Bill Text: PA SB559 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Providing funding for standards and for implementation of a 211 abbreviated dialing code for information and human services referral telephone service; establishing the 211 Advisory Board; and making an appropriation.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-03-02 - Referred to PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE [SB559 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-SB559-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 565
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 559 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY BROWNE, STACK, FONTANA, TOMLINSON, MUSTO, O'PAKE, COSTA, WOZNIAK, WASHINGTON AND RAFFERTY, MARCH 2, 2009
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, MARCH 2, 2009
AN ACT
Providing funding for standards and for implementation of a 211
abbreviated dialing code for information and human services
referral telephone service; establishing the 211 Advisory
Board; and making an appropriation.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pennsylvania
211 Telephone Service Implementation Act.
Section 2. Legislative findings.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) The dialing code 211 is the national abbreviated
dialing code approved by the Federal Communications
Commission for access to health and human services
information and referral. The dialing code 211 is a
universally recognizable number that makes it easier to
connect individuals and families in need with the appropriate
professional providers, community-based organizations and
government agencies that provide health and human services.
(2) The dialing code 211 proved its value in several
states during the recent disasters related to terrorist
attacks on September 11, 2001. In Atlanta, 211 handled over
14,000 calls in the week following the attacks. More than
5,000 people offered help and 9,000 people requested
assistance.
(3) In Connecticut, various state agencies and nonprofit
groups used 211 to coordinate services during the attacks.
Connecticut calls to 211 involved families looking for
victims, frightened children and concerned parents,
individuals reliving other disasters, people who escaped the
World Trade Center and were experiencing guilt, information
on terrorist suspects, mentally ill persons feeling
overwhelmed with disaster, location of vigils and requests.
(4) Recent hurricanes in Florida showed the strength of
211 when there was an increase in calls of over 100% during
and immediately after the hurricanes throughout that state.
Some 211 systems in affected areas were showing increases of
over 500%. The easy-to-remember number helped relieve the 911
burden in those areas.
(5) The dialing code 211 helps to better address long-
term needs of victims and their families of the September 11,
2001, attacks and other types of disasters.
(6) A study by the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University and 13 states,
including Pennsylvania, have detected an increased demand for
alcohol and drug treatment since September 11, 2001.
(7) Research demonstrates that exposure to trauma puts
an individual at four-to-five times greater risk of substance
abuse, and stress is considered the most common cause of
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relapse to addiction to or abuse of alcohol, drugs and
smoking.
(8) Oklahoma experienced a dramatic increase in the need
for treatment services in the two years following the
domestic terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building on April 19, 1995. One year after the bombing, three
times as many residents of Oklahoma City reported increased
drinking. Rescue workers in Oklahoma City experienced
elevated rates of substance abuse, depression and suicide.
(9) The New York State Office of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse Services reports that demand for alcohol and
drug treatment in New York City increased after the September
11, 2001, attacks.
(10) Over 40 states in this nation and Canada have
implemented or are working to implement 211 in their
respective jurisdictions. While useful during times of
crisis, the importance of 211 is greatest for response to
everyday inquiries about needs such as unemployment
compensation, health care and its coverage, nursing homes,
Women's Infants and Children (WIC) program, prenatal care and
many beneficial services from government and nongovernmental
agencies.
(11) Many community groups also are viewing 211 as a
powerful neutral connecting point and 211 has provided help
to diverse populations, such as runaway children, senior
citizens and parents looking for child care.
(12) In Pennsylvania, the Health and Human Services Call
Center, a smaller scale, centralized pilot of the 211
concept, has provided a 45% reduction in costs with a 25%
increase in call productivity, serving more needs with one
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call. Intangible benefits include those for callers who do
not know whom they should call.
Section 3. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"211." An abbreviated dialing code approved by the Federal
Communications Commission for access to health and human
services information and referral.
"Advisory board" or "board." The 211 Advisory Board
established by this act.
"AIRS." The Alliance of Information and Referral Systems.
"Applicant." A vendor experienced in providing information
and referral services that assist individuals in need of health
and human services to obtain assistance from appropriate
providers and organizations.
"Governmental units." The term shall include all cities,
regardless of their class, counties, municipalities, townships,
boroughs or other political subdivisions.
"Human Service Single Point of Contact." The agency-approved
first point at which calls for health and human services
assistance from individuals are answered, operated 24 hours a
day on every day of the year.
"Public agency." The Commonwealth or a political
subdivision, public authority, municipal authority or any
organization located in whole or in part within this
Commonwealth which provides or has the authority to provide
human services.
"Service level agreements." Levels, such as average speed of
answer, at which services are provided through contract
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agreement between the Department of General Services and the
vendor.
Section 4. Duties of department.
The Department of General Services shall approve a single
performance-based contract with an applicant that meets the
eligibility requirements of this act. The contract shall be used
by the Department of Health to implement and administer 211
service to the citizens of this Commonwealth.
Section 5. Eligibility requirements.
An applicant shall do all of the following:
(1) Agree to follow any policies, procedures or
standards developed by the advisory board.
(2) Provide a written plan that details procedures to
assure network security, security of archival information,
protection of health information and adherence to the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public
Law 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936), appropriate anonymity and
confidentiality for 211 callers and data.
(3) Agree to establish a comprehensive and Statewide
system by the end of the third year of the contract and
ensure the provision of 24-hour, year-round telephone
information and referral services within one year of the
awarding of the contract.
(4) Within one year of funding:
(i) Demonstrate adherence to the AIRS or National
Standards for Information and Referral.
(ii) Have software capable of tracking call volume,
number of abandoned calls, average speed of answering and
average call length.
(iii) Demonstrate how the applicant will publicize
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211 services and educate the public on an ongoing basis.
(iv) Provide direct access for the deaf to the 211
number and multilingual accessibility either through
access to live translation or by using at least 10%
information and referral specialists who are fluent in a
language other than English, at least half of whom shall
be fluent in Spanish.
(v) Have written policies and procedures in place as
well as necessary software to manage donations and
volunteers or written agreements with another agency that
provides these services for them.
(vi) Establish an Internet website that provides
accessible information and referral resources in formats
that are easily used by persons with disabilities.
Section 6. Subcontractors.
A 211 provider may subcontract for a specific service. It
shall be the 211 provider's responsibility to ensure through the
contract that the subcontractor follows all applicable
standards.
Section 7. Request for proposal.
The department shall issue a request for proposal for
issuance of a single contract. The apportionment of funding
under subcontracts shall be subject to approval by the
Department of General Services.
Section 8. 211 Advisory Board.
(a) Establishment.--The 211 Advisory Board is hereby
established.
(b) Membership.--Members of the board shall be appointed by
the Secretary of Health. The board shall have at least 16
members and be composed of critical stakeholders, including
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business, law enforcement, private sector benefactors, State and
local government, community and charitable organizations and
information and referral experts. A minimum of two members shall
be citizen users of the 211 service and a minimum of two members
shall be providers who are users of the 211 service.
(c) Duties.--The duties of the board are as follows:
(1) Develop standards for service level agreements.
(2) Develop database standards to include the annual
update of each active referral source.
(3) Develop follow-up standards for the purpose of
evaluating the vendor's performance from the user's
perspective.
(4) Develop uniform reporting standards.
(5) Ensure that the contracting process covers the
entire State, so that every citizen can reach 211 through
their landline phone within the first year.
(6) Work toward cell phone coverage so that every
citizen can reach 211 through their cell phone.
(7) Require and approve appropriate call routing and
prioritization capacity to ensure calls are answered within
service level agreements established under the contract.
(8) Approve a vendor-developed disaster recovery plan to
ensure that a seamless system will be in place to take calls,
regardless of the nature of the interruption.
(9) Work in collaboration with the Department of
Community and Economic Development, the Pennsylvania
Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania Public Utility
Commission, the Pennsylvania State Police and all State
agencies providing health and human services. As necessary,
this shall include the funding, through a memorandum of
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understanding, of key positions in health and human services
agencies, including the Department of Health.
(10) Adopt and oversee a plan to implement the standards
in section 5 and develop any standards, policies or
procedures necessary to run a Statewide networked 211 system.
(11) Assure that funding is linked to standards through
performance-based contracting.
(12) Provide necessary technical assistance.
(13) Assist in the establishment of a long-range plan to
assure that every Pennsylvanian has access to 211 within the
first year of enactment of this act.
(d) Staffing.--The Department of Health shall provide
adequate staff to assist the board with its duties.
Section 9. Appropriation.
The sum of $10,000,000 is hereby appropriated to the
Department of Health for the purpose of administering this act.
Section 10. Public disclosure and confidentiality of
information.
(a) Annual report of the board.--The annual report of the
board shall be a public document.
(b) Prohibition against release of information.--Neither the
public agency, nor any employee, agent or representative of the
Human Service Single Point of Contact or public agency shall
divulge any information acquired with respect to any 211
service, its customers, revenues or expenses, trade secrets,
commercial information and such other proprietary information
while acting or claiming to act as such employee, agent or
representative, and all such information is hereby required to
be kept confidential except that aggregations of information
which do not identify or effectively identify numbers of
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customers, revenues or expenses, trade secrets, commercial
information and such other proprietary information attributable
to any 211 services provider may be made public.
Section 11. Immunity.
(a) Generally.--No 211 services provider or its officers,
directors, employees, agents or vendors shall be liable to any
person for civil damages resulting from or caused by such
providers', its officers', directors', employees', agents' or
suppliers' participation in or acts, failures or omissions in
connection with that participation in the development, design,
installation, operation, maintenance, performance or provision
211 service, except for willful or wanton misconduct.
(b) Release of information.--No 211 provider or its
employees or agents shall be liable to any person for releasing
customer information to the agency or to any 211 system, public
agency or Human Service Single Point of Contact as required by
this act.
(c) Local governmental immunity.--Any part of the 211 system
that is a local agency shall enjoy local governmental immunity
as provided under 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 85 Subch. C (relating to
actions against local parties).
Section 12. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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