PIC receives about 900 referrals per year from a variety of sources. PIC’s Referral Team helps the families of the children who are referred determine if it is an appropriate referral, what they can expect from PIC, and process their information in a timely manner so that children get connected with an early intervention provider for services.
Referral Specialists review each referral to ensure it is appropriate. Referrals generally come from a qualified provider (Pediatrician, child care) or family/caregiver in the communities that PIC serves including: Anchorage, Girdwood and Whittier, (but not Eagle River), as well as the communities of Kokhanok, Iliamna, Newhalen, Port Alsworth, Igiugig, and Pedro Bay. The team then enters the referral information into both Raintree and the State ILP database. When contacting the family, they confirm demographic details and identify the primary concerns. A brief synopsis of each referral is documented in the RT communication log. In addition, the team creates a separate Word document in SharePoint listing all referrals received that week. Referrals are submitted to managers by 10 a.m. on Mondays and assigned to a PIC provider during the team meetings that same week.
The Referral Team processes client information according to the established referral procedures. Families are contacted at least three times. Information gathered is processed in a timely manner. Clients are typically called on the same day the referral is received or by the next business day. In general, referrals are processed and assigned within 6–9 days of receipt. If the family cannot be reached after three attempts, the referral source is notified and encouraged to submit a second referral if appropriate. Referrals delayed due to family-related reasons are placed on hold ("pended") and reprocessed as soon as possible once contact is re-established.
Referral FAQs
What questions does referral ask?
If you’ve thought of it, Referral Specialists likely asks the question. If you do not see information in the referral related to something you see at a visit, the parent likely did not report out the issue. Parents sometimes are in a hurry or do not want to answer, initially. Intake is a great place to follow up.
What to do with a re-referral?
If the child has been discharged and re-referred to PIC, and they contact a provider prior to contacting referral, forward to referral, or take current information and email to referral. Clients who have been discharged will need to go through the process to re-open charts through referral—although this is a shorter process than their initial contact.
Mini-Grants: after it gets approval, what happens next?
After a mini-grant award is approved by the Mental Health, send it to the Exec. Director, Dep. Director or the Finance Manager for a signature. The whole process is outlined here, Next, set an appointment with Julie when she is available (Tu, We, Th). This is an FSC appointment for the provider—it will take an hour at least, and completing the worksheet in the linked instructions is critical to expediting your orders.
Provider confirms worksheet items, shipping, website and totals, or update items prior to meeting with Julie.
How do I get an ROI from OCS?
Contact the PSSU at OCS to get ROIs signed (email is sometimes more efficient).
OCS Placement Search and Support Unit (PSSU)
1-855-603-8637
Press option 2
When possible, the Referral Specialists will get an ROI and have it in place at referral to team, and will also circle back with OCS to get custody orders which can take some time to be processed at the court.
If you do not hear back from OCS and Referral is not available, you may call the OCS front desk at 907-269-4000, make sure that the OCS worker you have in contacts has not changed and connect to the correct caseworker.
When will I get, or how to I get a custody order from OCS?
It takes at least 30 days for OCS to get custody orders from the court. OCS will share the custody orders upon request and the PIC provider and/or referral may need to follow up about 30 days after child is taken into custody. Custody orders along with an ROI are required for release from both Providence and ANMC records departments.