Intake to Attorney

 In 2009, LHMS served 7,187 clients with 11, 241 legal matters  Demand has risen every year since 2000  Approximately 20% of the calls to the hotline do not become clients  Ineligible for services  Looking for information on other services  The call of last resort  Forgetful callers

IntakeAppointmentAttorney

 Developed Shared Database  All hotline staff keep open all day  Has list of available appointments  Intake can copy & paste information on case from case management system into appointment record  Attorney immediately sees it  Has process for sending messages to everyone built in

 Appointment Schedule  3 hour shifts (9-12 and 1-4)  4 appointments specifically assigned to each shift  2 “additional appointments” scheduled to be shared for each shift  Use Fridays to catch up on any overflow of calls (intake closed on Fridays)  Don’t schedule more than 48 hours out

 Intake Staffing  Use various staffing sources to keep costs to a minimum  Work-study  Title V  Volunteer  Michigan Work First program  Staff does intake for all ELM programs, so fixed costs are shared  Requires very structured process and resources, as well as thorough and continuous training  Requires constant quality control and supervision

Intake Screens for eligibility Opens case and enters all demographic information Gets short statement of the problem Appointment Attorneys are available for 3-hour blocks of time, not specific appointments Client name, case number, and case open date copied into database Attorney is assigned to case in case management system Attorney Retrieves appointments from database Calls client back Enters status of call into database

 Easier to handle fluctuating call volume  Attorneys focus only on assisting the clients  Effective screening for persons we are unable to help  Able to control attorney costs when call volume is down  Able to handle call volume when someone is sick or on vacation  Clients don’t have to navigate a phone tree and speak to a person very quickly  Intake staff can assist with other administrative functions

 Staffing turnover and costs  Making sure we don’t schedule more than 48 hours out  Staffing for peak call volume days (Monday and Tuesday)  Making sure intake staff don’t get burned out from answering phone all day

 Intake opened cases and attorneys just went down the list calling back  Have a set number of slots each shift without assigning any attorney  Only making appointments after there were no free attorneys to transfer the calls to

 Number of appointments per shift  Length of shift  What we say to clients  Amount of information collected through intake interview  Process for handling emergencies