Tim Trigliani, executive director of Connecting Point, presented the nonprofit’s 2‑1‑1 service — a staffed call center and professionally maintained resource directory for health, human services and disaster information — and asked the Board whether the county wanted full 24/7 2‑1‑1 service or a disaster-focused 2‑1‑1 activation.

Trigliani said the technical process to obtain the short three-digit 2‑1‑1 code through the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requires an application and consultant support that costs roughly $8,000 and takes about six months to implement. He said the operational difference between offering only disaster 2‑1‑1 and offering full health-and-human-services 24/7 coverage is small for a county with Sierra’s population and resource base; the primary incremental costs arise during large disasters when additional agents may be needed.

“We operate our 211 service in Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Shasta and other Northern California counties,” Trigliani said. “It is a call center with agents on the phone that actually talk to callers. It's also a resource directory online… professionally maintained.”

Board members supported pursuing the 2‑1‑1 shortcode and directed county staff to return with a proposed agreement and budget scenarios, including a disaster-only activation and a full 24/7 service option. Supervisors noted 2‑1‑1 could reduce nonemergency calls to 911 during evacuations and provide the county real-time intelligence about what callers are seeking during incidents. Several supervisors stressed the importance of accurate resource entries to avoid creating false expectations for services that do not exist locally.

Trigliani agreed to provide a draft service agreement and budget options for Board consideration; the Board did not approve a contract at the meeting but gave staff direction to pursue the CPUC shortcode application and to return with contract language and funding options.