CPPR’s Integrated Referral and Intake System Reaches 100,000th Referral Milestone
Today, CPPR’s Integrated Referral and Intake System (IRIS) celebrates its 100,000th referral. Now with 36 IRIS community networks, which has grown from six counties in southeast Kansas to 82 counties across six states, IRIS provides the below services for families seeking support:
- Advocacy & Legal Services
- Aging Care
- Behavioral Health Community Support
- Concrete Supports
- Developmental Disabilities
- Early Childhood
- Education
- Health Services
- Maternal & Child Health
- Resource Navigation
In 2016, CPPR created IRIS after hearing the challenges and concerns of Kansas providers who relied on multiple one-on-one conversations to successfully refer people to services that were both available and appropriate for their needs in the Kansas Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.
Referrals remain today a vital tool that connects many people to the services they need. Unfortunately, the referral process can still be complicated by varying administrative challenges that make it difficult to track a referral’s progress through disjointed or incompatible individual systems, which can contribute to families waiting for services they may urgently need or worse, passing through critical junctures of need without receiving services at all.
“Prior to IRIS, there was no standard way the community made or received referrals. Word of mouth, phone calls, faxes, etc. This caused sloppy record keeping, lack of streamlined reporting, and more. Many times, it was just handing a client (often in crisis) a phone number and asking them to call on their own. This would often end in low enrollment as a client may call an organization and be told the service they are requesting is not provided or they do not take their insurance or there is a long waiting list. Clients would get confused and frustrated and give up on finding help”
Kim Peterson
director for community health at Kane County Health Department
“We would often give clients a resource sheet marked with all the resources they requested. We would give them multiple options to call for mental health services or food pantries. I am sure it was overwhelming since they were already in crisis to get multiple options for several different services or resources. We would never really know the outcome of the referral unless the client provided it”
Mandi LaRue
social worker at Johnson County Department of Health and Environment
“The biggest barrier IRIS has helped us overcome is awareness. Everyone knows that our families needed help, but providers didn't know what was available and organizations didn't know how to reach us directly. Referrals and enrollment are higher for families, partly thanks to the increased awareness of services IRIS has raised among pediatricians and our partners,” said Meredith Volle, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and education director of population science and policy at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. “I like being able to tell families that we have a direct way to send referrals electronically, and that if for some reason we don't hear back or they are not eligible, we will know within a week and can try an alternative."
The seed of IRIS—recognizing and being responsive to communities’ experiences with making and receiving referrals as both providers and clients—remains the impetus that has guided its growth. IRIS is a success because community-based organizations were motivated to turn their frustrations into action. Without their voices and galvanized participation, contending with the dismaying pattern of referrals never actualizing into appointments would lead to unsubstantial or unsound efforts. They shared with us the specific nuances that make it difficult or easy for families to receive services after being referred, as well as their hopes for a better referral system, and we listened.
“IRIS has provided a secure way to make a referral to another program where you know it is going to be seen and dealt with in a timely manner,” said Lois Meisenheimer, Parents as Teachers First Years early childhood programs coordinator. “IRIS has the capacity to not only provide a list of providers, but also their eligibility requirements and their current capacity. Families really appreciate knowing that the referral has been made and they don’t have to worry about contacting the agency themselves if they are reluctant to reach out on their own. If they are comfortable making contact themselves, they also know that the agency is more likely to be expecting to hear from them and is prepared when they reach out.”
“As a program director, the reporting features are extremely valuable. Not only do I use the information for grant writing and monthly and quarterly reporting, but I also use IRIS to track individual staff success in making and following up with referrals sent or received. Families are no longer being duplicate referred, and the follow-up system is in place to ensure they are connected where they need to be”
Dana Foltz
director of family services at Stephenson County Health Department
IRIS has changed the landscape of how referrals are made and received. Instead of constantly grinding through a patchwork system, we wanted to create a system that reflected the culture of care and deep consideration we saw and continue to see in community service providers. We wanted a system that understood how families navigate their daily lives. We wanted a system that supported the work of our community champions. We wanted a system that worked.