I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3111

To facilitate nationwide availability of 2–1–1 telephone service for information 

and referral on human services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2003

Mr. BURR (for himself, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. UPTON, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. 

DEUTSCH, Mr. CASE, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. LEWIS

of Georgia, Mr. LINDER, Mr. NORWOOD, and Mr. EHLERS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL

To facilitate nationwide availability of 2–1–1 telephone service for information and referral on human services, and 

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Calling for 2–1–1 Act 

5 of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 
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1 (1) The Federal Communications Commission 

2 has assigned 2–1–1 as the national telephone num3 ber for telephone service for information and referral 

4 on human services, declaring that 2–1–1 best satis5 fies the public interest in allotting the limited re6 source of this abbreviated number. In 2005, the 

7 Commission will assess the widespread utilization of 

8 the 2–1–1 telephone number and evaluate whether 

9 to continue the assignment of that telephone number 

10 for that service. 

11 (2) The number ‘‘2–1–1’’ is an easy-to-remem12 ber telephone number that facilitates critical connec13 tions between individuals and families seeking serv14 ices, volunteer opportunities, or both and appro15 priate human service agencies, including community16 based and faith-based organizations and government 

17 agencies. 

18 (3) There are more than 820,000 nonprofit or19 ganizations in the United States. Individuals and 

20 families often find it difficult to navigate through a 

21 complex and ever growing maze of human service 

22 agencies and programs, spending inordinate 

23 amounts of time trying to identify an agency or pro24 gram that provides a service that may be imme25 diately or urgently required and often abandoning 
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1 the search from frustration or a lack of quality in2 formation. 

3 (4) At the Federal, State, and local levels, gov4 ernment funding supports well-intentioned programs 

5 that are not fully utilized because of a lack of access 

6 to and information on such programs by the public. 

7 Program administrators have indicated that there is 

8 a need for a simple way to connect those eligible for 

9 programs with available program resources. 2–1–1 

10 telephone service will reduce the number of inappro11 priate calls to government offices by directing con12 sumers to the appropriate human services agency, 

13 resulting in a more effective use of government serv14 ices. 

15 (5) Many families need information on govern16 ment and not-for-profit services that address domes17 tic violence, support adequate and stable housing, al18 leviate hunger, and provide for high-quality day 

19 care, afterschool activities, summer activities, job 

20 training and assistance, elder care, and disaster re21 covery. 

22 (6) Individuals often need support, services, or 

23 both when suffering emotional distress, having suici24 dal thoughts or behavior, contemplating violence, or 

25 using drugs or alcohol. 
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1 (7) Americans desire to volunteer and become 

2 involved in their communities. This desire, together 

3 with a desire to donate to organizations which pro4 vide human services, are among the reasons to con5 tact a center which provides information and referral 

6 on volunteer opportunities and human services. 

7 (8) Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist 

8 attacks, an estimated 400 telephone hotlines were 

9 established in New York, New York, for various 

10 funds and services, creating a confusing network for 

11 victims and volunteers to navigate. A Comptroller 

12 General report on charitable aid following the ter13 rorist attacks found that ‘‘families of victims gen14 erally believed they had to navigate a maze of service 

15 providers in the early months’’ and that ‘‘good infor16 mation about and easy access to available assistance 

17 could help survivors in the recovery process’’. 

18 (9) The 107th Congress recognized the impor19 tance of 2–1–1 telephone service in community pre20 paredness and response by including use of that tele21 phone number for public information as an allowable 

22 use of funds under grants for preparedness and re23 sponse to bioterrorism and other public health emer24 gencies under section 319C–1 of the Public Health 

25 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–3a), as added by sec-
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1 tion 131 of the Public Health Security and Bioter2 rorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 

3 (Public Law 107–188). 

4 (10) While 20 percent of the population has ac5 cess to 2–1–1 telephone service in 21 States, inad6 equate funding prevents access to that telephone 

7 service throughout each of the States. 2–1–1 tele8 phone service is currently available statewide only in 

9 Connecticut and Hawaii. 

10 (11) Rapid deployment nationwide of 2–1–1 

11 telephone service as a means of access to informa12 tion about and referral on human services requires 

13 collaboration among State governments, comprehen14 sive and specialized information and referral centers, 

15 human service organizations and service providers, 

16 emergency management and homeland security offi17 cials, telephone companies, and other relevant enti18 ties. 

19 (12) 2–1–1 telephone service facilitates the 

20 availability of a single repository where comprehen21 sive data on all community services is collected, 

22 maintained, and updated regularly, reducing costs 

23 and duplication of efforts. The reliable data provided 

24 through 2–1–1 telephone service helps to better as-
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1 sess the needs of our communities and to imme2 diately mobilize resources toward those needs. 

3 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO FACILITATE NATIONWIDE AVAIL4 ABILITY OF 2–1–1 SERVICE FOR INFORMA5 TION AND REFERRAL ON HUMAN SERVICES. 

6 (a) GRANTS REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Com7 merce shall award a grant to each State to carry out a 

8 program for the purpose of making available throughout 

9 such State 2–1–1 telephone service for information and 

10 referral on human services. 

11 (b) GRANT TO BE AVAILABLE FOR EACH STATE.—

12 In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall 

13 develop a formula for allocating grant amounts among the 

14 States so that a grant may be awarded to each State seek15 ing a grant. 

16 (c) REQUIREMENT ON SHARE OF ACTIVITIES.—

17 (1) REQUIREMENT.—A State may not be 

18 awarded a grant under this section unless the State 

19 ensures that at least 50 percent of the resources of 

20 the program funded by the grant will be derived 

21 from other sources. 

22 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The require23 ment in paragraph (1) may be satisfied by in-kind 

24 contributions of goods or services. 

25 (d) LEAD ENTITY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State seeking a grant 

2 under this section shall carry out this section 

3 through a lead entity meeting the requirements of 

4 this subsection. 

5 (2) 2–1–1 COLLABORATIVE.—An entity shall be 

6 treated as the 2–1–1 Collaborative for a State under 

7 this subsection if the entity—

8 (A) exists for such purpose under State 

9 law; 

10 (B) exists for such purpose by order of the 

11 State public utility commission; or 

12 (C) is a collaborative entity established by 

13 the State for such purpose from among rep14 resentatives of—

15 (i) an informal existing 2–1–1 state16 wide collaborative, if any, in the State; 

17 (ii) community-based organizations; 

18 (iii) faith-based organizations; 

19 (iv) not-for-profit organizations; 

20 (v) comprehensive and specialized in21 formation and referral providers, including 

22 current 2–1–1 call centers; 

23 (vi) foundations; and 

24 (vii) businesses. 
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1 (3) REQUIREMENTS FOR PREEXISTING LEAD

2 ENTITIES.—An entity described by subparagraph 

3 (A) or (B) of paragraph (2) may be treated as a 

4 lead entity under this subsection only if the such en5 tity collaborates, to the extent practicable, with the 

6 organizations and entities listed in subparagraph (C) 

7 of that paragraph. 

8 (e) APPLICATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The lead entity on behalf of 

10 each State seeking a grant under this section shall 

11 submit to the Secretary an application therefor in 

12 such form as the Secretary shall require. 

13 (2) INFORMATION.—An application on behalf of 

14 a State under this subsection shall contain informa15 tion as follows: 

16 (A) Information on the program to be car17 ried out by the lead entity of the State in order 

18 to plan to make available throughout the State 

19 2–1–1 telephone service for information and re20 ferral on human services, including information 

21 on the manner in which the lead entity will de22 velop, sustain, and evaluate the program. 

23 (B) Information on the sources of re24 sources for the program for purposes of meet25 ing the requirement in subsection (c). 
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1 (C) Any additional information that the 

2 Secretary may require for purposes of this sec3 tion. 

4 (f) SUBGRANTS.—

5 (1) AUTHORITY.—In carrying out a program to 

6 make 2–1–1 telephone service available throughout a 

7 State at no charge to the caller, the lead entity of 

8 the State may make subgrants to such persons or 

9 entities as the lead entity considers appropriate for 

10 purposes of the program, including subgrants to pro11 vide funds—

12 (A) for the provision of 2–1–1 telephone 

13 service; 

14 (B) for the operation and maintenance of 

15 2–1–1 call centers; and 

16 (C) for such other purposes as the 2–1–1 

17 Collaborative considers appropriate for purposes 

18 of the program, including planning, public 

19 awareness, training, accreditation, and evalua20 tion. 

21 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding a subgrant 

22 under this subsection, a lead entity shall consider—

23 (A) the ability of the person or entity seek24 ing the subgrant to carry out activities or pro25 vide services consistent with the program; 
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1 (B) the extent to which the award of the 

2 subgrant will facilitate equitable geographic dis3 tribution of subgrants under this section to en4 sure that rural communities have access to 2–

5 1–1 telephone service; and 

6 (C) the extent to which the recipient of the 

7 subgrant will establish and maintain cooperative 

8 relationships with specialized information and 

9 referral centers, crisis centers, 9–1–1 call cen10 ters, and 3–1–1 call centers, if applicable. 

11 (g) USE OF GRANT AND SUBGRANT AMOUNTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts awarded as grants 

13 or subgrants under this section shall be used solely 

14 to make available 2–1–1 telephone service for com15 munity information and referral on human services, 

16 including telephone connections between families and 

17 individuals seeking such services and the providers 

18 of such services. 

19 (2) PARTICULAR MATTERS.—In making 2–1–1 

20 telephone service available, the recipient of a grant 

21 or subgrant shall, to the maximum extent prac22 ticable—

23 (A) abide by the Key Standards for 2–1–

24 1 Centers as specified in the Standards for Pro25 fessional Information and Referral Require-
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1 ments for Alliance of Information Referral Sys2 tems (AIRS) Accreditation and Operating 2–1–

3 1 Systems; and 

4 (B) collaborate with human service organi5 zations, whether public or private, to provide an 

6 exhaustive database of services with which to 

7 provide information or referral to individuals 

8 utilizing 2–1–1 telephone service. 

9 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts of a subgrant 

10 under subsection (e) may be used by grantees for 

11 Statewide and regional planning, start-up costs (in12 cluding costs of software and hardware upgrades 

13 and telecommunications costs), training, accredita14 tion, public awareness, evaluation of activities, and 

15 the provision of 2–1–1 telephone service. 

16 (h) REQUIREMENTS ON USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—

17 Of the amount awarded as a grant under this section—

18 (1) not less than 2 percent shall be used for 

19 evaluation of persons or entities for eligibility for 

20 subgrants under subsection (e); 

21 (2) not less than 2 percent shall be used for 

22 technical assistance for persons or entities awarded 

23 subgrants under that subsection; and 
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1 (3) not more than 6 percent shall be used for 

2 the management and administration of subgrants 

3 awarded under that subsection. 

4 (i) REPORTS.—The lead entity of each State awarded 

5 a grant under this section for a fiscal year shall submit 

6 to the Secretary, not later than 60 days after the end of 

7 such fiscal year, a report on the program funded by the 

8 grant. Each report shall—

9 (1) describe the program funding by the grant; 

10 and 

11 (2) assess the effectiveness of the program in 

12 making available throughout such State 2–1–1 tele13 phone service for information and referral on human 

14 services in accordance with the provisions of this 

15 section. 

16 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) HUMAN SERVICES.—The term ‘‘human 

18 services’’ means services as follows: 

19 (A) Services that assist individuals in be20 coming more self-sufficient, in preventing de21 pendency, and in strengthening family relation22 ships. 

23 (B) Services that support personal and so24 cial development. 
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1 (C) Services that help ensure the health 

2 and well-being of individuals, families, and com3 munities. 

4 (2) INFORMATION AND REFERRAL CENTER.—

5 The term ‘‘information and referral center’’ means 

6 a center that—

7 (A) maintains a database of providers of 

8 human services in a State or locality; 

9 (B) assists individuals, families, and com10 munities in identifying, understanding, and ac11 cessing the providers of human services and the 

12 human services offered by the providers of such 

13 services; and 

14 (C) tracks types of calls referred and re15 ceived to document the demands for services. 

16 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev17 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common18 wealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, 

19 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 

20 Northern Mariana Islands. 

21 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out this Act amounts as follows: 

24 (1) For fiscal year 2004, $200,000,000. 
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1 (2) For each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009, 

2 such sums as may be necessary. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

4 to the authorization of appropriations in subsection (a) 

5 shall remain available until expended.

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