After nearly two decades of providing a free hotline that connected people with health and social services, PATH Crisis Center in Bloomington is set to transition away from providing 211 call center services in July.
The free hotline connects people in need of health or social services to a call center worker who can refer the caller to non-emergency services specific to their individual need — anything from rent or utility assistance to food pantries and homeless shelters.
PATH became the first such call center for Illinois in 2009, eventually expanding its service area to 53 counties. Last year, it fielded just under 50,000 calls for help.
But CEO Adam Carter said months of reevaluating PATH's services led the organization to conclude it was not a financially sustainable option for the 54-year-old nonprofit to continue providing. Come July 1, PATH will no longer be a 211 call center, though the service will still be available to anyone who dials the number.
"In reviewing contracts and in talking with our community partners in terms of what can be provided and how PATH can provide that over the past year, it's just become clear that the financial aspect of this outweighs what we're able to do at the moment," Carter said in an interview.
Funding for 211 services across the state comes from a variety of sources, including county governments, community foundations, local United Way chapters and, as of 2023, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Department of Human Services.
"Like anything else, one year it could be $5 million, the next year it could be $2 million," Carter said. "It's extremely inconsistent how the state can support 211 call centers or United Way [chapters] as they seek to support 211 call centers."
State funding for 211 call centers is allocated at the discretion of 211 Illinois, the group tasked with overseeing those services across the state.
Some counties need more support than others, based on factors like whether or not they have a robust United Way funding arm or other means of support.
Executive director Edward Perry told WGLT in fiscal year 2023, 211 Illinois was awarded $4.8 million; in the most recent fiscal year, that figure dropped to $1.6 million.
For PATH, the inconsistency made a transition to paid call center staff less than feasible.
Historically, PATH relied on a volunteer base of more than 70 people that could help staff the 211 call center. Carter said that base has dropped to just 16 volunteers, prompting a change over the past year to a paid staff model — "folks who are answering the phone... with extremely high professionalism and quality."
"Not that volunteers were not providing that — it's that when you have the employment part of that, there's more things that can go into that in terms of... being able to pay for training and supervision and support," he said.
PATH was also responsible for maintaining the database of resources that 211 call center workers would reference when referring people to relevant nonprofits or organizations that could help them. Once a year, each provider would be contacted to ensure services were still available.
"We had a team of people who were curating the resources for about 80% of the state and that was not necessarily factored into some initial conversations that were made in terms of contracts early on," Carter said.
On top of all of this, PATH was also under "corrective action" with 211 Illinois for the past year. Perry said confidentiality concerns prevented him from specifically noting what prompted concerns specific to PATH, but said generally that corrective actions are issued after the oversight board becomes aware of any "performance-related issues, issues related to service quality [or] community partnerships."
Discussions about concerns related to PATH's 211 services began in late 2023; Perry said PATH worked to correct any issues throughout 2024 before being cleared of "corrective action" status in January.
In the meantime, 16 counties within the 53 that PATH provided support for chose "on their own accord" to work with another provider.
That includes McLean County, which will join others in being serviced by a call center supported via United Way of the Midlands in Nebraska. Some 30 or so other counties have yet to identify a new provider, though they have several months to do so.
"Originally, we informed 211 Illinois that we were going to be ending services April 1, the reason being that was 60 days on our contracts to let folks know that the time has come for us to transition into other services," Carter said. "Upon conversation with 211 Illinois, they asked if we would stay around until July 1, which we've agreed to do because it provides a little bit of extra support."
What's next
Eleven people currently staff the 211 call center at PATH; Carter said the plan is to work with those staff before July to discuss whether there are any other roles in the nonprofit suitable for them. Although it lost a grant to provide 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline call center support for the entire state, PATH does still provide 988 services to some counties. Carter said some 211 staff could transition to one of those roles.
Carter also said the transition away from the 211 services "allows us to be able to look at some other services that are community-based."
"[We're] coming at it with a fresh eye in 2025, saying, 'Where are the funding opportunities? Where do we see funds that are a little more secure?'" Carter said. "The other aspect of it is that PATH continues to be so multifaceted that you're going to see new programs come from us."
Among those new programs are a new puppet show aimed at helping children process suicide and crisis situations. The show will be provided to children in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms and at community events; Carter said work on a second version of a peer-reviewed script is already underway and puppets are expected to arrive at PATH in July.
"We know from our work at 988 that we have children calling in who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings. PATH understands that community need. We're uniquely positioned because we have a little more room in our ability to take on other projects — we're able to take on this project as a result of transitioning 211 to other providers," Carter said.
