TORONTO – A new report from the Rural Ontario Institute and Ontario 211 Services highlights many differences in how community members access services across urban, rural and remote regions of Ontario.
211 is a helpline and website that provides information on and referrals to Ontario’s community, social, health-related and government services.
The report, Analyzing 211 Rural Unmet Service Needs, stems from an initiative to explore 211 Needs and Unmet Needs data at a community level and understand the value of this information for informing planning and investment decisions about programs and services in Ontario.
“We know that there are people out there who are falling through the cracks,” says Karen Milligan, Executive Director, Ontario 211 Services.
“If the data that we collect from callers about their needs, and the barriers to accessing services can be shared with decision-makers, we believe it can have an impact on service delivery planning and investment.”
The project leveraged data collected by the 211 system in Ontario, and explored different questions about what types of needs people using the referral service have.
Specifically, the intent was to see how the data might reveal gaps in service in different geographies and if the reasons that needs are unmet are different.
The project engaged a large group of municipal social service managers, local United Ways, provincial Ministries, researchers and social planners. This group of stakeholders provided input into further uses of the data, and other layers of data that might be necessary to answer deeper questions about the reasons for needs not being met.
“We hear from many stakeholders that different types of places need to be supported to develop their own solutions to service delivery challenges because the context is so different depending where you are,” says Norman Ragetlie, Executive Director of the Rural Ontario Institute.
“Clearly, in rural places, distances are greater and service providers fewer and farther between. By working with 211, capacity is being built for both local agencies and government organizations to better understand those differences and to respond to them.”
Ultimately, the project identified several themes that would be explored further, such as rural transportation, low-cost dental services, seasonal programs such as utility assistance, school supply programs, holiday programs and more.
Project participants from Ontario Trillium Foundation will host an ongoing forum on its website to continue to analyze these and other topics to inform potential solutions for unmet needs in Ontario.
People interested in the rural implications of this work can contact Tanya Stuart, Communications Manager, ROI, tstuart@ruralontarioinstitute.ca.