Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
• 2013-2014
• Agency Response
Response to:
What is 2-1-1?
City of Eta May 1, 2014*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F2
Findings and Recommendations 3 findings
F1
The Santa Barbara County 2-1-1 Helpline is a program that provides a valuable service to the residents of the county. The City agrees with the need for accessible Goleta Response: information for residents seeking social service information and who may not have ready access to the internet. An active 2-1-1 Helpline may reduce non-emergency calls to the 9-1-1 system and allows for those in need to locate appropriate government and non-profit services.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
There is insufficient funding to continue operating the Santa Barbara County 2-1-1 Helpline Program. Goleta Response: As the primary provider of social services, the County should ensure they have the funds available to support this 130 Cremona Drive, Suite B, Goleta, CA 93117 P 805.961.7500 F 805.685.2635 www.cityofgoleta.org 2 of 2 program. Through the City's Revenue Neutrality Agreement with the County of Santa Barbara, Goleta supplies the County with over $5 million per year in financial support. It would be appropriate for the County to utilize some of these funds to support the 2-1-1 Helpline Program.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
That the county, the cities, and other entities benefitting from the services provided by the Santa Barbara County 2-1-1 Helpline Program contribute funding in proportionate amounts as proposed by county staff in its December 2013 recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. The City of Goleta, unlike any other city within Santa Barbara County, provides the County with funding in the amount of $5.3 million per fiscal year via our Revenue Neutrality Agreement (RNA). Losing such a significant source of locally-generated revenues leaves the City without the standard funding tools to participate in such regional programs, such as the 2-1-1 Helpline. In the event the City is able to modify the RNA agreement and see a greater portion of local revenues stay with the City, the Council may more freely consider support for social services. In the meantime, the Council will have an opportunity to determine whether or not to participate in funding the 2-1-1 Helpline Program on an annual basis, per the County's request. Should the Grand Jury have any questions or wish to follow up further on this response, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Greene at 961-7500 or [email protected]. Respectfully Submitted Michael T. Bennett Mayo CITY OF (ioleta 130 Cremona Drive, Suite B, Goleta, CA 93117 p 805.961.7500 F 805.685.2635 www.cityofgoleta.org
F4
The cities of Santa Maria, Solvang, Buellton, Goleta, Carpinteria, and Guadalupe do not contribute financially to the Santa Barbara County 2-1-1 Helpline Program. Goleta Response: The County of Santa Barbara has asked all cities within the County to give funding consideration to this Program (see attached letter from Chair Lavagnino to all Mayors, dated April 16, 2014). The City Council will have an opportunity to hear a presentation from the County and consider their request to participate in funding for this service.
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.