By CHARLES MELTON

Bremerton Patriot

After almost a year in operation, the United Way of Kitsap County’s 211 service is still catching on.

The information and referral service serves Clallam, Kitsap, Jefferson and North Mason counties from the United Way’s call center in downtown Bremerton.

“On average, it takes people 12 phone calls to get the help they need, but with 2-1-1 it’s only one call,” said UW director of resource development Patricia Hennessy.

Through 211, callers find the information and referral services they need locally, Hennessy said.

During the first year of operations the local call center took 3,829 calls, she said. Sixty-four percent or 2,453 of all the calls were made from Kitsap County residents.

“For every one call made to the 2-1-1 call center, an average of 2.03 referrals were made,” she said. “In other words, if a person was calling for one thing they got more help than they thought they needed — one stop shopping.”

For Kitsap County callers, 2.25 referrals were made per call, she said. In Clallam and Jefferson counties, less than 20 percent of the time, a caller was referred onto services.

Eighty-one percent of those calling the service were the ones seeking help as opposed to a friend, relative, agency or professional looking to assist someone, she said.

As for how individuals were referred to the service, 57 percent came from agencies and 22 percent of the users heard about it through word of mouth, she said.

Among the services sought by callers was assistance with a substance abuse issue followed by government assistance such as food stamps or qualification for Medicaid and mental health services and individuals seeking medical and dental care services, she said.

“Unfortunately these trends remain consistent across the entire peninsula’s 2-1-1 service area,” she said.

Last year when 2-1-1 launched, it could not be accessed from a cell phone, she said. At the moment only two cell phone carriers allow 2-1-1 calls on their networks, Sprint and AT&T, she said.

“It is not known what other cell phone service providers will be online, but efforts are ongoing,” she said.

All of Washington state is now covered by the 2-1-1 system, she said. There are eight call centers in the state that cover all 39 counties.

After a successful first year, United Way of Kitsap County Executive Director David Foote said more is in store for the service.

“Over the next year we will continue to expand our capacity to take more calls,” Foote said. “2-1-1 is clearly a quick and easy way to find the help you need the first time you call.”