6 FEBRUARY 1,2012
Smoke Signals
Mid-Valley 21 1 expands to Polk, Marion counties
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
In these days of single-button
phone numbers on cell phones, op
erator and 911 are about the only
numbers people still remember.
Starting in September 2011,
however, residents of Polk and
Marion counties could add 211 to
that short list.
These Mid-Valley 211 counties
are among the latest included in a
nationwide service, which now cov
ers 83 percent of the country. The
project started in Atlanta in 1997 to
provide services in the wake of the
Olympics held there in 1996.
In 2000, the Federal Communica
tions Commission designated 211
as the dialing code for information
and referral.
Here in the mid-Willamette Valley,
Yamhill County rolled out as a test
for rural areas in Oregon in 2009,
according to John Olinger, manager
of Mid-Valley 211 for the Mid-Willamette
Valley United Way covering
Yamhill, Marion and Polk counties.
The service is currently active in
19 Oregon counties. Multnomah,
Washington, Clackamas and Clark
(Washington state) counties re
ceived the service in 2004.
In Oregon and parts of south
western Washington, United Way
is a principle funder of this service
that points people to health and so
cial services available locally. Each
state administers 211 programs
independently.
The goal for Oregon, said Olinger,
is for Mid-Valley 2 1 1 to be available
statewide by the end of this year.
With more than 5,000 health and
social service programs serving
Oregon residents, Mid-Valley 211
also keeps track of who's got goods
left and who is out of money for the
month.
"It's fairly common for agencies
to run out," said Olinger. "In Yam
hill County, the Salvation Army
was out of funds for the month of
January on the first business day
of January."
If an agency is out of funds for
the month, he said, it is much bet
ter to temporarily take it out of the
database.
The program also follows up with
callers, Olinger said.
Community Information special
ists aim to follow up on 2 percent
to 3 percent of the calls to see how
successful referrals have been.
Specialists go through an "in
tensive, several-week training
program before they handle calls,"
Border Patrol slates recruitment event
The U.S. Border Patrol will conduct a Customs and Border Protection
Recruiting Event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, in the Tribal
Education Building, 9615 Grand Ronde Road. - , .,
As agents for the U.S. Border Patrol, employees protect more than 8,000
miles of international boundaries. To be considered, applicants must be
a U.S. citizen or resident for the past three years, be between 18 and 39
years of age and pass a background investigation.
For more information, contact Joshua Clift at 503-879-1635 or visit www.
borderpatrol.gov on the Internet. D
. r , W -r
lit'1- lfM -
1 - i
Will itm
. m 1 T T 3" .!
1 ' J ' If you have any questions, contact
' - V"; i" ; Brian Krchbiel at 503-879-4639
said Communications Director
Matt Kinshella.
Calls from across the state come
to the Portland call center. It is set
up with a phone bank for 10 to 15
Community Information specialists
at a time, though about five were
on the phone during a recent visit
to the center.
About half of Oregon calls to 211
for utility and rental assistance,
for example, are successful refer
rals, said Olinger, but about half
lose out to "barriers" including,
for example, income or residence
requirements that keep funds
from flowing.
The more rural the location, of
course, the smaller the pool of re
sources that is available.
"One of the good things," Olinger
said, "is that we are able to connect
people to local, county or statewide
sources."
"One of the challenges (in parts
of the state) is that nobody knows
about it," he added. Not many calls
have come from Grand Ronde, he
said.
Community member Christine
Mercier, who works at the Grand
Ronde Food Bank, had not heard
of the service.
Dave Fullerton, manager of the
Tribal Social Services Department,
had heard of the service, but did
not know of any Tribal members
who have used it. An e-mail to all
Tribal employees asking for people
who had used the program founds
nobody who had.
Referral areas include, but are
not limited to, health care, energy
assistance, elder care, volunteer
options, counseling and support,
employment resources, emergency
food and shelter, and disability sup
port and advocacy.
In fiscal year 2010-1 1, the Oregon
service counted 260,000 "touches,"
meaning contacts by phone or
Web visits. Since the state's latest
counties opened for business last
September, Marion and Polk have
counted an average of 632 calls
and 1,389 "touches" a month. The
Oregon and southwest Washington
Web site is www.211info.org.
The service targets people in need
and those helping people in need,
said Olinger.
"Since the recession," said Kin
shella, "we're seeing a new kind of
caller. There are many more with
a multitude of needs."
Community Information special
ists are trained to ask about second
ary needs.
"Are there children in the house?"
Mandy Kubisch, Community Infor
mation coordinator, asks a caller
who had requested information
about rental assistance. "Are you
OK on food and other services?"
"One of the things we pride our
selves on," said Kubisch, "is we re
ally listen to their situation."
The most common help request
ed, she said, is for energy, rental
assistance and health care.
The service has Spanish speakers
on staff and access to translators for
virtually any language.
"It looks pretty good," said April
Neill Umpqua), secretary in the
Planning and Grants Development
Department. She had not heard of
it, but after looking it up on the
Web, she said, "It's a service that
everybody is going to want." B
1 7 Tribal mneinnibeErs
rain floe oflfke m 201 1
Ad created by George Valdez
PRIMARY continued
from front page
percent of the total vote.
In 2011, 17 Tribal members ran
and Tribal Vice Chair Reyn Leno,
who received the most votes, re
ceived 12.64 percent of the vote.
In 2010, 14 Tribal members ran
for Tribal Council and incumbent
Chris Mercier, who led the field,
received 17.54 percent of the vote.
In 2009, 18 Tribal members ran
for Tribal Council and newcomer
Toby McClary, who led the field,
received 11.59 percent of the vote.
In 2008, 13 Tribal members ran
for Tribal Council and the top vote
getter, incumbent Kathleen Tom,
received 14.52 percent of the vote.
Tribal Council did not act on
the term limit idea, which was en
dorsed by 75.5 percent (701-227) of
those responding to the September
2010 survey. Almost 61 percent of
those responding said they favor
two terms as the limit for Tribal
Council service while a combined
93 percent of respondents said that
a maximum of three terms or less
should be the limit.
At the Jan. 4 Tribal Council meet
ing, McClary said there were many
issues regarding term limits, such
as whether the limit should apply
to consecutive or total terms, that
has prevented Tribal Council from
agreeing on a proposal to send to
the membership for a vote.
"The term limits question was
very complex," McClary said. "I
think there were three different
options that people could pick from
as far as how many terms. There
was not just do you support term
limits, but what is your preference?
. . . When we began discussing that,
the complexity of the subject is
what really dragged out the length
of time it took for us to move on
anything."
McClary said Tribal Council then
decided to move forward on only the
primary election amendment.
"We will revisit that," McClary
said. "We went with what was easy
first, and we will continue to tackle
the term limits issue."
At the Jan. 25 Tribal Council meet
ing, McClary said he decided to vote
against sending the primary election
proposal to Tribal voters because he
thought Tribal Council should have
moved forward with resolutions on
both the primary election and term
limits to save money. D