Establishes the 2-1-1 essential community services hotline system; designates the office of children and family services to oversee the hotline system; establishes the availability and scope of information to be provided by the hotline system and requirements of call centers; requires the office of children and family services to collect certain data relating to the hotline system and to make annual reports to the governor and the legislature.
This bill would formally establish New York’s 2-1-1 essential community services hotline system in statute and place oversight with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). It directs OCFS to designate 2-1-1 New York to operate the system, within available appropriations, and requires the hotline to be available statewide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The bill also requires language assistance for limited- and non-English speakers and specifies that trained community resource specialists provide referrals for a broad range of needs, including food, housing, public benefits, health coverage, behavioral health, child and family services, services for older adults and people with disabilities, and translation or interpretation services.
The measure further requires 2-1-1 call centers to maintain an annually validated database of community providers and services, make the hotline accessible by phone, text, and internet, and coordinate with 9-8-8 and 9-1-1 when appropriate. It also adds 2-1-1 to the Mental Hygiene Law’s coordination requirements so that 9-8-8 crisis centers, 9-1-1, behavioral health crisis services, and 2-1-1 work together when responding to emergencies or behavioral health needs. Finally, OCFS would collect usage data and issue annual reports to state leaders on call volume, service categories requested, response times, and abandoned calls.
The bill would amend the Social Services Law by creating a new article governing the 2-1-1 hotline system and would also amend the Mental Hygiene Law to require coordination between 2-1-1 and the state’s 9-8-8 and 9-1-1 systems. In practical terms, it would codify statewide access standards, service expectations, and reporting obligations for the hotline, while giving OCFS formal oversight authority over the system and its designated operator. The bill affects 2-1-1 New York, OCFS, call centers, and the broader network of community-based, health, housing, and emergency service providers that rely on referrals through the hotline.
The bill appears generally supportive and service-oriented, with an emphasis on improving access to information and referrals for residents in need. Although there is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided material, the structure of the bill suggests a consensus-oriented approach focused on strengthening an existing public resource rather than creating a controversial new program. Its inclusion of multilingual access, crisis coordination, and reporting indicates a policy goal of improving responsiveness and accountability.
No specific points of contention are reflected in the provided transcripts or voting history. Potential areas of debate, based on the bill text, could include the cost of statewide 24/7 operations, the administrative burden of reporting and database maintenance, and the scope of OCFS oversight and appropriations. There may also be questions about how 2-1-1 would coordinate operationally with 9-8-8 and 9-1-1, but no opposition or disagreement is documented in the available materials.