7. Provision of 211 Service During Emergencies to Residents of Unserved Counties and Localities

Given the vital role 211 service has played during recent emergencies in areas it currently serves under D.03-02-029, and the lack of 211 service in many rural and sparsely populated counties in California, we find there is a public need for 211 emergency service in areas that otherwise do not have 211 service at this time. Residents of these unserved counties and localities would have access to up-to-the-minute fire and disaster relief information, such as how to connect with needed community services, temporary housing, and medical assistance.

By providing this important information via 211, the 911 service would remain available to provide access to police, medical, and fire service to those in life-and-death situations. Given: 1) the successful use of the 211 program in recent emergencies in California; 2) the existing expertise available to provide access to 211 service even in counties and localities without 211 centers; and 3) the minimal revisions necessary to the existing program in order to implement the emergency period access, we should authorize and facilitate the provision of 211 emergency service to unserved counties and localities of California, as described below.

After receiving authority to provide 211 emergency service to unserved counties and localities pursuant to this decision, these 211 emergency service providers would be able to enter into similar relationships with the LEC's in unserved areas as they do now in the served areas regarding routing of 211 calls. As with a request to provide regular 211 service, the LEC in the unserved area that will route the 211 calls will, if required by GO 96-B, file an advice letter within 120 days of the application letter being submitted, containing its proposed tariff or contract for serving the prospective provider. The Commission then would process the advice letter as provided in GO 96-B.

As discussed in Section 7 below, the new rules, guidelines, and instructions for 211 emergency service (set forth in Attachments A, B, and C to this decision), differ only slightly from those we adopted in D.03-02-029. In particular, the new rules do not require a resolution to authorize provision of 211 emergency service for those entities that have already received our authority to provide regular 211 service. Also, the new rules contain guidelines regarding the type of information to be provided to the public during an emergency, and they allow the provision of service during emergencies only (as opposed to regular 211 service which is provided continuously).