Vermont 2-1-1 Monthly Contact Statistics

A message from the Director, MaryEllen Mendl

---

Contact volume totals in January have started the year off strong!  Over 5,500 contacts were made to the Vermont 2-1-1 contact center.  An increased need for housing and utility assistance is evidenced by the fact that these two sub-categories made up 92% of total contacts in the Basic Needs category and 25% of the total amount of contacts during this first month of 2018.  

In January, the number of emergency housing calls remained high with 870 requests for emergency shelter. This total represents a 26% increase over January 2017.  Vermont 2-1-1 provides after-hours provisional housing for the Department of Children and Families and historically, the Agency of Human Services’ Cold Weather Exception Policy (now known as the Adverse Weather Conditions, or AWC) has allowed individuals who would not normally meet the eligibility criteria to be housed during the coldest winter nights. Of course, first line of defense has always been to fill the community shelters and then to fill the volunteer-run “overflow shelters” that numerous faith communities temporarily open in response to the increased need for shelter from the cold. In spite of  vigorous efforts of the shelters to house those in need, January’s extreme cold temperatures meant implementation of the State’s policy and resulted in the provision of multiple nights of temporary housing for Vermonters in need, sheltering them from the extreme cold in very basic, but warm, settings. Further, the State opened two Emergency Weather Shelters for a period of 3-4 nights -- one in Rutland and one in Burlington, historically the two counties with the highest volume of people experiencing homelessness. In addition to the high number of housing requests and referrals, there were 1,709 calls (duplicated) to the automated information on the Adverse Weather Condition status for specific communities. 

As always, the month of January began 2-1-1’s “tax season," which has historically been responsible for a spike in contact volume and was the impetus for the launch of two-way texting.  More and more Vermonters are calling Vermont 2-1-1 to find out where they can receive free income tax preparation assistance. In Chittenden and Addison Counties, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., 2-1-1 Information and Referral Specialists actually schedule the appointments for individuals. Individuals who live or work in Windham and Windsor Counties can dial 2-1-1 to be directly transferred to a tax scheduler to make their appointments. All Vermonters can call 2-1-1 for accurate information about local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites closest to them or for free, online e-filing preparation assistance.  Vermonters who prefer to text can do so by texting their zip code to 898211 to receive important information regarding VITA, MyFreeTaxes, and AARP tax sites. Vermont 2-1-1 Contact Specialists can also provide information about income eligibility guidelines and screening. It is anticipated that a further increase in contact volume due to tax filing related inquiries will occur in February, as each year more and more Vermonters realize that a call to 2-1-1 provides them with the information they need to access these important services.

Referrals to Public Assistance Programs had a strong start in the new year. This is a trend we see here at 211 that historically will peak in the months of December and January and then begin to taper off. Thirty-seven percent all contacts linked to the category Income Support and Employment were realized in this two month period. 

Read Vermont 2-1-1's monthly contact volume report here.