Practice Guidance for Outreach Calls & Texts

OhioKAN staff will respond to interested individuals with a warm empathetic tone and the practices established in the OhioKAN Navigator Practice Profile, which can be found below in Staffing Resources. To reduce barriers to access and build trust, the tone of the outreach conversation should be informal. The OhioKAN Staff member will begin the conversation by introducing themselves and the OhioKAN program, asking open-ended questions, allowing the person to express the reason they wanted to be contacted, then verbally summarizing and checking back with the person to ensure the initial reason for the call is clearly understood. Over the course of this conversation, OhioKAN staff will listen and document why the person wanted to connect with OhioKAN and any other relevant information in the data system.

  • If the interested individual would like to receive OhioKAN services staff will move directly to screening. After eligibility is established, OhioKAN staff will move on to the BASICS or schedule an appointment to complete the BASICS.
  • If the interested individual would like to learn more about the program, staff will respond to their questions to the best of their abilities and will send promotional materials or connect them with regional staff via email as needed.

In addition to kinship and adoptive families, nonprofit professionals and community service providers may call OhioKAN for general information about the program. Depending on the information needs of the caller, the OhioKAN staff may immediately answer questions, provide information about how families can access OhioKAN services, send printed or electronic informational materials, and/or arrange for a presentation of the OhioKAN program to a group or organization.