Not knowing where to get help is one of the most common, and formidable, problems facing heroin and other opioid addicts, as well as their families. A Lucas County survey last year found that 57 percent of those who use those drugs didn’t know whom to call for drug treatment.

This week, directors of mental health and addiction services boards in Lucas, Wood, and Hancock counties rolled out an improved 211 addiction and mental health recovery help line to close the information gap and make local treatment services more accessible.

The 211 line provides a simple and easy-to-remember way to get help and even schedule an appointment with a local clinician.

Callers are put on hold for about 30 seconds while 211 operators contact addiction and mental health professionals at local behavioral health call centers. In Lucas County, 211 callers are routed to Rescue. In Hancock and Wood counties, they go to The Link.

But 211 operators do more than transfer callers: They gather basic information from the caller, tell professionals at a behavioral call center who they will be talking to, and then stay on the line to make introductions.

“We want the system to be seamless,” Scott Sylak, executive director of the Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, told The Blade. The new system aims to get callers to a treatment agency within 48 hours. The 211 number makes it easy for everyone in the community to be part of the solution.

The help line, which launched in January, runs through United Way of Greater Toledo’s 211 service. Over the past month, recovery boards in the three counties have worked to improve the system, including providing additional training to 211 operators.

“Operators aren’t going to give you a number and then hang up,” said Precia Stuby, executive director of the Hancock County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services.

Heroin and fentanyl, a far more lethal and powerful opioid, kill more than four people a week in the Toledo area. An estimated 10,000 people here are addicted to opioids, including heroin. But only about a third of them are getting treated.

Some 211 callers may be desperate. Others are making their first cry for help. This is an opportunity to throw them a lifeline. When people ask you where they can get help, tell them to call 211.

First Published April 13, 2016, 4:00 a.m.