South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 19 - STATE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD › Article 2 - INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT › Subarticle 2 - SOUTH CAROLINA 211 NETWORK PROVIDER CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS › Section 19-212 - Board Certification Process and Requirements

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
A. The Board shall certify a single South
				Carolina 211 Network Provider for each county. The minimum service delivery
				area for a South Carolina 211 Network Provider shall be a single county. This
				shall not preclude a South Carolina 211 Network Provider from serving multiple
				counties. To ensure the maximum use of the 211 number for information and
				referral services, the certified South Carolina 211 Network Provider shall be
				required to coordinate with all other information and referral services and the
				telecommunications companies within the designated county or counties. If the
				Board receives more than one application for South Carolina 211 Network
				Provider certification from organizations representing the same county, the
				Board will notify the organizations that the Board shall only accept one
				collaborative designation application per county.
B. In order to be considered to become a
				South Carolina 211 Network Provider, candidates shall submit to the Board a
				South Carolina 211 Network Provider Certification Application Form, as
				developed by the Board. Candidates shall also provide the Board with written
				documentation verifying that the organization meets the following criteria:
(1) provides 24 hour, 7 days a week coverage
				either on site or through written agreements with other information and
				referral organizations for after hours and emergency coverage, that shall be
				provided by personnel monitoring the 211 phone line and shall not be answered
				through an answering service or answering machine;
(2) adheres to the AIRS, Standards for
				Professional Information and Referral, which is incorporated herein by
				reference, and is AIRS accredited, or has initiated the written application
				process and shall become accredited within three years;
(3) has 25 percent or more of its staff that
				is eligible for certification through the AIRS certification program certified
				by AIRS as information and referral specialists or resource
				specialists;
(4) works
				collaboratively and has written agreements with specialized information and
				referral systems which shall include, but not be limited to, crisis centers,
				child care resource and referral programs, volunteer associations, elder help
				lines, homeless coalitions, designated emergency management systems, and 911
				and 311 systems, where applicable;
(5) has an established automated information
				tracking system that maintains call center data that shall include, but not be
				limited to, call volume, number of abandoned calls, average speed of answering,
				average call length and other appropriate call center statistics;
(6) maintains a computerized information and
				referral system database that has up to date information and resource data and
				the capacity to collect caller information;
(7) uses the AIRS/INFO LINE Taxonomy and has
				incorporated the taxonomy into its resource data base;
(8) provides 211 services at no charge to
				callers and does not request or accept fees or compensation of any kind from
				referred organizations in return for referrals. Does not permit commercial
				advertisements to be heard on the phone lines or viewed via the internet if the
				211 provider offers internet services;
(9) publicizes 211 services through a written
				public awareness, marketing, advertising and education plan to inform the
				public of available services;
(10)
				provides teletyping (TTY) services for speech and hearing impaired individuals
				and multilingual accessibility either on site, or through access to
				translators;
(11) has formal
				agreements with appropriate clearinghouse agencies that provide volunteer or
				donation management services;
(12)
				ensures quality of service and caller and customer satisfaction through the
				timely provision of services and appropriate follow up and written outcome
				evaluations;
(13) shares resource
				database information with other South Carolina 211 Network Providers and state
				and local governmental agencies, including submitting resource database
				information to a shared common website accessible by the public, if
				available;
(14) tracks information
				on inquirer needs, unmet needs, and barriers to services and shares this data
				with other South Carolina 211 Network Providers, and local and state agencies
				and organizations;
(15) uses a
				method common to all South Carolina 211 Network Providers to measure and
				evaluate outcomes for the operation of a 211 call center;
(16) provides proof of, or application for,
				authority to conduct business in the State of South Carolina;
(17) adheres to any applicable provisions of
				the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA);
				and
(18) submits to the Board a
				prospective five year budget, including a description of projected sources of
				funding. Candidates shall also submit to the Board an audited financial
				statement. This statement shall be the most recent and complete audited
				financial statement available and for a fiscal period not more than eighteen
				months old at the time of submission. Such statement shall be by an
				independent, certified public accountant. In the event qualifying audited
				financial statements are not available, an unaudited statement along with the
				entity's federal income tax returns for the preceding two years may be
				submitted.