211 Palm BeachTreasure Coast

Resource Center: 211 HelpLine, a crisis hotline and community helpline, operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In our fiscal year July 2023- June 2024, 211's highly trained Resource Center Specialists responded to 122,171 requests for help via phone, text, email, and an additional 68,645 online chat, and self-service database inquiries, for a total utilization of 190,816 requests for help from Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee County residents. Of these, 44,115 were related to mental health and addiction issues, including 3,696 suicide-related requests for help requiring intensive support and life-saving assistance. (Continued on Schedule O)Additionally, our team provided 127,994 referrals, requiring assessment of needs along with supportive guidance, were made for 138,679 needs expressed by the residents and communities who we serve. This program has been in operation since 1971 and is nationally accredited by Inform USA (formerly AIRS) and the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) to provide information and referral services along with crisis intervention and suicide prevention services. Further, all services are free, confidential and services are available via phone, chat, text and email in addition to the online database on our website. 211 has been a reliable resource for the community through harsh economic conditions and ongoing housing crisis, providing emotional support, information, and linkages to resources for those who are struggling to overcome crisis situations and meet their basic needs. Our community relies on the 211 HelpLine, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, especially during times of disaster, as our highly trained Resource Center Specialists help them face the challenges of everyday life and resolve their unique crisis situations.

Help Me Grow: The Help Me Grow (HMG) program housed at 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast was launched in 2014 as part of a national and statewide initiative with 211 serving as the regional central access point. The program is designed to identify children (aged 0-8) residing within our five-county service area who are at-risk for developmental delays or behavioral concerns and connect their families with community-based programs for health, developmental and behavioral services. (Continued on Schedule O)Our HMG Care Coordinators are knowledgeable about the local health and human services network and skilled at providing these completely free screenings to identify potential developmental concerns to help provide early intervention and improved outcomes for these children and their families. In our previous fiscal year from July 2023- June 2024, HMG provided support, referrals, and information to 840 families with a total of 922 children and completed 2,279 screenings throughout Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

Elder Crisis Outreach: 211's Elder Crisis Outreach (ECO) program provides short-term crisis intervention and case management to vulnerable elders (aged 60 and up) in Palm Beach County who are at an increased risk of experiencing a crisis event. These elders may not have the physical strength, the financial resources or the family or caregiver support to deal with a crisis alone and are unsure of how to access resources or who to turn for help. (Continued on Schedule O)This program has been in operation since 1985, providing skilled advocacy, crisis intervention, and care coordination services by way of our experienced staff. Our dedicated ECO Advocates conduct assessments on each client, even visiting their home if needed, and provide them with short-term assistance and connections to appropriate services to help them stabilize or resolve their unique and often complex challenges. This program has been especially valuable to Palm Beach County seniors who often face impossible choices due to financial hardship, declining health, and social isolation. In our previous fiscal year from July 2023- June 30, 2024, our ECO program served a total of 752 Palm Beach County elders.

Sunshine Telephone Reassurance: 211's Sunshine Telephone Reassurance Program is a primarily volunteer-run program that was established in 1973. This program provides a once daily scheduled call to elders (aged 60 and up) and other homebound individuals residing in Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Indian River and Martin counties to check on their wellbeing and bring human connection into their day. This program also saves lives every year by providing emergency intervention in the event that the Sunshine client does not answer their scheduled phone call after multiple attempts. In our previous fiscal year from July 2023- June 2024, 730 isolated, lonely elders or disabled individuals received daily telephone reassurance calls through the contribution of our 19 volunteers, equating to approximately 1,591 hours of volunteer service. During this year, 262 incidents of potential risk for Sunshine clients were identified and required some follow-up to ensure a client's safety.

Lifeline (988): Provides suicide and emotional crisis intervention and de-escalation via the phone 24 hours a day / 365 days a year. This nationwide number routes calls placed within our service area to our fully trained staff.First Responders: Provides crisis intervention, information and referral, and care coordination to area first responders and their families. This is a toll-free number as part of a Statewide response to decrease emotional and suicidal rates. The program provides first responders with peer-to-peer support.

My Florida Veteran: Florida Veterans Support Line provides veterans/former military and their families with comprehensive information, referral to services, emotional support, and care coordination by trained veteran peers who have access to hundreds of community-based services.Caregivers: 211's Caregiver program provides supportive crisis counseling, advocacy services and linkages to community resources to adults ages 18 and older who are caregivers for either another adult of any age or a child with special needs ages 0-22.