If you have a drinking or drug problem, and you live anywhere in Rhode Island, starting at noon today you can get help within 24 hours.

Just dial 2-1-1.

That’s the promise of Rapid Response Rhode Island, a new system said to be unique in the country, which starts on a trial basis this afternoon.

Callers can use the United Way’s 2-1-1 information line, which operates around the clock, to arrange for a substance abuse assessment within the next 24 hours. The 2-1-1 operator will make an appointment for any child, adolescent or adult at one of eight locations around the state.

Then, at this appointment, a licensed professional will ascertain the best course of treatment and locate an appropriate program with an opening.

The premise is that when it comes to substance-abuse treatment, you have to seize the moment. If a person seeking help faces obstacles or delays, he or she may give up –– and the longer treatment is delayed, the more severe the addiction problem will become.

“There are people in need right now who need to find an answer. Now it will be easier to find that answer,” said Patrick B. McEneaney, executive director of Phoenix Houses of New England, an addiction-treatment agency that is spearheading the new system. “At 2-1-1, you’re on the road. We’ll identify the issues and move you along into the process.”

McEneaney said Rapid Response Rhode Island was inspired by NIATx, formerly the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment. Based at the University of Wisconsin, NIATx has developed a method for speeding access to substance-abuse treatment. Many substance-abuse treatment programs have adopted those principles, but Rapid Response Rhode Island is the first attempt to take it statewide for both adults and children.

Phoenix Houses has recruited 11 drug-treatment agencies, plus the United Way of Rhode Island, to participate in the initiative, which will be evaluated after a three-month trial.

Until today, people seeking treatment have had to figure out whom to call on their own. They may call a treatment center, find there are no beds that day, and become discouraged.

Often no one was assessing the type of treatment they needed –– for some, outpatient may actually be better –– and no one was checking for other openings in the state.

While other states and regions have tried rapid-response systems for drug-addiction treatment, Rhode Island’s is unique in its use of the existing call-in service, called United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island.

This hot line started in June 2007 to connect people with social services such as heating assistance or help with food or rent. Anywhere from 320 to 580 calls come in each day, and about 300 a month pertain to substance abuse, says Cristina Amedeo, 2-1-1 director.

Rapid Response Rhode Island involves little or no additional expenditures. Phoenix House staff trained the 2-1-1 operators. The assessments will be done at various treatment centers (most are Phoenix Houses) by existing staff, who now will be working in cooperation with other agencies to try to find a spot for each patient.

But are there enough treatment slots available to handle a possible influx of people seeking care?

“If we can’t find something at one agency, we’ll find it another,” McEneaney said.

Craig S. Stenning, acting director of the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, agreed.

“My experience has been,” Stenning said, “when individuals are seriously looking for treatment, capacity is not the question. We usually can find something.”

With the new system, he said, the individual wouldn’t have to make all those calls searching for help. And, it is hoped, that it will mean people will get into treatment earlier in the course of their illness. Stenning said research has shown that the earlier one gets treatment, the faster the recovery.

Neil Corkery, executive director of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island, a trade group of treatment facilities, also endorsed the new system.

“The sooner you engage a person in the process, the sooner you break down some of the denial and sooner you give them some hope,” Corkery said. “Once they have a contact with somebody who tells them they’re not alone, this is not the end of the world, there is hope and treatment, most people will stay afterward.

“The hardest part of all is making the call.”

ffreyer@projo.com