Our Refferal Policies

Date of Approval:
0/03/09 DPHS(Fife) Referral Policy
Date of Review:10/03/10

STATEMENT:
Disabled Persons Housing Service (Fife) is committed to equality of opportunity and is a person-centred organisation. Our Referral Policy and Procedures therefore also links to several other policies which include:-         Customer Service Policy-         Equal Opportunities Policy-         Data Protection Policy
INTRODUCTION:
DPHS(Fife) both receives and makes referrals and this document will lay out the procedures used within the organisation.
REFERRALS TO DPHS(Fife):
Individuals
Individuals who wish independent housing information and advice can refer themselves to the DPHS(Fife) directly. This can be done via phone query, mail query or via the internet. Individuals will be asked to submit a Disabled Persons Housing Register form as a first point of information/contact. If a person has difficulty with completing the form and has no family or other support to enable this then the Caseworker or other staff will make a suitable arrangement for its completion – this may be via an office appointment, appointment in the community, a home visit or by completing information over the phone. Our DPHR can be downloaded via the internet and either printed, completed and sent by mail or completed and sent as attachment by email. This is the beginning of the application process. We always require the individual’s signature to act on their behalf (unless in circumstances where there is Power of Attorney).
Agency Referrals
Social Work, Support Agencies, and voluntary agencies can also use the method noted above for referral of a customer. In addition, if registered on FORT such agencies may choose to use that route. Permission must always be given by the customer and their signature noted on the back page.
Fife Online Referral & Tracking System (FORT)
Agencies on FORT may use this online referral process as a starting point to refer.
Acknowledgement
Our new sheet “What You Can Expect Of Us” will lay out our targets for response times. DPHRs received are currently acknowledged within 14 days with a response time indicated on the acknowledgement letter. This letter indicates that their information will be immediately entered onto the database and the DPHS(F) will be in touch within 14 days of your letter going out. The appropriate box is ticked depending on how busy the service is. Typically a customer will only wait a matter of days before contact is made. Exceptionally when a waiting list occurs then the letter will indicate a 28 day period. This is tracked via the database system and contact made within the time indicated. In cases where DPHS(F) support is not relevant, the Caseworker will contact the individual to explain our role and suggest an alternative agency.   Response times will reported and tracked via the Customer Care Sub Group. When a Waiting List is in operation, cases will be dealt with in order of priority. DPHS(F) sets priority cases as: homeless or facing homelessness; hospital discharge cases; disabled children.
REFERRALS BY DPHS(Fife) To Others:
Customers give permission for DPHS(F) to share their information to assist their housing case by signing the declaration on the back page. From time to time staff may be aware of other agencies who can offer support or be more expert with information other than housing – in this case a referral would be offered to the customer. This could be done via simply sharing information about another agency or by making a referral e.g. via FORT.
Housing Agencies
By nature of our work, DPHS(F) are approached from time to time by housing providers who are taking care to find a tenant to suit a particular type of property. This may be for example an adapted home. In such cases DPHS(F) carries out a search of the database and provides details of all people who come up as a match. If the person already has their FHR or other application in place the referral will be noted on their file notes but they may not necessarily be told that their details have been given if they would be picked up via FHR or other application. This is because it is the duty of the housing provider to choose the best match for the property and all referrals may not be offered an interview. In certain cases the Caseworker may judge it appropriate to contact customers before referral point – for example if the match is not an exact one. This would be to ascertain whether the individual does indeed wish to be referred. At the current time, housing associations enrolled in the Fife Housing Register may only contact DPHS after they have searched the FHR for a suitable match. If non exists they may then approach DPHS to double check that noone has been missed, or if there is a priority case awaiting pointing, etc. Other housing associations who do not use FHR may choose to approach DPHS if there is no suitable match coming up on their own housing list. This may sometimes mean our worker choosing to approach an applicant who has a neighbouring town or village down as a choice or to approach someone who has listed “anywhere in Fife” if the property is physically suitable for them. Currently this choice is not available to searches on the FHR and DPHS(F) is working to raise awareness that for special needs properties this would be extremely helpful.
Referrals to Other Agencies
DPHS(Fife) provide independent housing information and advice. If staff judge that a customer may be more effectively assisted by working with another agency then the customer will be offered information about that agency. If agreeable a FORT referral will be made, otherwise the responsibility to follow up on any suggestion will rest with the customer. Where it is judged that joint working may be useful then the Caseworker will suggest this and work together with another agency e.g. Housing Support Worker; Advocacy Worker to progress the customer’s case.
Confidentiality
A referral is never made without customer consent and DPHS(F) will take great care to be non judgemental and mindful of any information shared with other agencies. From time to time information may be disclosed which cannot be kept confidential to our agency and this information is laid out in our Working With Children Policy.
Community Profile Reports
The local authority contacts DPHS(F) from time to time to request community profiling information for certain areas of Fife. This informs them of particular need – for example if there are a lot of people over age 60 looking for accessible property in a certain area, they may then make the decision to develop more amenity housing on a site. This does not count as a referral as no personal details are given in these reports. The profiling consists of particular tabled information to give the development teams a picture of need for particular geographical areas.
RECORDING AND TRACKING
All referrals made on behalf of a customer are tracked via their customer record on the database. Certain items linked to National Standards are tracked statistically for reporting purposes – e.g. how many referrals made/information given related to debt.

A chart “What Can I Expect?” is available which illustrates actions from referral onwards.


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