Help Line is an information and referral service and first response point for crisis calls in Bradford, Clinton, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne and Wyoming Counties. We also provide services in Monroe County with our partner PoconoInfo. It operates twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, staffed by trained caseworkers as a program of the Family Service Association of NEPA.
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More about HelpLine
Help Line was established in 1972 after Hurricane Agnes to provide a central resource for vital information for the victims of this devastating disaster. In 1975 Help Line entered into agreements with a number of area agencies to provide twenty-four hour crisis services. Soon after, other agencies signed onto the service and Help Line became the crisis center for most Wyoming Valley social service agencies.
Help Line currently acts as the after hours crisis service for twenty-one different organizations serving Bradford, Luzerne, Sullivan and Wyoming Counties. It is the central access point for problems and issues regarding:
- Mental Health - Child Abuse/Neglect Reports
- Drug and Alcohol - Runaway - Energy Assistance
- Homeless Services - Victim services
In addition to handling crisis situations Help Line is also an information and referral service. Help Line maintains an active data listing of over 400 local agencies, as well as over 16,000 additional regional, state and national resources. If you need to know where the nearest AA group is being held or the telephone number for the turkey hotline to make sure Thanksgiving dinner is a success, Help Line is there to assist you. Help Line has handled over 2.8 million calls since the start of operations in 1972.
The Help Line staff handled approximately 98,000 calls during the year ending June 30, 2016; this breaks down to approximately 269 calls per day. The vast majority of Help Line calls are made from our 17 county coverage area, however, Help Line also received calls from fifty eight counties in Pennsylvania as well as thirty five different states.
Help Line is a member of the Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (AIRS) and the Pennsylvania Alliance of Information & Referral Systems (PA AIRS).
I can't dial 2-1-1 from my work phone.
Help Line's 2015-2016 Annual Report is available here.
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