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Join the webinar to learn about the 211US Mystery Call Train, a program ensuring consistent high-quality 2-1-1 services nationwide. Discover the challenges and findings from the mystery calls and how they help improve the service.
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A 2-1-1 US Webinar Get on Board the Mystery Call Train
Presenters Amy Latzer 211 LA County Bob McKown Heart of Michigan United Way Tino Paz United Way Worldwide Clive Jones AIRS
211US: Excellent. Everywhere. And Always. 211US is how we work together to advance 211: • Originated as partnership between AIRS and UWW • Evolved with statewide 211 entities and individual 211 centers • Guided by a 16-member steering committee • State 211 Directors and Steering Committee each meet monthly • Seeks to ensure 211 is excellent, everywhere and always
211US: Excellent. Everywhere. And Always. Excellent. 2-1-1 services will be of a consistent high quality and driven by national standards Everywhere. 2-1-1 will be available to 100% of the population no matter where they live or what type of telecommunications device they use.
211US: Excellent. Everywhere. And Always. And Always. 2-1-1 will be available 24/7 whenever people need to call and the 2-1-1 number will become a permanent part of the human services landscape and national consciousness.
211US: Excellent. Everywhere. And Always. Some of the 211US Volunteer Work Groups are: • Public Policy • Disaster Response • Telecommunications • 2-1-1 State Directors • Resource Development … and … • Quality Assurance
211US: Quality Assurance Group Chair: Amy Latzer (211 LA County) Current Members: • Betty Creary (211 San Francisco) • Bob McKown (Heart of West Michigan 211) • Carol Wood (211 Finger Lakes, New York) • Cristina Almedeo/ Shannon Heneghan (211 Rhode Island) • Frank Isaza (211 Broward County, Florida), • Joe Dildine (First Call for Help 211, Napoleon, Ohio), • Karen Turgeon (211 Maine), • Matt Cordray (Heartline211, Oklahoma)
211US: Quality Assurance Group “Let’s call every 2-1-1 in the country, ask them all the same question, measure the responses and see what we find.”
2-1-1 Mystery Call Purposes • Establish a baseline • Develop some expectations that should be common • Not report on individual agencies – just report on aggregate findings (not typical of any one person at one center at one time – but a reasonable reflection of service across the span of 2-1-1
2-1-1 Mystery Call Logistics • Settling on a simple scenario (which had to be an “I-am-calling-from-out-state” situation) • Creating a reasonable “What should we expect” guide for call makers • Recruiting volunteer call makers
2-1-1 Mystery Call Logistics • Obtaining phone numbers for all 211 services • Developing online reporting mechanism • Testing the assessment tool • Making the calls and getting through
2-1-1 Mystery Call Completion Challenges • Getting through to some services • Calling a statewide phone system but wanting a particular place • ZIP Code blues • In the end, about 205 completed calls over a 4 week period in October 2010
2-1-1 Mystery Call Scenario • What was the scenario and what were the guidelines for the volunteer call makers ?
Pre-call Preparation(Instructions to mystery call volunteers) • You will receive a list of agencies to call, a file that contains the monitoring sheet and a link to the online survey for entering the call results • Print out copies of the monitoring sheet as you will be completing this with pen/paper during and following the call • Use www.211.org to look up the 1-800 or 10-digit number for the call centres assigned • Find a ZIP code for the city in question (use Google)
Pre-call Preparation(Instructions to mystery call volunteers) • Call during normal business hours. Be wary of timezones • You’ll need a watch with a second hand • Try not to use “inside” words such as referrals • Try not to prompt the Specialist to ask the right questions, let the Specialist lead • Use comments to sum up important things that can’t be captured adequately in the Yes/No sections
Caller Script (feel free to paraphrase into own words) • “Hi, I am calling for my aunt. She moved to _________ about two years ago and recently became a widow. She doesn’t have any family in the area and is starting to have some problems making ends meet. I was talking with her yesterday and she asked me about whether she could get some help with her groceries. Is there any help she can get?”
2-1-1 Mystery Call Expectations What were we looking for? • Initial Greeting • Clarification • Assessment • Referral Provision • Closing
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Initial Greeting • “Good afternoon. Thanks you for calling Hometown 2-1-1. My name is Simone. How can I help you?” • A good greeting should include: • an actual greeting • the name of the agency (so that the caller knows they have landed at the right place • the person’s name (not mandatory but recommended -- the calls where the I&R Specialist shared their own name scored much higher than the ones where the Specialist was anonymous) • the fact that this is a 2-1-1 service (for awareness) • and an invitation to help (this is the caller’s cue that you are ready to listen …
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Clarification (After hearing the basic situation …“Hi, I am calling for my aunt. She moved to Hometown about two years ago and recently became a widow. She doesn’t have any family in the area and is starting to have some problems making ends meet. I was talking with her yesterday and she asked me about whether she could get some help with her groceries. Is there any help she can get?”) … some clarification before launching into the assessment such as: • “So your aunt lives here and is looking for some help with her groceries and may be generally having some financial difficulties?” • This should also be asked after the assessment before the referral searching.
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Clarification Many Specialists eliminated this stage and went straight into the assessment. In some cases, they began to assess for something that had not been asked for and in a few instances, they sped away on the wrong track and never returned to the actual posed situation. For the callers, it was a point of personal reflection about how often they had themselves assumed they heard the purpose of the call and launched straight into it without first checking whether they understood what the client wanted. We all know this is I&R 101, yet it is easy to get into imperfect habits.
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Assessment Relevant questions may include: • How old is your aunt? • Do you know her ZIP code? (If not, what part of the city/town does she live?) • Does she have any mobility issues? (Is she able to get around OK? - Perhaps, does she have any transportation issues? … or, does she have any health concerns?) • Do you know whether she has applied for Food Stamps or is on any benefit programs? (If “no”, do you think she might be interested in applying?) (if “don’t know”, do you think she might be willing to give us a call herself and let us explore her situation in a bit more detail?) • Do you know whether she has ever used a food pantry? (Some I&R Specialists also explored her social situation, how was she doing on her own, did she have any friends, do you think she might be interested in … etc.)
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Assessment The caller did not know the aunt’s ZIP Code. It was disconcerting that in a few instances, the I&R Specialists said that they could not help and that they were only allowed to give information to people with a ZIP Code. Obviously this tended to result in referrals that were more general than specific (e.g. the larger food pantries in more central locations).
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Referral Provision “I am just going to search in our database for some programs that might be helpful … I will just be a minute” • This statement ensures that the caller knows that the I&R Specialist is still engaged with them. Sometimes the line just fell silent for a minute. As a fellow professional, the caller knew the I&R Specialist was searching for referral options, but a “real” caller would not …
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Referral Provision Here are some programs that you might want to tell your aunt about … (Depending on how the assessment went, the referrals should include some food pantries and maybe a financial assistance program such as SNAP …) The referral should generally include the: • Program name • Telephone number • Street address • Days/hours of operation • And in the case of a food pantry referral, the usually information about documentation and application method -- walk-in, phone first, etc.
Guide to what folks were generally looking for … Closing “Is that the type of information you were looking for?” and “I think it’s great that you are calling on her behalf, but let her know about us and encourage her to call herself. We are open 24/7 and we would be pleased to talk with her.” “Thanks for calling Hometown 2-1-1. Feel free to call us again if your aunt is not able to get the help she needs.” The standard invitation to call back if the referrals do not help was missing from many calls.
2-1-1 Mystery Call Results • What did we find?
2-1-1 Mystery Call Results This information is STRICTLY internal to the 2-1-1 movement for the purposes of improving quality. Do not distribute it outside of the movement.
2-1-1 Mystery Call Recommendations Some actions to consider: Talking around some of the issues would be a great subject for an extended team meeting. • “How are we doing this?” • “Can we do this better?” • “Would trying something new make a difference?”)
2-1-1 Mystery Call Recommendations • Set up your own volunteer-based mystery call project, perhaps team up with an adjoining 2-1-1 service • Call your own service and use this as a tool to capture the experience of your inquirer.
Mystery Calls and AIRS Accreditation • The new AIRS Accreditation criteria is now aligned with 6.0 of the AIRS Standards. • During the development process, the field expressed a need for more rigorous evaluation of the core of an I&R’s work – maintaining resource databases and answering calls from the public
Mystery Calls and AIRS Accreditation • As a result, the new criteria includes a mystery call process that takes place BEFORE the agency visit in order to provide feedback on any concerns. (The onsite review will still include a call listening portion)
2-1-1 Mystery Call Future Will we be doing it again in 2011? • Yes … different scenario, some changes in process but same assessment issues • Intention is to privately share results with each agency
Questions • How come … ? • What about … ? • So what if … ? • How should …?
