I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 211 
To facilitate nationwide availability of 2–1–1 telephone service for information 
and referral on health and human services, including volunteer services, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2009 
Ms. ESHOO 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 serv-
ice for information and referral on health and human 
services, including volunteer services, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Calling for 2–1–1 Act 
of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) The Federal Communications Commission 
has assigned 2–1–1 as the national telephone num-
ber for telephone service for information and referral 
on human services, declaring that 2–1–1 best satis-
fies the public interest in allotting the limited re-
source of this abbreviated number. 
(2) The number ‘‘2–1–1’’ is an easy-to-remem-
ber telephone number that facilitates critical connec-
tions between individuals and families seeking serv-
ices, volunteer opportunities, or both and appro-
priate human service agencies, including community- 
based and faith-based organizations and government 
agencies. 
(3) There are approximately 1,500,000 non-
profit organizations in the United States. Individuals 
and families often find it difficult to navigate 
through a complex and ever-growing maze of human 
service agencies and programs, spending inordinate 
amounts of time trying to identify an agency or pro-
gram that provides a service that may be imme-
diately or urgently required and often abandoning 
the search from frustration or a lack of quality in-
formation. 
(4) At the Federal, State, and local levels, gov-
ernment funding supports well-intentioned programs 
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that are not fully utilized because of a lack of access 
to and information on such programs by the public. 
Program administrators have indicated that there is 
a need for a simple way to connect those eligible for 
programs with available program resources. 2–1–1 
telephone service will reduce the number of inappro-
priate calls to government offices by directing con-
sumers to the appropriate human services agency, 
resulting in a more effective use of government serv-
ices. 
(5) A national cost benefit analysis conducted 
by the University of Texas estimates a net value to 
society of a national 2–1–1 system approaching 
$130,000,000 in the first year alone and a conserv-
ative estimate of nearly $1,100,000,000 over 10 
years. 
(6) Many families need information on govern-
ment and not-for-profit services that provide high 
quality health care, public health information related 
to bioterrorism threats, mental health services, drug 
treatment, elder care, help for victims of domestic vi-
olence, disaster recovery, and volunteer opportuni-
ties. 
(7) Individuals often need support, services, or 
both when suffering emotional distress, having suici-
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dal thoughts or behavior, contemplating violence, or 
using drugs or alcohol. 
(8) Americans desire to volunteer and become 
involved in their communities. This desire, together 
with a desire to donate to organizations which pro-
vide human services, are among the reasons to con-
tact a center which provides information and referral 
on volunteer opportunities and human services. A 
simple call to 2–1–1 will help a citizen find the vol-
unteer opportunity they seek. 
(9) Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist 
attacks, an estimated 400 telephone hotlines were 
established in New York, New York, for various 
funds and services, creating a confusing network for 
victims and volunteers to navigate. A Comptroller 
General report on charitable aid following the ter-
rorist attacks found that ‘‘families of victims gen-
erally believed they had to navigate a maze of service 
providers in the early months’’ and that ‘‘good infor-
mation about and easy access to available assistance 
could help survivors in the recovery process’’. 
(10) During the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 
2005, 2–1–1 served as a crucial backup in areas of 
the Gulf Coast where 9–1–1 centers went down, pro-
viding access to emergency responders as well as 
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serving as a source for information about loved ones, 
food, shelter, and other vital services. 
(11) The 107th Congress recognized the impor-
tance of 2–1–1 telephone service in community pre-
paredness and response by including use of that tele-
phone number for public information as an allowable 
use of funds under grants for preparedness and re-
sponse to bioterrorism and other public health emer-
gencies under section 319C–1 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–3a), as added by sec-
tion 131 of the Public Health Security and Bioter-
rorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 
(Public Law 107–188). 
(12) While 69 percent of the population has ac-
cess to 2–1–1 telephone service in 41 States, inad-
equate funding prevents access to that telephone 
service throughout each of the States. 2–1–1 tele-
phone service is currently available statewide in only 
17 States. 
(13) Rapid deployment nationwide of 2–1–1 
telephone service as a means of access to informa-
tion about and referral on human services requires 
collaboration among State governments, comprehen-
sive and specialized information and referral centers, 
including Child Care Resource and Referral Agen-
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