Tell us about your experience of referrals in September

In September, the Waterloo Human Service Collaborative is asking agencies to focus on their referrals and how they might be improved. As part of this we will run two surveys to better understand referral practices for Waterloo clients and how referrals can be improved. One survey is aimed at service users, while the other focuses on agencies and their staff who make and receive referrals. The survey links are:

• For agencies and agency workers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5JBNWH
• For Residents https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F5SJDVV

The Collaborative wants agency workers to actively connect service users with the services they need. Getting feedback on referrals made and received plays a pivotal role in making sure service users are linked to the correct services quickly minimising the number of times they need to retell their story.

To support this initiative, the Collaborative has produced Service Access Resources like the Active Linking Model and Resources, the Waterloo Community Navigators Tool Kit, Service Directories, and the Customer Service Toolkit, all conveniently accessible at http://www.waterloo2017.com.

The surveys serve as a valuable tool for the Collaborative to better understand referral practices, elevate active linking efforts, and help map out customer journeys within the referral system. The focus on referrals may lead to opportunities for staff training and in-depth discussions during meetings, enabling organisations to explore their processes more thoroughly than what the surveys alone reveal.

We have written to agencies asking them to answer the surveys at an organisational level. We also want to gather insights on challenges, successes, best practices, and areas for improvement from those immersed in the referral process. Frontline workers are encouraged to share their perspectives directly by completing the agency survey as well as contribute data for their formal agency response.

To gain a comprehensive view, we’re also reaching out to service users through a tenant survey. The Collaborative is asking referral workers in touch with tenants this September, to please encourage service users to participate in the survey and offer assistance if needed. A poster with QR code to encourage resident involvement is at the end of this post.

Here’s a summary of what is being asked of different referral stakeholders:

Agencies – Survey Link

• Determine who can best provide the Waterloo-specific response from the agency and how an agency response will be made.
• Identify any additional insights your agency might seek on agency referral practices and use this opportunity to collect that information.
• Explore opportunities to raise staff awareness of the Collaborative’s goals during meetings or training sessions.
• Advocate for staff and client participation.

Agency Workers – Survey link

• Engage in the agency’s established processes.
• Review the collaborative Active Linking Model and Resources,  Waterloo Community Navigators Tool Kit, Service Directories and the Customer Service Toolkit on www.waterloo2017.com.
• Complete the survey to share your individual experiences, challenges, successes, and suggestions for improvement by commenting as an agency worker on the survey.
• Encourage referral service users in September to complete the tenant’s survey.

Waterloo Residents – Survey link

• If you recently requested or received a referral through an agency, share your experience.

Below is a poster which can be used for promoting the survey to local residents.