There have been more than 3.5 million requests for assistance to 2-1-1 help lines around the United States since the coronavirus pandemic hit this spring. The impact was immediate and dramatic, said a Brown School researcher who tracks calls to聽聽across the U.S.
During COVID-19, the volume of requests to 2-1-1s has increased exponentially, said聽Matthew Kreuter, the Kahn Family Professor of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis.
鈥淨uestions about COVID-19 symptoms and testing account for part of this increase, but mostly people need help dealing with the economic consequences of the pandemic,鈥� said Kreuter, senior scientist at the university鈥檚 Health Communication Research Laboratory. The lab developed聽, the first tool to provide real-time, searchable and visual presentations of data from 2-1-1 call centers across the country.
2-1-1 is a free and confidential service that helps people across North America find the local resources they need 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in most communities. Each year, 2-1-1s receive 16 million requests, not only seeking emergency services, but also basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing.
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. 鈥淚n the first two full weeks afterward (March 16鈥�29), food-related requests to 2-1-1s聽, increasing 486%,鈥� Kreuter said in a recent聽.
鈥淩equests for聽聽were up 137%, and, across all need categories, daily requests more than聽聽compared to pre-COVID-19 rates in 2020,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he overall rate of increase is even more striking given that requests to 2-1-1 for help with some other social needs聽聽sharply as a direct result of COVID-19.
鈥淭he potential applications of 2-1-1鈥檚 social and economic needs data are many,鈥� Kreuter and his co-authors wrote in the blog post. 鈥淔or a social service safety-net system that is stretched thin in the best of times, COVID-19 presents a daunting challenge and a renewed sense of urgency for investment and improvement. When requests to 2-1-1 double, that means referrals to community-based agencies double as well. Understanding which needs are rising and falling in which neighborhoods should inform community priorities and resource allocation to better and more efficiently meet demand.鈥�
Data tracked by 2-1-1 Counts can be searched and displayed by date, county, congressional district and more.
Kreuter鈥檚 team has established a web page,聽, to report new findings daily.