The Dial-A-Life (DAL) Program is a Miami-Dade County initiative dedicated to collecting used, disconnected digital cellular telephones and reprogramming them so eligible, at-risk (elderly, disabled, low-income, domestic violence victims and families with at-risk or disabled children) Miami-Dade County residents can call 9-1-1 for emergency assistance. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe A. Martinez, a former Miami-Dade Police Lieutenant, saw the need to develop a program to make a difference in the safety of Miami-Dade County resident’s lives.

On July 10, 2001, the Board of County Commissioners approved Ordinance 01-115 establishing the Dial-A-Life program. On December 20, 2007, the Board of County Commissioners amended Sections 2-1311 and 2-1312 of the Code of Miami-Dade County  relating to the Dial-a-Life Program. A Dial-A-Life Board sets the policy for the program.