Summary of Objective Implementation Status
An outreach and engagement campaign with the goal of building and strengthening community and law enforcement relationships is under way with an emphasis on public education concerning the difference between calling 2-1-1 and 9-1-1. The outreach to date has reached tens of thousands of Sonoma County residents through partnerships with Nuestra Comunidad, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies and community groups as well as messaging through social media, radio, print media, webinars, the County newsletter, in-person tabling and other platforms.
Key Milestone Update
Milestones achieved include:
- On August 8, 2022, the County Administrator’s Office (CAO) Central-Communications division executed a $45,000 professional service agreement with Nuestra Comunidad, a community outreach and engagement organization specializing in bilingual public safety messaging in Sonoma County. The goal of the contract is to support the County in engaging with the public, particularly the Spanish-speaking community, in enhancing understanding about the differences between calling 211 versus 911 as well as sharing other emergency information regarding evacuation zones, etc. The scope of services include:
- Creation of eight English and Spanish social media posts that demonstrate different situations for calling 211 and 911.
- Creation of flagship infographic in English and Spanish explaining the use of 211 and 911.
- Development of evergreen materials for future emergency use.
- Development of web page content for SoCoEmergency and SoCoEmergencia.
- Creation of 16 short videos in English and Spanish for social media.
- Assistance with English and Spanish webinars on safety communications and assistance with outreach and promotion through Nuestra Comunidad.
- The County hosted a “Safety Communications Webinar” on November 4, 2022 focused on when to call 911 versus when to call 211. Panelists included Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin, Sgt. Juan Valencia from the Sonoma Sheriff’s Office, Yesenia Gaytan from United Way of the Wine Country which oversees 211, Alma Bowen from Nuestra Comunidad and Carly Cabrera from the CAO-Central Communications team. The hour-long webinar had a reach of more than 1,800 individuals, with more than 1,100 views and 68 engagements including comments, reactions and shares. The English version of the webinar is on the County of Sonoma’s Facebook and YouTube pages and is available here: https://www.facebook.com/CountyofSonoma/videos/3267971206790614
- The County also hosted a second webinar in Spanish on November 8, 2022 titled “Seminario virtual sobre cuando llamar al 911 y cuando usar el 211.” Spanish-speaking panelists included Sylvia Lemus from the CAO-Communications division, Sgt. Juan Valencia from the Sonoma Sheriff’s Office, Yesenia Gaytan from United Way , and Alma Bowen from Nuestra Comunidad. Similar to the November 4 webinar, the focus was on when to call 911 versus when to call 211. Panelists also shared emergency and non-emergency numbers and resources available from both 211 and 911 lines and also addressed questions from viewers. This webinar reached more than 925 individuals, has been posted on the County of Sonoma’s Facebook and YouTube pages and can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/CountyofSonoma/videos/1963148300743485
- To promote these public webinars, the Communications team issued a press release on October 27, 2022 that resulted in news stories being published in The Press Democrat and on pressdemocrat.com on October 31 and information that was shared on social media. Information regarding the webinar also was shared on KSRO radio on November 1 and Spanish-language radio KBBF on November 3. Social media posts regarding the webinar drew more than 14,210 impressions, 125 engagements and over 40 shares. A similar post on Nextdoor on November 4, 2022 drew more than 6,000 impressions.
- To support the objective outcomes, the Communications team has also produced 10 digital graphics on the differences between 211 and 911 in English and Spanish and shared them with community partners and the public. The County also has posted the information on Nextdoor on November 17, which drew 33,806 impressions.
- The County also currently has nine Facebook posts scheduled to be distributed with information on 211 versus 911. A paid Instagram campaign started on November 22, 2022 and will runs through December 25, 2022.
- Flagship graphic boosted: Roughly $760 in funding has been allocated for the boosting of posts on social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram targeted for Sonoma County residents ages 18-65-plus with estimated daily impressions of 750 to 1,600 users.
Future steps include developing a series “Public Safety Spotlights,” including recording short videos featuring the Sheriff’s Office, Probation Office, IOLERO, Public Defender, etc. The campaign also will include continued messaging on social media as well as ongoing feature coverage in SoCo Correspondent, the County newsletter.
Coordination and Partnership Update
This campaign has been conducted in partnership with community groups such as Nuestra Comunidad, a community outreach and engagement organization specializing in bilingual public safety messaging in Sonoma County, as well as the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, the Office of Equity and other agencies and community groups. This campaign also has been undertaken in coordination with local media including The Press Democrat, KSRO radio, KBBF Spanish-language radio and other media partners which have helped distribute the information concerning the differences between 211 and 911 and other emergency information. The information contained in these initiatives also has been shared with Public Information Offices from the cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Windsor and other communities within Sonoma County.
Community, Equity, and Climate Update
These initiatives have been undertaken and coordinated with community partners with an equity lens and an emphasis on reaching all County residents, particularly those most at risk of being disenfranchised during times of crisis due to language barriers. All communications in this campaign have been provided in both English and Spanish and the information in the November 4 webinar offered both Spanish and ASL interpretation.
Funding Narrative
To address this objective of conducting outreach and engagement campaigns to build and strengthen community and law enforcement relationships, $60,000 was allocated by the Board of Supervisors. Of this, $45,000 has been designated for the contract with Nuestra Comunidad for outreach and marketing within the community. (See above) An additional $760 has been expended to boost social media posts on Facebook and Instagram. The remaining $14,240 will be used for further marketing efforts designed to promote better understanding of law enforcement, County programs and individuals dedicated to public health and safety.
