DATA:

HELPLINK" 1998 NEEDS DATA

HelpLink uses a taxonomy of human services developed to provide standardized terminology and definitions in the field of human services. We use the taxonomy to catalogue services in our database and to describe the needs of callers.

The taxonomy contains more than 4,000 preferred human service terms that are organized into 10 major service categories. These basic service categories are arranged from the most fun-damental types of services required by individuals (Basic Needs) through the most general services provided for the community at-large (Organizational/ Community Services.) These two categories account for nearly 80% of all the needs expressed by HelpLink callers during 1998.

The Basic Needs category includes "programs that furnish survival level resources including food, housing, material goods, transportation and temporary financial assistance&"* HelpLink has 2,617 more requests for Basic Needs in 1998 than in 1997. This is a much smaller in-crease than was seen in the previous year.

The Organizational/Community Services category includes "programs that provide any of a broad spectrum of services for the community as a whole&"* * Comprehensive Information and Referral is part of this category and is used by HelpLink staff whenever calls require extensive problem-solving. The category also includes specialized information and referral services, as noted on the chart.

• Generic I&R minutes of service - 201,783

• After-hours Answering Service - 25,137 calls; 68,532 minutes of service

• 1998 Calls by County

AREAS OF NEED	# OF REQUESTS FOR HELP
	1998	1997	1996
Basic Needs Organizational/Community Services Health Care Mental Health Individual & Family Life Income Security Criminal Justice/Legal Services Consumer Services Education Environmental Quality	31,590 8,480 3,665 1,778 1,633 1,174 1,159 589 397 363	28,973 9,934 3,340 1,606 1,434 1,200 955 568 391 189	22,626 13,235 3,022 1,986 1,288 1,393 791 587 356 193
Total:	50,828	48,590	45,477

* This includes specialized information and referral services (such as the Self-help Clearinghouse and Child Care Clearinghouse).

*A Taxonomy of Human Services: A conceptual Framework with Standardized Terminology and Definitions for the field, fourth edi-tion, Information and Referral Federation of Los Angeles County, Inc., El Monte, California, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1994.