Just1Call

Until three years ago, lifelong North Carolina resident Anne Smith found it difficult to get information about services and assistance programs in Mecklenburg County for seniors or adults with disabilities. 

Smith, one of nearly 100,000 people in the county who are older than 60, wasn’t alone in her frustration. Indeed, a study sponsored by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Aging Coalition found that 35 percent of seniors polled didn’t know where to turn for help with questions about a host of issues including transportation, housing, health care, finances, legal aid, and social and leisure activities.

But that changed in September 2000 with the launch of Just1Call, a high-tech, easy-to-use referral clearinghouse that provides older adults, as well as family members and caregivers, with confidential, one-step access to information by telephone. The free program, operated by Mecklenburg County’s Department of Social Services (DSS), is staffed by social workers who assist callers with referral options, needs assessment and problem resolution.

For Smith, 64, Just1Call has been a godsend. She’s used the service nearly 30 times to inquire about everything from transportation and low-income housing to counseling and insurance. “It gives me a sense of security and support,” says Smith, who lives alone and has ongoing health-care needs. “The staff are kind and compassionate, and they go the extra mile to help you.”

Beverly Patnaik, a gerontologist involved with Just1Call’s development, says the program means seniors, caregivers and family members no longer have to navigate through a disjointed array of telephone numbers, Web sites, and printed guides in an often-futile search to get their questions answered.

“Prior to Just1Call, it was difficult for lots of people—especially older adults—to determine what types of services are available and where to find them,” says Patnaik, citing examples such as delivered-meal programs and handicap accessible facilities.

But Just1Call’s mission goes far beyond convenience.

“Many older adults do without essential services solely because they are not aware of them,” says Patnaik, an associate program director for the Duke University Long-Term Care Resources Program in Durham, N.C. “That’s troubling, because needs that are initially routine could become urgent.”

State of the Art Solutions
To help bridge that information gap, Just1Call relies on the latest technology including telecommunications equipment, laptop computers and proprietary software that creates a detailed record of each inquiry. State of the art, yes—but the heart of the program is its six-person team of social workers, who answer every call from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. After-hours calls are returned the following morning.

“Most times callers will only have to speak with one person on our staff to have their questions or problems addressed,” says Michael Taylor, Just1Call’s social work supervisor. “We’ve found that older adults are more comfortable talking with a ‘live’ person, rather than dealing with an automated answering system or being shipped from one operator to the next.”

Moreover, the one-on-one focus ensures that an experienced professional is always on the line to “delve into deeper or less-obvious issues if the caller seems to be struggling to raise a difficult or sensitive topic,” Taylor says.

He notes that social workers also ensure an effective referral by facilitating a three-way conversation with the caller and the chosen service provider. “It’s another way to make sure consumers get the information they need,” Taylor adds.

That kind of commitment is among the reasons for Just1Call’s burgeoning popularity. The program handles about 90 calls per day—up from 40 two years ago. The accompanying Web site http://www.just1call.org/ gets around 70 hits daily. All told, Just1Call has received more than 55,000 calls since inception and made 85,000 referrals from an ever-expanding database that now boasts 2,525 listings.

Getting Started
Getting Just1Call up and running, however, was far from easy. Planning, development and implementation took more than three years, involving extensive input from consumers, community and business leaders, service providers, and marketing and technology consultants. But securing support from multiple stakeholders proved to be crucial, especially given the program’s $300,000 start-up cost.

“We needed buy-in from everybody,” says Patnaik, who co-authored an in-depth article about Just1Call’s complex creation. “You can’t leave stakeholders out of the loop. Making it an inclusive process was absolutely critical.”

Early in the planning, for example, private-sector service providers raised concerns that Just1Call—as a government-administered entity—might give preference for referrals to non-profit or state-run agencies. As a result, Just1Call designers stipulated that callers seeking a referral should be given choices whenever possible. The result? Just1Call is the region’s first clearinghouse to include for-profit providers in its database, which is maintained in partnership with the United Way of Central Carolinas.

Implementing Just1Call also necessitated creating a detailed operations manual that provides guidelines for handling hot-button issues like after-hours protocol, crisis intervention, quality assurance, and confidentiality.

In addition, given the diversity of the population in Mecklenburg County, Just 1Call uses a service from AT&T called Language Line that can respond to callers in 140 languages. Further, the program’s Web site is available in both English and Spanish.

But bridging cultural barriers may be even more significant than language. Pre-launch focus groups, for instance, found that some minority residents were reluctant to use services provided by the state. “So DSS involvement was played down in marketing efforts,” Patnaik says.

Marketing, in fact, accounts for roughly $100,000 of Just1Call’s $610,000 estimated annual budget, which includes newspaper, radio and television advertising (the underwriting is covered by private sponsors) plus public relations efforts to reach key audiences such as consumers, service providers, community agencies, the faith community and the media. Each of those initiatives lists the local and toll-free telephone numbers and highlights the program name and tagline:  Just1Call. A service of Mecklenburg County. One Call. One Source. Wonderful!

Success!
Just1Call’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. It’s received numerous honors including the National Association of Counties Achievement Award. Program administrators have fielded inquiries from Texas, New York, Mississippi and Maryland.

That’s not a surprise to seniors such as Smith. “It’s an extremely valuable resource,” she says. “It would be an asset to any community.”

For more information
For more information about Just1Call, please call 704-432-1111 in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area or toll-free at 877-889-0323. Or visit online at www.just1call.org.


By: Rick Ramseyer

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