What you should come away with:
the ability to make a warm handoff to a service that actually exists, and write an account of what happened
that holds up when someone else reads it.
“Move along” sends a problem down the block. A referral sends a person
somewhere. The second one takes about thirty seconds longer, and it is the difference this guide exists to make.
5.2 Finding a real bed, tonight
This is a live tool, not a handout that goes stale. Open it on your own phone now, before
you ever need it.
- The shelter list — filterable by Service Planning Area
(SPA 1–8), with recent call logs showing how many open beds each shelter
reported.
- Know which SPA your workplace is in before it comes up, not during.
- A call log entry from last night is information, not a reservation. Call.
- Do not print a resource list and tape it behind the counter. It will be wrong within a
month.
Not written yet.
5.3 What to say
Covers: a short script you can actually deliver in the middle of a shift, how to
hand over a phone number without closing the distance, and what to do when the answer is
no.
Not written yet.
5.4 Writing it down
The form varies — an incident report, a shift log, an email to your manager, a case
note. The discipline is the same, and it is the part that protects you later.
- Observation versus conclusion. “He was seated against the wall and did not
respond to two verbal greetings” — not “he was high.”
- Time, location, what you said, what they said, what you did, who you called.
- Record the referral you offered. It is the evidence that you did the job
correctly.
- Language that creates exposure: diagnoses, slurs, assumptions about housing status,
and anything implying you exercised authority you do not have.
- Assume it will be read aloud by a lawyer. Write it that way.
Not written yet.
