HeartLine

PROJECT PURPOSE

HeartLine has a 50-year history of providing around-the-clock, compassionate, nonjudgmental listening, information and referral, crisis intervention and suicide prevention. The lines answered by HeartLine enhance quality of life and economic well-being in communities across Oklahoma by helping individuals obtain employment, meet urgent needs like food and shelter, access health and mental health services, and improve living situations. The most widely used programs include: 2-1-1 Community Resource Line for information and referrals (40 counties and the entire state after 8 p.m. and weekends); the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Lifeline Chat (statewide); the Reachout Hotline for mental health and substance abuse (statewide); the Oklahoma Problem Gambling Helpline (statewide); the Youth Crisis Mobile Response line for children 0-24 in crisis (statewide); and, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, 2-1-1 becomes the non-emergency lifeline between the public and available community resources, providing one number to call for the latest information.

EVIDENCE

In fiscal year 21, HeartLine served a record 535,769 Oklahomans through our phone, web, and text services. This represents a 16% increase over the previous fiscal year. Of that, HeartLine's 2-1-1 line provided services for 495,000through our phone, text, chat, email and web-based services. The past three years, HeartLine's 2-1-1 Community Resource Line has served as the COVID 19 statewide Hotline for the pandemic health crisis. In addition to the COVID-19 hotline, our work throughout the pandemic also included partnering to assist with the COVID related rental assistance needs as well as assisting the state with other natural disasters. We continue to operate with additional staff to handle the call volume and working remotely to keep staff safe and healthy.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

HeartLine's 2-1-1 Community Resource Line is a free 24-hour phone service that provides Oklahomans access to information about health and human service resources, simply by dialing 2-1-1 or using the 2-1-1 Chat feature on HeartLine's website. At the core of all of HeartLine's services are compassionate listening, uncovering needs, referring to appropriate resources, and keeping Oklahomans safe. Highly-trained 2-1-1 Call Specialists offer compassionate listening and make an in-depth assessment and referral plan based on eligibility requirements for each program. Many things can happen in someone's life to leave them in crisis: the loss of a job, abuse at home, mental illness, bills higher than earnings, and more. When someone contacts 2-1-1, we can offer the resources and support they need to get back on their feet. 2-1-1 enhances quality of life and economic well-being for Oklahomans.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

HeartLine aims to provide the best possible service to inquirers. Using the monthly reports/snapshots, we can see how we are progressing toward meeting our goals of lowered abandonment rates and rate times, and increased inquirers served. The Programs Director provides quality assurance and ensures HeartLine?s call center is appropriately staffed to meet the growing demand for HeartLine?s services. 2-1-1 seeks to capture data about what Oklahomans need, in what geographic area, and which community services meet that need. Our goal is to continue to assess the data that we gather on a daily basis. The data collected tells us whether or not 2-1-1 is successfully linking people to services, as well as what unmet needs in services exist in the community. While taking requests from callers, we record every need that is met and every referral that is made. The important comprehensive services HeartLine provides through 2-1-1 is vital to assisting thousands of Oklahomans every year.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma