Lesson 14: Making a Referral

Attention

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

• Identify the questions you would ask when considering referring services to your client

Teaching

A main goal of case management is to refer clients to appropriate services. Some of thse referrals may be to other services provided within the same agency. Other referrals may be to outside agencies and organizations. Each agency/service will likely have different protocols for making a referral.

Part of the challenge of case management is learning all the ways and regulations of each of these potential services. Funding is also a major factor. Services are not provided for FREE even if there are no charges accumulated by the CLIENT. Someone or something is paying the bills!

Depending on the type of case management you are providing, you may be in the position to make a decision. Do you provide the service yourself, or do you find someone else (agency or natural support) to do it? Consider what factors may go into deciding.

• Do I have the time to provide this service myself?
• Does this service fall within the scope of my job?
• Does this service fall within the scope of my expertise?
• Is there a service for this?
• Will ther service be delivered in a timely fashion?
• Can this be started by me and completed by someone else?
• Can the lack of a service be used as motivation to encourage the client?
• Can family/friends/natural supports provide this service?
• How important is this service anyway?

Assessment

Lesson 14 Discussion

Regarding your Community Outreach Project, discuss points of decision where referrals to others could be made in lieu of members of your group being responsible for a service.