Help line forced to cut hours

By Sharon Salyer

Herald Writer

It’s the telephone information source more than 15,000 Snohomish County residents have used this year, seeking answers to everything from where they can find a summer camp for their kids to how to get help paying heating bills or the rent.

Despite its popularity, funding cuts have forced a reduction by three hours each day in the Community Information Line’s hours. It now operates from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

"We’re kind of the front door to the whole social services community for someone who doesn’t know where to start," said Bill Brackin, director of the program, which is run though Volunteers of America.

"We spend a lot of time on how to access services or package services to cover their needs with problem-solving assistance," he said. "It’s not just giving out information. It’s a lot more than that."

The telephone information program was kicked off 14 years ago, identified as a practical way of cutting down the barriers to connecting people in need to available services, a central place to identify area programs for children, youth and adults and how to get access to them.

"We reduced a lot of duplication of effort and will continue to do so," Brackin said.

Callers do not have to identify themselves, a provision to assure them that it’s a safe place to call, Brackin said.

Requests for help with food, shelter and general financial assistance are among the top reasons people call. But significant numbers of people call to give assistance, too, he said, either through volunteering or donations of cash or household items.

Cutbacks in the information service’s operating hours were forced after the program lost funding from several sources: $6,400 in state money, $18,000 cut from United Way and an upcoming cut of $5,000 from the county’s human services department, Brackin said.

The hours cutback results in elimination of 1 1/2 positions, he said, but has been accomplished without layoffs because an employee left the program.

"We had to do this once before about eight to nine years ago," Brackin said of reducing the information service’s operating hours. That time, funding eventually was restored.

Brackin said he worries that this year’s reduction may be longer lasting. Layoffs and the troubled economy could squeeze funding sources for some time, reducing contributions to social service agencies, such as United Way, and forcing belt tightening from state agencies.

"Our dollars are shrinking faster than people can give," Brackin said.

You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486

or send e-mail to salyer@heraldnet.com.

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