The United Way of Kitsap County is spearheading the implementation of a 2-1-1 phone referral system, and a business plan expected to be completed in July will have specific details about needs, structure, costs, funding opportunities and other details.

The project has been in the works for about two years and includes two other United Way chapters — UW of Clallam County and United Good Neighbors of Jefferson County — as well as Kitsap Mental Health Services. Similar to the 9-1-1 emergency phone number, 2-1-1 will be fully integrated nationwide once more states participate. The Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas’ database would be linked with the state’s WIN (Washington Information Network) and the national system using national standards.

“The theory behind the 2-1-1 national system is that they’ll be linked across the country,” said David Foote, executive director for United Way of Kitsap County. “Anybody can make the call and get the information.”

The database will include all the free health and human services available, although Foote said some profit businesses may be included if they offer sliding-scale services that are not otherwise available. Once all the systems are integrated nationwide, a person can call from Bremerton to find a specific service in Minnesota, for example. The referral line could potentially take some strain from 9-1-1 for non-emergency inquiries, and from employers who would otherwise try to find free resources for their employees.

“It enables a person to go to the right place fairly quickly. Over time it becomes as straightforward and well-known as 9-1-1 or 4-1-1,” said Mary McClure, executive director for Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, which endorsed the project at the end of May. “The ability for you to call in Kitsap and get connected to the right provider in Oshkosh, Wisc., is quite a plus, especially for the military families… Our communities are no longer just in our back yard.”

The first 2-1-1 referral service was implemented by the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta in 1997. Three years later, the Federal Communications Commission granted the code for community information and referral use nationwide, and since then, the number has been introduced in 26 states and parts of Canada. WIN 211, a nonprofit organization, is leading the effort in Washington. The goal is to provide information on everything from earthquake preparedness resources to English-as-a-Second-Language classes.

Kitsap County currently has a similar network called Info-Link, which was implemented in 1997. Info-Link was expanded to encompass Jefferson and Clallam counties in 2003 with the help of their United Way chapters, and is operated out of Kitsap Mental Health Services’ facilities. Info-Link will transition to 2-1-1 and expand, Foote said. Info-Link has 1,200 organizations listed in its database and once they are moved to the new database, new organizations will be encouraged to submit their information. Kitsap Mental Health will staff the hotline.

The program’s funding will come from various grants and other sources. The KRCC resolution that endorsed 2-1-1 included a fund-raising element, which McClure said is unusual for such resolutions. “The board fully understood that eventually somebody will be knocking on their individual doors,” McClure said. “They KRCC understood how critical is to be able to answer the citizens’ questions fast (through 211).”.