What is Information and Referral?

Information and referral (I&R) is the process of bringing people and services together to give people the tools they need to help solve common, everyday problems that many of us experience from time to time. This is the purpose of 2-1-1.

2-1-1 lines are staffed by specially trained information and referral specialists, who are skilled at locating and providing information about good resources to contact for help with a wide variety of problems and needs. They will work with each caller to decide on the best course of action for a particular problem, and then help to determine the best places to call as the first step in working towards a solution.