30-Day Letter

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Purpose

PIC Guidance on Enrolled Families with No Contact

If an enrolled family is not returning calls after cancelling and/or no-show visits, PIC will attempt a variety of ways to contact the family and determine desire to continue:

Attempt to contact the family on at least a weekly basis by phone, text, email or a combination of all three methods. If there is a signed Plan of Care, attempt to contact the physician. Additionally, if the family is enrolled in OCS, attempts to contact the family will be made through the OCS caseworker. After 30 days send a 30 day letter. If the family re-engages, continue with services. If you do not hear from the family, exit the family from the program. If you contact the family, review the Working Together Agreement. If the pattern continues, request that the supervisor contact the family to discuss.

According to the CFR, agencies are not held accountable for not achieving child outcomes if agencies make a “good faith effort” at service delivery and contact:

§ 303.346 “Responsibility and accountability. Each public agency or EIS provider who has a direct role in the provision of early intervention services is responsible for making a good faith effort to assist each eligible child in achieving the outcomes in the child’s IFSP. However, part C of the Act does not require that any public agency or EIS provider be held accountable if an eligible child does not achieve the growth projected in the child’s IFSP.” (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1436) Subpart E—Procedural Safeguards.

The National Part C Data Dictionary defines Lost to Follow-up: “Attempts to contact the parent and/or child were unsuccessful: This includes all children under the age of 3 who had an active IFSP and for whom Part C personnel have been unable to provide early intervention services either due to lack of response from the parent or family, or inability to contact or locate the family or child after repeated, documented attempts. Include in this category any child who was no longer receiving services under Part C before reaching age 3, and who has not been reported in the categories 7-9” (these are the other exit reasons).

Practice

Client Low Participation and Exit Guidelines

Families will be given ample information about PIC during intake with a review of the Partnership Agreement that is sent out with the Intake Packet.

Families who have the following will receive a phone call from their provider with a review of the practice, if the family is available, which will be documented in the Communication Log or Daily Note. A 30-day letter is mailed if there is a lack of contact or response from family to provider. The PIC provider might also want to consider the following when deciding to send a letter:

  • three appointments in a row are cancelled, or
  • fewer than 50% of scheduled visits are completed, or
  • three appointments are missed in three months without notice

For families who reengage and the pattern persists, providers are advised talk to the team manager who will contact the family and review the agreement.

Families who cannot be contacted by phone or do not respond to our calls, within 30 days will a receive a 30-day letter (see template) from the provider. 

Families who do not contact PIC will be discharged and can be re-refer, but must go through a basic intake process.

Provider will notify other providers, or referral source, OCS or medical home, depending on which is most appropriate and after assuring there is a Release of Information in place.

Providers who work with a family who have been sent a letter, re-engage in services, only to disengage again with a pattern of no-show/cancels should contact their supervisor to develop a plan in order to address this with the family.

Enrolled Child/Notification of Potential Discharge

What is a 30-day letter?

It is a notice sent to an enrolled family who have been out of contact for a month (or more) with the PIC provider and that we have attempted to contact several times (at least weekly), across a month, and not heard from.

  1. addresses that they have not received services recently and we are unable to contact them, Make at least 1 attempt per week, across 4 weeks and document in communication log
  2. At 4 weeks (or more) you do not hear from the family, initiate the 30-day letter (see below)
  3. At 30 days from the date of the letter, if there is no further contact with the family, the provider completes the exit/discharge process.

Children who are in OCS custody: send OCS caseworker the 30 day letter as well.

Therapy staff--How initiate a letter:

  1. Go to the child’s chart in RT, select the Admin tab
  2. Select the 30 letter, review for accuracy, f10/Save, and an automated task with be sent to Data Entry. If the child is in OCS custody: send OCS caseworker the 30 day letter as well.
  3. Providers will get a task/reminder sent to them to follow up on the 30-day. If the family exits, complete the exit process and mark complete and the task is filed in child chart. If the family reengages, put a quick note in saying so, and the task will be filed in child chart. The task will be scheduled 31 days from the 30day letter. 

Providers Exit at 30 days:

If family has not made any further contact since the 30 day letter, complete the discharge process.

Data Entry-How to print for mailing out the letter:

  1. Go to the child’s “Chart” tab then the “Admin” tab and look at the bottom right hand corner under “Patient Demographics and Consent”- it will be labeled 30 day letter | double click
  2. An RT editable word processor will pop up with letter.
  3. DON’T FORGET to space down to allow room for the letter head header
  4. Control P to print or click printer icon
  5. Left click on the //Eagle/Cannon 5850 to select the correct tray: Multi-purpose Tray
  6. Then, click “Print”
  7. Collect the printed letter, put in envelope and stamp with postage meter
  8. The default setting is for a 1st class letter so you can place it on the weigh tray if sending additional papers and you think the envelope might be heavier than typical.

  9. Go to the “Communication” tab and A to add call log note:

    Category: Admin Documents, then freeform description: 30 day letter

    Date auto selects for current date/time

    Notes: “30 day letter mailed to (Parent name) to address on file, per task.”

  10. Save or F10
  11. Indicate that the task is completed.
  12. If the child is in OCS custody, also send OCS caseworker the 30 day letter.