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Human and social services present a labyrinth to the general public—how does one access help in the community. CONTACT provides 24-hour referral assistance to callers seeking resources and links those callers to the appropriate agencies. CONTACT maintains a comprehensive, up-to-date database of community resources and works in cooperation with county agencies and organization. In Burlington County, CONTACT provides frontline response for after-hours emergency shelter along with Code Blue response in winter weather emergencies. CONTACT is the NJ 2-1-1 Southern Regional Call Center providing Information and Referral for ten counties in South Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem). Every hour of every day, hundreds of people need essential human services - they are looking for training, employment, food pantries, help for an aging parent, addiction prevention programs for their teenage children, affordable housing options, support groups and ways of becoming part of their community. 2-1-1 is an easy to remember telephone number that, where available, connects people with important community services and volunteer opportunities. In 2009, 2-1-1 services in the United States answered over 16 million calls. The implementation of 2-1-1 is spearheaded by United Ways and information and referral agencies in states and local communities. United Way of America (UWA) and the Alliance for Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) strongly support federal funding so that every American has access to this essential service. 2-1-1, a United Way initiative, launched in New Jersey in 2002 and went statewide in 2005. As of December 2009, 2-1-1 serves over 241 million Americans (more than 80% of the entire population). CONTACT identifies gaps in services in our communities and provides personal follow-up to ensure the desired help was secured and that it satisfactorily met the caller's needs. For more information on 2-1-1 or online assistance, please visit the following websites: www.nj211.org New Jersey 2-1-1 website
We do not provide on-line crisis intervention.
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