Advocates are raising concerns about an “emerging crisis” after a hotline that connects callers with emergency housing and other human services sharply curtailed its hours earlier this month.
The 211 call system, run by the United Ways of Vermont, recently ended its 24/7 coverage because of a rise in the cost of nights and weekend services, United Ways of Vermont Executive Director MaryEllen Mendl told the Advisory Council on Child Poverty and Strengthening Families Thursday. As of Oct. 1, the hotline only receives calls Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For after-hours calls, United Ways of Vermont had previously outsourced calls to a contractor service for about $40,000 a year. Now, Mendl said, the lowest bid United Ways of Vermont could get for after-hours coverage is $286,000.
The restricted service is causing problems, Mendl said, because most of the 211 calls come in after business hours. She said she is primarily concerned about people seeking services like emergency housing when inclement weather hits or when fleeing from domestic violence.
“The impact of 211 not being 24/7 anymore runs deep,” Mendl said. “Deeper than just homeless and emergency housing.” The program provides support for callers on many issues, including food assistance, mental health services, access to support groups and more.
In 2018, 211 received 3,514 calls related to after hours emergency housing in total, according to data provided to the panel. Of those calls, 2,720 came in during weekends or holidays — times that are no longer covered. Now, Mendl said, callers will receive an automated message telling them when to call back during business hours.
Since 24/7 access has been discontinued, Mendl told council members that 211 has received between 80 and 120 calls a weekend that it could not respond to. As winter approaches, Mendl expects the number of unanswered calls will climb. Calls are at their highest during the coldest months of the year, according to United Ways of Vermont data.
Erhard Mahnke, coordinator for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and a member of the advisory council, called the lack of 211 24/7 accessibility an “emerging crisis.” Now that 211’s accessibility has become limited, he’s concerned it will exacerbate Vermont’s growing homelessness challenges.
“A lot of alarm bells have gone off in our network around this issue,” Mahnke said.
The volume of calls to 211 has continued to rise over the years, causing prices to increase for the out of state contractor United Ways of Vermont relies on to provide continual service. Eventually, the 24/7 service became too expensive for the program to afford, Mendl said.
Mendl has looked for options both in and out of state for after-hours phone coverage. The lowest bid came from an out of state provider. For an in-state contractor, which Mendl favors, it would cost about $300,000.
Mendl said she has known about the shortfall since January and was working to come up with solutions to keep 211 from losing 24/7 status, but wasn’t able to before the Oct. 1 cut off. She is continuing to search for solutions by applying for grants and urging lawmakers to appropriate more state funding for 211. The state Agency of Human Services currently provides $532,000 to support the system annually — more than half of 211’s total budget of almost $1 million, according to Mendl.
Lawmakers and state officials are looking for funding options to restore the phone line’s 24-hour service.
Rep. Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, and House Appropriations Chair Kitty Toll, D-Danville, both confirmed that the 211 budget issue was not brought before the House budget committee last legislative session. Lanpher, who is also on the advisory committee, said she plans to help find funding for 211 before the legislative session starts in January in order to bring it back into 24/7 service.
Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, questioned why funds weren’t more aggressively sought after by the Agency of Human Services and the Department for Children and Families, which in part funds 211, in order keep 211 from limiting its after-hours accessibility.
“If they knew about it in January, we should have heard about it in legislative session,” Wood said.
She said she finds it “peculiar” that after so many years of the state promoting 211 as a resource that it’s now being limited because of its growth in addressing some of the state’s most pressing problems.
Martha Maksym, acting secretary of AHS, said she did not know why the issue was not brought to lawmakers. However, even if the issue had been brought to legislators, the agency’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020 was likely already approved in January by the governor, she said, so her department couldn’t have advocated for revisions in time.
“211 is one of many organizations that I speak to on a regular basis that have a request for resources that exceed what we have the ability to provide,” Maksym said. “These are all really important services.”
AHS become aware of the shortage in April, but did not bring the issue to the Legislature because conversations about how to solve the shortfall were still in preliminary stages, according to AHS officials.
AHS is actively looking for funding options to restore 24-hour service, according to Maksym.
Correction: This article originally incorrectly stated that 211 received 3,514 total calls last year. In fact, that is the number of calls that related to after hours emergency housing. Rep. Theresa Wood was initially identified as representing Montpelier, but in fact, she represents Waterbury. The article has also been updated with additional information from AHS to clarify when the agency became aware of the 211 contract issue.