iCarol is your help line software company that is here to make your job easier as Executive Director or leader of a non-profit contact center. Whether you have a crisis, help or 211 referral line, we are here to help you help more people in your community. Read more...
iCarol is excited to exhibit at the National Council on Aging’s (NCOA) Age+Action virtual conference and tradeshow June 7-10.
Since 1950 NCOA has been a vocal advocate for older adults in the United States. Among their accomplishments is ending mandatory retirement, advocating to secure Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act, and supporting local organizations as they serve older adults in their communities each day. NCOA provides trusted, unbiased information that enables older adults and their caregivers to take small steps that make big impact on their health and financial security.
We at iCarol share NCOA’s vision of a just and caring society in which each person lives with dignity, purpose, and security as they age. We believe in their mission of improving the lives of millions of older adults, especially those who are members of under-served and vulnerable populations. We believe in NCOA’s goal to impact the health and economic security of 40 million older adults by 2030, especially women, people of color, LGBTQ+, low-income, and rural individuals. Like NCOA, iCarol believes that aging well for all is a matter of equity, dignity, and justice.
At the conference, we look forward to connecting with professionals who serve older adults and their caregivers and providing them with information on how iCarol can help them achieve their missions. Our virtual booth will have information about how iCarol empowers ADRCs, AAAs, and Senior Information Lines, and other services for older adults, individuals with disabilities, and their caregivers to:
Provide social connection and ease loneliness through Telephone Reassurance Programs
Meet people on preferred communication channels
Collaborate with Community-Based Organizations to address Social Determinants of Health
Participate in Health/Community Information Exchanges and No Wrong Door initiatives
Provide comprehensive I&R, Closed-Loop referral and collect outcome data
Document information included on reimbursement requests
Integrate with other software and systems
If you’re attending the Age + Action conference, be sure to visit the iCarol virtual booth to learn more, download the resources we have available, and contact us with your questions!
This Wednesday through Friday, members of our team will attend sessions at the American Association of Suicidology Conference, and we will also host a booth in the virtual exhibit hall.
The conference is a convergence of professionals working across the spectrum of the suicide prevention industry, from those operating crisis centers and other direct care services, to professionals working in academic settings conducting suicide prevention research, and advocates focused on prevention, education and awareness.
So we can continue to stay ahead of the topics that most impact iCarol’s customers, on Wednesday Dana will attend the Crisis Continuum pre-conference program, which concludes with a session on network updates and future directions for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network.
Having supported crisis centers since the earliest days of the Lifeline network, and serving a large portion of the network that are iCarol customers, we have witnessed the Lifeline’s growth year after year, both in the number of participating centers and the volume of contacts the Lifeline receives through calls, chats, and other forms of communication. At this year’s update we’re anticipating the latest news from the 988 transition plan and how that will affect members of the Lifeline network. We’re also closely following the continuing conversations on how communities are changing their practices around responding to mental health emergencies and similar crises, with a shift towards crisis intervention teams and other professionals leading the response as opposed to law enforcement.
These discussions directly inform iCarol’s strategy and product development in the coming months and years, which ensures we will continue to meet the needs of suicide prevention and crisis centers everywhere, providing the tools they need to do their life-saving work.
If you plan to be at the AAS Conference, please stop by our virtual booth to download our new guides and materials, including a brand new ebook on choosing software for crisis intervention and suicide prevention services. We’ll also be available for virtual meetings at your convenience to answer your questions, or have conversations about your challenges or projects and explore how iCarol can be of assistance.
Around the nation there are conversations happening about public safety as it pertains to emergency response where it involves situations of mental health crisis. Who are the appropriate entities to respond to 911 calls for someone in a mental health crisis?
Legislation has been introduced in New York State, Daniel’s Law, that would establish both state and regional mental health response councils which would permit mental health professionals to respond to mental health and substance abuse emergencies.
This legislation is modeled after a program in Eugene, Oregon, CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets), developed in 1989, that takes an innovative, community-based public safety approach to provide mental health first response for crises involving mental illness, homelessness, and addiction.
We believe 211s and Crisis Lines are an integral part of this conversation.
We are planning to host a conversation on this topic and would like to hear from you regarding what actions your organizations are currently taking and what kind of additional support iCarol could provide to assist you in responding to 911 calls in these situations.
Please
email us if you are interested in sharing your ideas or plans related to this topic, or if you are simply interested in participating in these conversations.
With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH) in partnership with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), is launching the Learning and Action in Policy and Partnerships (LAPP) program. LAPP will provide award opportunities to community organizations who are partnered with their state government to advance community-led programs focused on data-sharing efforts to improve health, equity and well-being.
Five awardees will receive $100,000 each to:
(a) engage partners to advance existing data-sharing or data-integration efforts;
(b) systematically share data across sectors (e.g., social services, public health, and health care); and (c) build relationships among community and state partners to inform decision-making and strengthen systems that support community goals for improved health, well-being and equity.
In the second year of the LAPP Program, additional funding and support may become available, based on successful completion of program objectives and deliverables.
Planning to apply? We can help!
If you plan to expand your data-integration or sharing efforts and are considering this award as a way to fund that project, please contact us. iCarol offers a number of ways to harness your data, with other iCarol users and with partners and with those who use different solutions. Let’s get together to discuss your potential project to see which of our many data sharing solutions might work for you in an effort to obtain this funding!
Click here for more information about the LAPP program
The Objective
Facilitate aligned efforts among multi-sector community and state partners that will build a foundation for sustainable policy and systems change. The purpose of LAPP is to offer awardees targeted funds and direct technical assistance to build the capacity of their community’s data ecosystem to initiate, strengthen, and leverage relationships with the state government to improve health, well-being, and equity outcomes. The award will provide access to funding and support to advance an existing, clearly defined project that aims to improve health, well-being, and equity with a policy or systems-change lens for sustainable impact.
To be eligible for the LAPP grant you must be a member of All In. If you’re new to All In, the first step to join is to sign up for the online community (www.allindata.org) and create an individual member profile.
Timeline
Informational webinar: October 26, 12:00 PM ET 2020
Application deadline: December 16th, 3:30 PM EDT 2020
Awardees notified: January 2021
Awards initiated: January-February 2021
Awards end: February 2022
Final reports and deliverables due: March 2022
President Donald Trump recently signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act into law in the United States, a move celebrated by mental health and suicide prevention advocates. The act assigns 9-8-8 as a national, three-digit number dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health crisis response. The number will become active and available in 2022.
This law signals a recognition that mental health crises are just as important and deserve the same emergency response as the medical emergencies which are reported to their own national three-digit number, 9-1-1.
The law does not create a new service, as the US already has a national number for suicide prevention. Instead, this new law creates a the pathway for a new, easier way for people to reach existing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services available through the existing Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), a service provided by a network of about 170 local crisis centers around the country.
Once three-digit dialing is activated in 2022, experts anticipate that call volume to the crisis centers will increase. The new law creates funding and resources for local crisis centers that will enable them to meet this demand. And, similar to nominal fees charged that support 9-1-1 services, the law will give states the authority to levy fees on wireless bills to support the 9-8-8 service.
The iCarol team applauds Congress and the President of the United States for making three-digit dialing for suicide prevention a reality after years of advocacy by mental health and suicide prevention experts. We have no doubt that the establishment of 9-8-8 will make it easier for people in crisis to reach assistance and receive help. As the software provider for many of the Lifeline crisis centers, iCarol pledges to monitor the progress of 9-8-8 activation, and provide assistance and support to our customers throughout this process.
The Government of Canada recently approved funding that will expand 211 services to the entire country.
With this investment, residents of Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador will now be able to call 211 and reach trained specialists that can direct them to critical government and community-based health and social services in their community. 211 has been available in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and most of Quebec.
The Canadian 211 service offers listening support, information and referral assistance on a variety of topics including mental health and addiction, employment, food insecurity, financial instability, disaster response, services for older adults and those with disabilities, and a number of other topics. With specialists able to listen, assess needs and eligibility, and then direct consumers to all appropriate services to meet those needs during a single interaction, 211 serves as a front door or “one stop shop” for those seeking services and mitigates the stress on individuals and families facing a crisis.
The funding expansion is related to the country’s COVID-19 response. During the first wave of Coronavirus infections in the country, 211 centres across Canada saw a dramatic increase in the number of people reaching out for assistance. Call volume increased by 31% and website visits increased by 45% in the March to August timeframe.
iCarol is proud to partner with 211 Canada by providing software solutions that 211 centres use to document interactions with help seekers, curate information about community services and share those resources with consumers, collaborate with community-based organizations, manage their staff and schedules, and more. iCarol applauds the Government of Canada for investing in these services that Canadians need now more than ever before.
iCarol recently welcomed Parents Anonymous® to our family of customers. Founded in 1969, Parents Anonymous® delivers meaningful parent leadership, effective mutual support, Successful Shared Leadership®, and long-term personal growth and change for parents, children and youth, through their numerous programs.
Parents Anonymous® adopted iCarol software for use in their National Parent Helpline, which provides parents with emotional support from trained Advocates, to help them become empowered and stronger parents. Parents Anonymous® also operates the California Parent & Youth Helpline® which was launched in partnership with California Governor Gavin Newsom as part of his initiative to address the impacts of COVID-19.
As parents navigate new and difficult challenges, Parents Anonymous® has expanded the helpline’s hours of operation and the types of helpline services available to meet parents’ needs while coping with the impacts of COVID-19. The iCarol software has helped Parents Anonymous® carefully collect critical data that enables them to deliver services and conduct necessary reporting. They are using iCarol’s integrated SMS/Texting capabilities to meet parents on the convenient communication channels they need most while kids’ normal routines are disrupted and parents are juggling varied and competing responsibilities. Parents Anonymous® has made it even easier for parents to reach them by text-enabling their existing, well-known national helpline number, allowing parents to text the same familiar number that is used for voice calls. And connecting parents with the resources and referrals they need is now a streamlined process, regardless of whether a parent reaches them by phone or SMS/Texting, thanks to iCarol’s integrated resource and referral database.
Now, more than ever, parents need emotional support, education, and information, and so we are honored and proud to be working with this premier family strengthening organization. For more information about Parents Anonymous® visit www.parentsanonymous.org.
The AIRS Conference is one of our favorite events of the year, so we’re very excited to take part in their virtual event beginning today. While things are a bit different this year, we are thrilled to see how resilient and adaptive the I&R community has been in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst handling a record number of requests for their services the organizations and professionals in this space have found ways to innovate and reach even more people, often while working remotely.
For agencies serving older adults and those with disabilities, another industry highly active at this conference, they serve a population that is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, who still require social connections and other services while maintaining social distance. Aging organizations have stepped up in amazing ways to provide consistency and reassurance.
Of course, it’s really no surprise to us that these industries have been so responsive to unprecedented challenges – 2-1-1s and I&R professionals are famous for their ability to find creative solutions to almost any challenge!
At our booth this week we have lots of information to share about our *NEW* iCarol features that empower 2-1-1s and other I&R services to:
Document data needed to submit reimbursement requests
Meet people on preferred communication channels
Collaborate with Community-Based Organizations to address Social Determinants of Health
Participate in CIE and No Wrong Door initiatives
Integrate with other software and systems
Provide Closed-Loop referral and collect outcome data
In the weeks, months, and even years ahead, communities will continue to face hardships around finances, housing, employment, food insecurity, and access to healthcare as a result of this pandemic. We hope during these busy few days of virtually learning at AIRS attendees will find time to stop by our 2-1-1 services booth or Older Adult and Disability services booth and learn about all the latest solutions iCarol has to offer to help 2-1-1s, Aging and Disability services, and other Information and Referral centers meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
We’re very excited to announce that iCarol is adding some brand new, big features to our software on August 19!
ReferralQ
ReferralQ and Capacity Tracking enables you to document and track your partner Community-Based Organization’s (CBO) capacity to accept referrals, and update a help-seeker’s status as they work with your partner so you can obtain valuable outcome information. You’ll be able to:
Assign a help seeker to one or more wait lists/referral queues for services to meet their needs
Update a person’s wait list or queue status
Track how long someone has been waiting for services
Prioritize which help-seekers need attention first, determined by your own internal business practices
And much more!
If you subscribe to ReferralQ, you’ll have the option to add on a Provider Portal. TThe Provider Portal complements ReferralQ by inviting your CBO partners secure, direct access to view and update authorized ReferralQ information. With the Provider Portal your CBO partners can input their program’s capacity to take referrals, obtain Contact Record or Intake information about the help-seekers referred to them, and update the status of a referred help-seeker as they work with the CBO. They can:
Obtain and review the referrals you made to them from wait lists
Input live updates on their program’s capacity
Update the statuses of referred help seekers
The wire frame below illustrates an example workflow for organizations that may wish to use ReferralQ and the Provider Portal.
These features are coming to iCarol in Q4 of 2020, but now is a great time to ask your questions and talk to us about using these features at your organization!
In May, our Support Team began offering monthly training webinars. These training sessions will be consistently held on the third Wednesday of each month at 2pm EDT.
Our topic for July 15, 2020 at 2pm EDT is Advanced Reporting: Statistics – Analysis Area.
The goal of this training is to help iCarol users:
Understand what data is included in each Chart Type in Analysis area
Learn how to use the Filters and Tools available in the Analysis area, including:
Call (Contact) Content Filters
Standard Filters
Total Distinct Calls
Click here to see Contact Records that match these filters
Saved Chart Type
Drilling into charts
Exporting chart data to csv files
Consider different use cases for the various Chart Types, Filters, and Tools available
The Monthly Support Trainings are available exclusively to iCarol customers. To sign up, please sign into your iCarol system and navigate to the iCarol Help Center, where the registration link is provided in the Announcements area.
