I&R Best Practices: Profiles of Three NYC Services
As part of its ongoing effort to improve Information and Referral (I&R) data services in the city, United Way of New York City (UWNYC) contracted with MSK Consulting to determine how nonprofit agencies and their clients currently use the United Way CARES (Community Access to RESources) database.
One component of the consulting firm's review was an analysis of I&R services in order to elicit best practices in referral systems. MSK identified several major I&R providers in the New York City area that are highly regarded for providing incisive and effective I&R. Following are excerpts from MSK's report to UWNYC outlining three of the most effective programs.
Childcare, Inc.
Childcare, Inc., in conjunction with four other agencies - Committee for Hispanic Children & Families, Day Care Council of New York, Chinese-American Planning Council, and Child Development Support Group - coordinates I&R for childcare services through funding from the New York State Office of Family & Children's Services. The agencies share a computerized database for all calls and referral sources, as well as one telephone number that can accommodate Spanish and Creole clients. In total, the partnership handles about 18,000 calls per year. Childcare Inc. handles about 5,000 of these calls and employs three, full-time referral specialists as well as a parent counselor, and follows up on every call received, tracking the profiles of the callers. In keeping with this, Childcare, Inc. maintains a parent database to supplement its case management efforts.
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
GMHC Hotline receives over 38,000 calls per year and responds predominantly to callers' concerns about AIDS. It is staffed by 65 active volunteers who are supervised by three full-time staffers responsible for coordinating the Hotline's services. About 70% of the Hotline's funding comes through state and city agencies and the remainder is realized through private sources. The Hotline has devised a program of counseling training for its volunteers to support the enormous number of calls requiring emotional support. Because the Hotline's core premise is that callers retain their anonymity, no follow-up is performed after calls and no system of call categorization is utilized by the Hotline. Nevertheless, the GMHC operates a case management system and draws on a complex range of I&R services to assist those callers who request such help.
Safe Horizons
Safe Horizons (formerly Victim Services, Inc.) operates a high volume I&R Hotline which processes about 140,000 calls per year across several categories of abuse including domestic violence, crime victims, and elder abuse. The Hotline operates on an annual budget of $1.5 million, which is used to support a staff of 70 full and part-time workers who receive 20 hours of extensive training before manning the phones. They are shadowed by an experienced partner for their first several days on the Hotline in order to assure quality control at all points in the call process. The agency credits the CINPHONY Automated Call Distribution System with facilitating the Hotline's effectiveness. CINPHONY manages all call data including call routing, tracking abandoned and unanswered calls, call intake priority queuing, emergency routing of calls, an automated attendant feature, generating real time statistics, call monitoring, alerting supervisors, and providing a "click-on-box" information entering system on-screen for staff. It is a complex system that requires a high power supply and necessitates thorough training on the part of the staff in order to operate efficiently. Smaller agencies may turn to several off-the-shelf systems that provide many of these functions as cost-effective and more manageable alternatives.
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