HMG Contra Costa Crisis Center

This specialized guided resource database (HMG-CC 211) as a service of 211 Contra Costa was created and funded in collaboration with First 5 Contra Costa and the Contra Costa Crisis Center, designed to help ensure families are connected to the early intervention services their children need to thrive and is part of a system to coordinate early detection, referral, and treatment for children with developmental or behavioral concerns. Help Me Grow is a system that supports families and the optimal development of their children ages 0-5. We provide information and resources to help families and providers learn about child development, developmental screening, and support resources available in the community.

The mission of the Contra Costa Crisis Center is to keep people alive and safe, help them through crises, and connect them with culturally relevant resources in the community. 211 is the national, toll-free, three-digit phone number to call 24 hours per day for information about local health and social services. It enables people to find out about valuable and up to date resources in their community quickly and easily. Studies show that people seeking services call seven to eight numbers before finding the right one, or they give up before getting the help they need. This is especially true for people whose primary language is not English. 211 eliminates guessing and misdirecting of calls, and bilingual call specialists provide help and information. Our agency is authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission as the sole provider of 211 service in Contra Costa County. Our county-wide, on-line resource database ( www.211database.org) is the backbone of 211 in Contra Costa County. Call specialists use the database to refer callers to services, while county case workers, nonprofit staff, school counselors, clergy, law enforcement personnel, private therapists, and others access the information free of charge for their own clients. All resources are updated regularly and coded according to national taxonomy standards.