From the Case Conferencing Action Pack

Set target move-in dates

• Set target move-in dates — GAME CHANGER 🔥Target move-in dates take your case conferencing practice from coordination to system improvement
  • When a client moves in by the target date,congratulate the case manager—and ask what we can learn from this successful process.
  • Invite providers to indicate early on when a client is not ‘on track’ for their target move-in date. Engage the group to problem solve in order to meet that goal
  • Make it an occasion for learning when a client does not move in by the target date. Ask the case manager follow-up questions: What went differently than they expected, what can we as a team learn from it, what can we try differently now, what’s new target move-in date makes sense, and how can we all support them in housing the client?
    
• Change to “Target Milestone Date” if helpful: For clients who may be multiple months away from housing, instead adopt a “target milestone date.” You might consider “target match date” or any process step that makes sense in your context. This move is useful if your discussion is limited to an earlier part of the housing process.
  
• Prepare your team to adopt target move-in dates: Explain your rationale for trying target move-in dates. The date is basically a prediction, and predictions create opportunities for learning about how the system works. Predictions also create commitment and ownership,
  • If your team is unsure about this practice, try re-framing the operative question. “If we make a push to house this client, what is the earliest date we could do it?” Reassure your team that this is an exercise with the goal of self-challenging and motivation rather than blame or pointing out failure.
    
• Start a learning loop: Once you begin setting target move-in dates, observe results. Are certain processes or obstacles consistently delaying target dates? Are capacity issues freezing up some case managers? Scope an improvement project to change the recurring issues that arise. If team members predict move-in dates that are drastically different from the eventual result, or if your target dates are set excessively far in the future, then these are signals leading you to new improvement work.
  
• Forecast progress to goals: Sort your list by target move-in dates to forecast if you are on track to meet housing placement goals. If you planned to house eight clients in February but count only six target move-in dates, then discuss it with your team and look for new changes to try.

Ask questions that provoke action and problem solving

• Try a basic facilitation flow:
  • 1. State the client’s name and the previous “next step”
  • 2. Ask what action has been taken to house the client since then
  • 3. Define the largest obstacle the client is facing this week
  • 4. Record a new next step to move them closer to housing
  • 5. Record or edit the target move-in date
    
• Start with the previous next steps: “At the last meeting you said that you would do ____ with this client. How did that go?”
  • If the next step happened, ask about the result and what the new next step should be. If applicable, call attention to any new learning that the team can be gleaned from what worked.
  • If the next step did not happen as planned, ask questions like “What happened instead?” or “What diverted it from going as planned?” Use it as an occasion to learn about your system and plan the next step.
    
• When you hear a commitment or next step, restate it to confirm, and ask for a by-when date. Ensure that the note taker is recording it.
  
• Redirect to solutions: A great idea may be disguised as a mundane update or barrier, so listen for pathways to solutions and use these to reflect back a possible next step. When appropriate, encourage others who are not this client’s case manager to offer ideas or support on action steps.
  
• Consider who is best to facilitate: Great facilitators are ready to lead the group to action. They enter the room with ideas about how to shape the experience. When the conversation isn’t delivering results, they take charge and try something new.

Ask follow-up questions that move the meeting forward

• “What is your theory of what needs to happen, from A to Z, in order for this person to move into housing?”
  
• “What obstacle in our system are they facing this week?”
  
• “What is your next step in housing them?”
  
• An essential question for long-stayers: “What is one thing we haven’t tried yet that we can try this week?”
  
• “What is one way we can speed up this step?”
  
• “Who can we pull in to help generate new options?”
  
• Grow multi-agency teamwork: Listen for opportunities to pull in help for a specific action step. For example, if one case manager is having a hard time locating a unit for a client, ask if staff from a different program can help with housing navigation.
  
• Engage resistant providers by asking for help with a specific action step: They may be hesitant to take part in larger initiatives but ready to collaborate if it means housing a client faster or easier.

Use notes to establish commitment and create accountability

• Ask someone who is not the facilitator to take notes.
  
• Ensure that each commitment or action step is recorded and shared. Include a date! Recording commitments is an essential step to building accountability.
  
• Share notes immediately after the meeting ends so that participants have a record of their and others’ commitments.
  
• Record notes in purposefully created columns on the by-name list instead of a catch-all Notes area. (See Optimize your By-Name List for case conferencing: Create fields to capture learning and commitments.)
  
• Establish a customary place and time to post notes so that participants know what to expect. Make sure that they’re posted in a format and location that all key stakeholders can access (i.e. VAMC employees cannot access Google Docs)
  
• Pick up from where you left off: Use notes from the previous meeting to expedite conversations in today’s meeting. Cut out repetition except where intentional.
  
• Calendar next steps on the spot: At the end of each meeting, allow participants a few minutes to summarize the next steps they have committed to taking. Afterwards, guide participants to add them to their calendars or to-do lists.

Set the time and place responsively

• Meet more than once a month. Virtual meetings count! The reality is that teams that meet for case conferencing only once a month find it difficult to achieve breakthrough results.
  
• Reduce the duration to keep meetings brief and focused. Case conferencing isn’t your catch-all meeting to figure out every bit of coordination; it’s a time to creatively move people through your housing system! Many teams schedule it for one hour. If it’s 90 minutes or two hours, work to keep it action-oriented—and evaluate your practice carefully to make sure that long meeting is delivering results.
  
• Balance duration and number of clients: Given your goals for case conferencing, consider what information or decisions need to be exchanged for each client, how long that will take, and how many clients you can productively discuss in a single meeting. Avoid covering too many clients in a single meeting, or you’ll find yourself stuck in updates mode! If you have more clients than time allows, consider how to prioritize them in a way that helps you meet your team goals.
  
• Change meeting frequency to weekly or biweekly, depending on your team’s needs and urgency level in a given season. As your system stabilizes at a low actively homeless number, you may scale back to less frequent meetings.

Sequence or divide your list

• Divide your meeting into two parts in order to drive focus: In part 1, discuss only clients who are already matched to a resource. Announce that the operative question is How can we house this person faster? In part 2, discuss only clients who are not yet matched to a resource. Shift the operative question to What resources or strategy can we put together to help this person get housed?
  
• Create multiple meetings to address different parts of the housing process: One community holds a meeting to discuss clients who need outreach or resource matches, then the next week their meeting focuses only on clients who need housing navigation. Figure out which process steps you can isolate and structure your meeting around.
  
• Create multiple meetings to address different sub-regions: With a big list, try conferencing through smaller lists focused on smaller areas. Avoid duplicating clients across parallel meetings if you can.
  
• Vary the order: At the next meeting, use a different list sequence or portion of the list. You don’t have to do it the same way every time! Use this tactic strategically in order to break out of “updates mode,” but be careful to avoid creating confusion, and give attendees a heads-up if your new facilitation will require different preparation.
  
• Discuss clients from highest to lowest vulnerability score.
  
• Discuss clients by length of time on the by-name list.
  
• Discuss clients by age of match.