Program & Services

Program Definitions
1. Clothing/ Personal / Household Items
Organizations provide basic household items, work-related, and personal necessities for individuals who need them. These items range from home appliances to clothing and personal hygiene items.
2. Food / Meals
Community partners work together to provide food and/or meals for families and individuals in need of basic nutritional assistance. Programs include food pantries, commodity sites and assistance applying for the CalFresh program.
3. Housing
Programs throughout the county provide assistance in looking for basic shelter needs of the community by providing temporary shelter for people in emergency situations, home improvement programs, housing location assistance and a variety of housing alternatives. These programs include homeless assistance and low-income housing.
4. Utility Assistance
Organizations that provide electric, natural gas, home heating fuel, telephone, water, sewer and cable services for residential and business consumers; manage the connection and repair of utility services; and/or offer financial assistance or other forms of support for people who are at risk of having their utilities shut off.
5. Legal, Consumer and Public Safety
Programs promote and preserve the conditions that enable individuals to live in a safe and peaceful environment through the enforcement of laws that protect life and property; the operations of justice system; and the provision for public safety prevention and rescue programs. Also included are programs that protect consumers, and that issue licenses, certificates and permits for services that affect the public.
6. Disaster Services
Public and private programs that provide emergency planning, preparedness, mitigation, response, relief and /or recovery services prior to, during and after major, fire, flood, earthquake, tornado, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, drought or other large-scale emergency of natural or human origin that disturbs the normal functioning of a community. Ready Kern alerts the community to natural disasters and other crisis.
7. Health Care
Programs whose primary purpose is to help individuals and families achieve and maintain physical well-being through study, prevention, screening, evaluation and treatment.
8. Safe Surrender Baby
Safe Surrender Baby provides parents and/or guardians the choice to legally and safely surrender their baby at any hospital or fire station, no questions asked. Kern County can contact 211 for Safe Surrender Baby locations.

(Reference: AIRS: I &R Problem / Needs National Categories- July 2014 and 2-1-1 Los Angeles County).