiative)
- Volunteer Administrators of WNY
- Erie County Caregivers Coalition
- Erie County Re-entry Task Force
- Niagara County Re-entry Task Force
- WNY Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee
DD InfoLink
Funded with Family Support funds from the Western N.Y. Developmental Disability Service office (WNYDDSO), this one of kind web site lists services aimed at persons with a developmental disability and their family members as well as professionals serving the field. The web site www.DDInfoLink.org lists services for Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara, Genesee and Orleans Counties. In 2010 DDInfoLink had over 650,000 hits. We anticipate state funding cutbacks which will result in few case managers and larger caseloads for those remaining the need for our service will increase even more in 2011.
Prisoner Re-entry
In 2010 we launched a new service for persons reentering society from prison. This, first of its kind service, offered via a new web site: www.WNYnewstart.org provides information and tips on services available to former prisoners coming back to Erie and Niagara Counties. This service is funded through the Erie County Re-entry and the Niagara County Re-entry Task Forces. The site launched in April of 2010 and had approximately 58,500 hits.
2-1-1WNY
Central Referral Service is the Hub or primary contact center for the 2-1-1 service in Erie, Niagara and Wyoming Counties and oversees the 2-1-1 service provided by The Southern Chautauqua County United Way for the counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties. In 2010, 2-1-1 in the Western New York region served 55,400 area residents which represents a 14% increase from 2009. This number is remarkable considering no funds were available for publicizing the service in 2010.
In 2009 the 2-1-1WNY web site had 3,800,000 hits. In 2010 the 2-1-1WNY site had 6,500,000 or a 41% increase in use! Additionally, the CRS web site had another 1,340,000 hits.
2010 found our 2-1-1WNY at the forefront:
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Working with County Health Departments, 2-1-1 was the number to call to receive information about Swine Flu and times and locations of vaccination sites. In 2010 alone we assisted 1850 persons. Later in the year when Erie County closed a number of neighborhood health clinics 2-1-1 was the number to call to identify alternative health centers.
- With the reduction of government assistance many local non-profits changed hours, eligibility requirements cut services or closed. 2-1-1 was there to inform the community of the changes and/or find an alternative provider.
- The area witnessed significant flooding, particularly in the Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County area. 2-1-1 assisted area residents find short term assistance and after the event provide long term help.
- 2-1-1 worked with area providers offering Free Income Tax Prep. 2-1-1 was the number persons called to determine if they were eligible for free tax preparation and if they were, we either provided 2450 persons the date and times of the closest provider or actually scheduled their appointment for them.
- Central Referral Service again, as it has over the last 10 years, was the number to call during the holidays. Persons needing assistance with food or toys would be prescreened by 2-1-1, told what documentation was required and given the time and location of the provider closest to them. In 2010 we helped over 2400 families have a Merry Christmas.
We call many of our callers back to insure we provided the best quality of service possible as well as to assist with other needs. The responses to our follow up show we believe, that the community is very positive about the service we offer and explains the increase in volumes reported above:
- How satisfied were you with our speed in answering your call?
- Satisfied/Very Satisfied 98%
- How satisfied were you that our agent understood your problem?
- Satisfied/Very Satisfied 98%
- How satisfied were you with our agent’s professionalism?
- Satisfied/Very Satisfied 98%
- How satisfied were you with the accuracy of the information we provided?
- Satisfied/Very Satisfied 98%
- Overall, how satisfied were you with the 2-1-1 service?
- Satisfied/Very Satisfied 97%
- Would you use the 2-1-1 service again?
Our database staff maintains the only complete listing of every government program, non-profit agency and support group in the 5 county region. It is not only important to gather information but to insure it is up to date and coded in such a way as to permit persons looking for a service to find it quickly. We not only maintain the comprehensive, community wide databases for our 5 county service area but also specialized databases to support services such as those mentioned above (Holiday Clearinghouse, Free Income Tax, DD InfoLink and Prisoner Re-entry).
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