Over the next 10 years the federal government will be cutting over $1.1 trillion in safety net funding. The pressure on state and local governments to respond will be extraordinary. To step up to the challenge local public sector leaders will need to find better, more scalable and more affordable ways — to work together with each other — and with the social sector.

For the past twenty-five years the national 211 network has been collaborating with local communities as the system of record to help tens-of-millions of Americans find and access life-changing benefits and services.  This historically not-for-profit Information & Referral (I&R) ecosystem is being buffeted by political, commercial and technological change. These changes once promised to modernize and transform how social services are coordinated and delivered; but that has not yet happened.

The steep cuts in federal funding will compound these challenges leaving state and local governments without the time, or money, to continue to tolerate a status quo that already leaves too many kids and families behind. This White Paper is addressed to local social service advocates, agencies, funders, providers and policy makers unwilling to settle for a world that has not yet embraced the digital solutions we need to take care of each other.

Download the full white paper here: Technology for a Healthier World