The “In’s” and “Out’s” of Inclusion/ Exclusion Policies Carolyn Petitgout Iowa COMPASS Iowa City, Iowa carolyn-petitgout@uiowa.edu

about us Iowa COMPASS Disability I&R Serving state of Iowa 7 staff Over 1300 agencies/1650 sites in database Assisted over 1400 individuals first 3 quarters 8,767 information searches on website Disability I&R that serves the whole state of Iowa. Started in 1986, in the most recent years we used proprietary software and in October 2011 we switched to using RTM’s Refer Resource Module. We have several funders throughout the state (including Iowa Medicaid Enterprise, Department of Human Services and Iowa Program for Assistive Technology). We have 1,304 Agencies, 1658 Sites. 2.75 FTE’s in the database staff. (Agencies: 509/Sites: 582 FT, Agencies: 474/Sites: 571 FT, Agencies: 314/Sites: 488 PT). We have 1.5 FTE’s in the Information Specialist Staff. (7 staff total) Over the course of the first three quarters (July 1, 2012 ‐ March 31, 2013: 3rd Quarter), Iowa COMPASS assisted 1,434 individuals, mostly by phone and email. Additionally, a total of 8,767 information searches were completed on the public website using the Iowa COMPASS search tools.

background The most important questions* for us: Iowa COMPASS Who does COMPASS serve? (population and geography) What are inquirers calling about? What are the priority areas within staff time limits? The most important questions* for us: What we considered before diving into the IE pool: Questions to consider while developing an Inclusion Exclusion policy: Who does COMPASS serve? (population and geography) What are inquirers calling about? Consider call data and/or focus groups for community needs? If existing staff cannot properly maintain all of the required data, what are the priority areas? Two new database members led the project for COMPASS (including myself) *Personalized questions from the ABC’s of I&R

advantages Legitimacy Consistency Framework Time-saving Iowa COMPASS Why we wanted an IE Policy Most important (amongst many) advantages of a formally documented inclusion/exclusion policy for us: (From the ABC’s of I&R, 2013 edition, SECTION 21: Resource Database | Inclusion and Exclusion Policy | page 463) A formal policy: Assures consistency of database content. Legitimizes decisions. (The availability of written criteria makes it possible to demonstrate that objective decisions have been made in cases where there are complaints from agencies that have been excluded, or protests from those who object to the fact that a particular organization has been included.) Eases the assessment of case-by-case decision-making on the part of Resource Specialists as they can check off written criteria. Provides a framework for determining the scope of service and scale of resources that can be maintained by the resource department to meet AIRS Standards. From the ABC’s of I&R, 2013 edition, SECTION 21: Resource Database | Inclusion and Exclusion Policy | page 463

“Every day guide for staff…” Iowa COMPASS purpose “Every day guide for staff…” Explain how we use the policy at Compass Available on our website for public knowledge and usage if desired every day guide for database staff to know what should or should not be included in terms of services offered by every agency we maintain, as well as whether or not an existing agency in the database stays or goes and if an agency requesting conclusion can get in

process Iowa COMPASS Length of time Meetings Exclusion heavy start Changed to inclusion heavy Conclusions list Long-term benefits Explain length of time and staff involved (include background that we had no formal policy prior to this, just a list of things people decided they did or did not want to keep with some loose following of AIRS guidelines roughly added in), explain meetings (include meeting series prep and tracking (audio and extensive note taking), explain started with exclusion heavy and changed to inclusion heavy (one by one went through items and had to make them make sense in the opposite sense), explain conclusions list, explain having to contact agencies that had just submitted their yearly updated that they no longer met inclusion, explain benefits of the long process afterwards.

Iowa COMPASS I/E Tips: Our policy can be found online here: http://www.iowacompass.org/inclusionpolicy.pdf Recommended reading: Setting Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: Determining the Scope of a Resource File Dick Manikowski, Detroit Public Library http://www.airs.org/files/public/inclusion_exclusion.pdf Consider excluding services that are already kept by another I&R agency in order to avoid duplication of effort.