By All Referral Sources

The primary operation of the Recovery Navigator Program is engaging with at-risk individuals either through referrals via various community sources or boots-on-the-ground outreach. The data is representing engagements. Each engagement is with an individual, though an individual can have multiple engagements over the reporting period.

Gather operated the RNP for 16 months while Destination Hope & Recovery had 7 months of data at the time of my request. I've decided to include all of Gather's data for a few reasons:

1. The program was brand new and undeveloped across the entire state when Gather began. It's obvious from the data and monthly reports that it took time to develop the staffing, data collection, processes, and other bootstrapping tasks before the program was fully operational.
2. The quantity/activity of engagements is of lesser importance than the outcome and case management that engagments drove.
3. The engagements ended up being close to equal between the two programs for the given timeframe.

Referrals vs Outreach

According to the Recovery Navigator Program Uniform Program Standards:

There are two types of referrals into RNP: point of contact referrals by law enforcement and social contact referrals by law enforcement, service providers, community members, and friends/family. The RNP will prioritize a response to law enforcement calls in the beginning stages of program implementation

Furthermore, the Uniform Program Standards define "Outreach" as:

Meeting people where they are physically and mentally at to engage in conversation and extend program offerings. Services are mobile and integrate teleservices when applicable. This includes identification of historically underserved and marginalized individuals and engagement of these individuals in assessment and ongoing supportive services as necessary.

Data Reporting Changes

There is a 3x to 5x increase in recorded enagements for Gather starting March 2023. At first, I thought this was related to perhaps local community issues that occurred in March, like the OYO being closed, the Blakeslee encampment catching fire, etc. There was also a new RNP outreach worker brought on, but he was a replacement, not an increase. Without any obvious explanation as to why more engagements were being recorded, I reached out to Troy Westergard, Derek Shaughnessey, and Graziela Gonzalez, all RNP outreach/case workers for Gather. They discussed that after a Great Rivers training session, they realized they should be recording ALL enagements in their field work rather than just what they considered to be case management. This means that things such as conversations, phone calls, getting food for clients, and more, had previously not been reported. The intent is to capture any work done, including relationship building engagements.

Referral Status of Engagements

Below is a stacked bar chart, the length of each bar is the total of engagements by referral status (i.e. source) and the division of color is the count of engagements per provider.

Referral Analysis

As you can see by the data, the primary referral source for Gather Church engagements were "Outreach" and "Social Contact" while Destination Hope & Recovery's primary referral sources for engagements were "Law Enforcement- Social Contact Referral" and "Community Based Organization".

Side by side comparison per source

The following chart allows the comparison of the engagements regarding referral status with each provider having a separate bar per category.

Gather Engagements by Referral Source

DHR Engagements by Referral Source

What is the data saying?

The breakdown of engagements by referral indicates that Gather Church encountered individuals with a referral via outreach or social contact. The primary engagements by Destination Hope & Recovery indicate interaction with individuals with a referral via law enforcement or a community based organization.

While the RNP program is meant to prioritize law enforcement referrals starting out, as it focuses primarily on a demographic that is at risk for legal system contact and/or arrests from law enforcement, I think a case could also be made that encountering someone at risk before and/or outside the auspices of law enforcement perhaps may work more effectively in building the necessary trust that future case management and success depends on.

I believe reflection on the outcomes of engagements by referal may show that outreach and social contact produce more consistent and fruitful engagement.