211 Santa Barbara County Inclusion Exclusion Statement

 Inclusion / Exclusion Policy

2-1-1 Santa Barbara County provides comprehensive information and referral services, linking residents to health and human services in our community. The following guidelines are used to determine if an organization is eligible to be listed in the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County resource database.

The following criteria MUST be met to be in order to be considered for inclusion in the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County resource database. (MANDATORY CRITERIA)

• Organization provides a health or human service for residents of Santa Barbara County.
• Organization must demonstrate provision of service for at least 6 months.
• All organizations included in the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County resource database must agree to update their service information, at minimum, once each year.

Organizations meeting the following criteria may be eligible for inclusion, provided they meet all mandatory criteria above and do not meet exclusion factors below.

• Government (local, state, federal) agencies that provide social, consumer, criminal justice, education, legal, environmental or other services to residents of Santa Barbara County.
• Non-profit organizations that provide social, educational, legal, community, consumer, health or human services to residents of Santa Barbara County.
• Local elected representatives.
• Churches, social clubs, service organizations, and civic groups that offer a service to the community at large.

Organizations meeting the following criteria may be considered for inclusion provided they meet all mandatory criteria above and do not violate any exclusion factors.

• For-profit organizations providing health or human services not adequately available from the non-profit sector and all considered on an individual basis.
• Support groups that are not part of a larger agency that do not charge a fee for service and can demonstrate provision of service for at least 6 months.
• National organizations and out-of-county entities, including statewide and national toll-free phone services, that offer needed health and human services and which address a gap in local services or in the case where the out of county service is more accessible to residents than the equivalent services offered within Santa Barbara County.
• Professional Associations providing a public service (e.g. information and referral).

Organizations meeting the following criteria will not be included in the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County resource database.

• Any organization which promotes or delivers illegal services.
• Agencies that misrepresent themselves, fail to respond to updating contacts or deny service based on prejudice or discrimination.
• Services which are available only to members of a certain group or affiliation. For example, counseling available to a church’s parishioners only.
• Organizations that offer free or low-cost services only to market the organization’s main business when the organization’s main business/services are not appropriate for 2-1-1 inclusion.
• Private practitioners or group practices of mental health providers, medical doctors, dentists, legal/paralegal providers, etc.
• Organizations that do not maintain a consistently available contact person may not be included in the database or may be removed from the database. Access through an answering machine is acceptable.

Guidelines for Review and/or Appeals
Should special circumstances exist which are not effectively covered by the preceding guidelines, or if there is disagreement about inclusion or exclusion, the agency or organization in question may contact 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County and request a review of the inclusion/exclusion decision.

Disclaimer
Eligibility for inclusion does not guarantee inclusion. Inclusion in the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County database does not imply endorsement and omission does not indicate disapproval. 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County may exclude or remove organizations from the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County resource database at any time at the discretion of the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County Resource Department. Exceptions to this policy may be made at the discretion of the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County Resource Department.

This policy does not prohibit the inclusion of any program that targets services based on age, gender, health, disability or other characteristic designed to meet special needs of targeted populations. However, the program must be open to all people in those targeted populations.

Information provided by organizations and individual service providers and included in the 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County database will be made available to the general public in various formats, including telephone information and referral, an online searchable database of services and printed materials. 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County reserves the right to edit information to meet format, guideline and space requirements. Information listed in the resource database represents what is provided to 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County by service providers and, as such, 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County neither guarantees nor makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in its resource inventory. 2-1-1 Santa Barbara County disclaims any and all responsibility and liability that may be asserted or claimed resulting from or arising out of reliance upon the information and procedures presented in the resource inventory.

To include or update a resource please use the form below or call our resource line at:

805-922-2243 ext 211