Transcript What is the role of the hotline in the program and in the

Part I: Vision & Goals
Build a Foundation
• There are many reasons to create a
hotline. Some have to do with client
access; some have to do with funding.
• The number one reason hotlines fail is
because the program and/or staff do not
recognize the goal of having a hotline and
its benefit for clients.
Vision
The backbone of leadership is vision.
Your vision for the Hotline guides all
decisions on support, design,
implementation, and management.
Vision
• Vision means you articulate
– How it will fit within your program’s mission
– How it will fit within your program’s delivery
system(s)
– Advantages and disadvantages of a hotline in
your program
– Impetus for creating hotline now
Role of Hotline in the
Program’s Mission
The hotline needs to have clear
reasons-for-being to be sustainable.
– Mission: How is the Hotline going to support the
mission of the program? What is the nexus
between starting a Hotline and the mission of the
work we do?
– Delivery Systems: How is the Hotline going to fit
into existing delivery systems, or change them.
Role of the Hotline
in the program & the delivery system
Gateway to services
Intake system
Service provider
Referral provider
Identifier of patterns and trends
Collector of data
Coordinate Services (in multi-program
environment)
Role of Hotline in Your State’s
Justice System
• How are pro se services perceived?
– If few or no pro se services are available in
your state or area, this may impact the ability
of the hotline to provide services, or may
dictate what kinds of services should be
prioritized. Wherever limited services exist,
you will notice that volume “overtaking” the
hotline. Example: family law matters.
Role of Hotline in Your State’s
Justice System
• Ethical Rules and Support from the Bar
– Unbundled Services
– Use of paralegals
– Ghostwriting
Planners need to be familiar with their
ethics rules regarding these issues and
review them with hotline staff.
Myths and Facts
• Every delivery system has pro’s and con’s.
• Your vision and leadership will determine
your ability to mitigate challenges and
build an effective system
• What are the perceptions of the Pro’s and
Con’s?
Advantages for Hotline
• One point of entry for client & Efficient
• Quicker decisions for clients: Yes or No
• Uniform intake standards -- higher quality of
intake and advice
• Cheaper: cost per case is lower after start-up
• Common supervision and intake decisions
• Frees up branch offices and full service staff
• Bridges rural inequities
• More clients served in more areas
• More exposure to client community
• Improves technology infrastructure for advocates
Perceptions of Disadvantages
• Expensive to start
• Loss of exposure to clients by advocates doing
full-rep
• Clients need representation not advice: a Hotline
gives more people service, but not in-depth
service.
• Diversion of staff time and resources into limited
service
• Less control over case acceptance or less
control over experienced issue-spotting
Pros Versus Cons?
An exact polarity of the pros and cons of a hotline, in
fact, does not exist.
A hotline or CIU is neither all these pros or all these
cons.
These are the issues that you need to consider in the
development of your hotline. Many options exist to
mitigate most concerns.
A successful hotline is the result of vision, the
assessment and addressing of these issues, and
leadership.
The Impetus for some Hotline
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Funding Cuts
Influx of Specific / Targeted Funding
LSC-initiatives / Mergers
Geographic Inequities (Equitable Service to
Rural Populations)
Larger Service Area
Speedier Decisions and Acceptance on Cases
Client Convenience
Improving Efficiency of Full Service Staff
Providing Advice in Expanded Areas
Increase Numbers Served
Exercise I: Mission and Goals
• What are the reasons your hotline is being
created?
• What are the main barriers to buy-in on
the mission and vision? What concerns
exist or are expressed as “cons”?
• Who is the leader of the effort?
Part II: Approaches for
Developing a Hotline
Major Decisions
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Define the Model
Define the Services
Determine the Staffing
Map Out Basic Operations
Articulate Goals for Clients, Staff, and
Administration
Services of Hotlines
Intake Screening: income eligibility, conflict checks, and
general case acceptance
Diagnosis of Legal Matter
Fact-Specific Advice to
All Callers or only Case-Eligible Callers
Brief Service Centralization
Pro Se Assistance
Providing Written Client Information
Directing Clients to Online or Written Resources
Improved and Targeted Referrals to Agencies
“Traffic” reports or Systemic problem identification
“Developing” Cases for Pro Bono Panel (hotline tells
client how to prep for meeting with lawyer)
Clients Served
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People eligible by legal problem type
People eligible by age
People eligible by income
Special needs?
Emergency cases?
 Seniors
 Limited English Proficient
 Some victims of domestic violence
 Specific legal matters that require specific handling
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Geographic Scope
• Local area
• Regional: Urban or Rural or Both?
• Statewide
Relationship to Other Legal
Services Providers
• Does it Serve One Program?
One office
Many offices
• Many Programs?
Include this in your vision to facilitate making it a
reality as you design and implement the hotline
Model of Hotline
• Stand-alone
• Within a legal services program
• Within another kind of program (e.g., bar
association)
(An important issue in this decision is the use of LSC
funds and how the hotline will comply with LSC
restrictions.)
Stand-alone Hotline
Legal Aid
Offices
Social
Services
Pro Bono
Attorneys
Title IIIB Legal
Services
Consumer
Agencies
Standalone
Advice, Brief
Service, Referrals
Health Insurance
Counseling
Long Term Care
Ombudsman
Low Fee
Attorneys
Hotline Intake Unit
(Single Office)
Clients Call In
Intake/ Screening
Advice
Referral
Brief Service
Full Service Unit
Centralized Intake Unit
(Multi-Office)
Office
Office
Office
HOTLINE
Intake, Screening,
Advice, Brief Services,
Referral
Office
Office
Office
Office
Office
Multi-Program Intake
Legal Aid
Offices
Title IIIB Legal
Services
Family Law
Programs
LSC
programs
Pro Bono
Project
Hotline
Intake, Advice,
Brief Service,
Referrals
Special
Population
Programs
Special issue
Programs
Call Routing and Flow
• Eligibility Screeners
• Handling Special Callers (LEP, DV, Elderly,
Emergencies)
• Call Back or Limited Call Back Systems
Basic Operations
• What are current hours of intake?
• What are intended hours?
Considerations?
• Shifts
Staffing and Productivity
Screener vs. Advocate
Which staffing model is more productive?
Factors
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Complexity of Necessary Screening
Range of priority subjects
Ratio of screeners to advocates
Call Back vs. Queue
Bilingual Services
Staffing
• Good listening and interviewing skills
• Knowledge of area of law in the most
frequently asked questions
• Understanding of hotline operations
• Good computer typing skills (or fast twofinger approach)
From: More Frequently Asked Questions about Hotline Operations, by Jan May, et al. MIE, July 1995, page 33.
Staffing the Hotline
• Staff Attorneys and Paralegals
– Easy Supervision and Scheduling
– High Level of Expertise
– Stable and accessible
• Volunteers and Law Students
The Price Is Right
– Difficult to Find
– May Be Difficult to Supervise
– Continuity May Be Erratic
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Attorneys
• Pros:
– Attorneys are easy to train in the substantive areas of
law.
– Can be used in multiple ways (as supervisors)
– Can expand the services of hotline easily to provide
limited representation.
– Easier quality control systems.
• Cons:
– Cost
– Paradigm shift: Need to change their thinking. Skill is
to instruct client on how to solve problem for
themselves versus approaching the problem as if
client will be represented.
Non-Attorneys
• Non-Attorneys
– Non-attorneys are conscientious about
learning the areas of law, but training time is
longer and extensions supervision is needed.
Depth of knowledge is weak. Quality control
methods are essential.
Volunteer Lawyers
• Pros
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They are free, specialized, motivated.
Can participate or help in materials or training.
Best used in their specific area of specialty only.
Good to use if phone system allows for off-site routing
of calls (from their office).
• Cons
– They are busy and frequently do not show depending
on their own case loads. This, in turn, affects their
ability to retain training information.
– A hotline is only partially about legal advice; a lot of
record keeping. They are not good at keeping track of
that. Need to take time to train and keep motivated.
Volunteer Law Students
• Pros
– Free. Their involvement helps establish a relationship
with a local law school and future people in the
profession. Potential screening for future staff. A
program can consider creative approaches to
retention” “commit for two semesters and we’ll pay for
your summer internship.” Cheap and quality, and you
can expand their involvement over time, to extended
service.
• Cons
– They require training. Several programs won’t accept
law students unless there is a commitment for at least
two semesters, 1 - 2 shifts a week. Also, you’ll have to
juggle finals and breaks.
Inherited v. New Hires
• Inherited Staff
– Extremely knowledgeable, cross-training
needed in other areas, can use them in the
training and material development, already
versed in administrative requirements.
– Morale, perceptions of work, may be viewed
as a demotion, may be unwilling to change
former practices.
Staffing Discussion
Discuss advantages or disadvantages to each
staffing option. For ex: Lawyers v. non-lawyers;
generalists v. specialists; contract v. staff; parttime v. full-time?
What factors did you consider to determine staff size
of the hotline or CIU?
What mechanisms or systems need to be in place
for certain staffing patterns to be successful?
If you use volunteers, how are they used and with
what success?
If you rotate staff in from different offices, can they
do it from their offices, do they come into the main
office, and how are they supervised if remote?
For programs that inherit a staffing pattern, what are
your options?
Exercise 2: What is the Scope
of Your Hotline?
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Stand alone or Integrated
What services offered?
What geographic scope of services?
What clients served?
What is relationship of hotline to other
programs, other offices, other units?
• Hours of operation and intended shifts?
Part III: Funding For Your
Hotline
Budget & Cost Determinations
Create a start-up budget
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Staffing
Technology
Development of Materials and Policies
Office space and equipment
Training
On-going costs
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Staffing
Refresher training
Volunteer recruitment and coordination
Technology
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Maintenance
Upgrades
Staffing Costs
Direct Costs
– Salaries for all staff
• Attorneys, paralegals
and/or intake
specialists
• Fringe
– Include consultants
• Technical support
• Project managers
Indirect costs
(time
allocated to implementation)
– % time for executive and
management staff
– Researching existing, mature
systems
– Collecting samples and
drafting materials
– Recruiting
• Advertising
• Interviews and references
• Initial orientation and
training
All the Bells and Whistles
technology expenses
• Computers
– Hardware and equipment
– Software
• Open source versus licensing costs
• Telephones
– Hardware
– Software and VOIP
– Consultants and RFPs
Laying Foundation
Written Materials
Space & Equipment
 Create your own from
samples
 Mission and Core Values
 Parameters
 Policies and Procedures
 Case handling criteria
 Checklists and flowcharts
 Scripts
 Reference materials
 Client Legal Information,
Brochures, Online Self Help
 Office furniture-desks, chairs,
cubicles v. offices (Issue of
volume control)
 Office supplies/postage
 Fax, copier, scanner
 Calculate overhead
• Rent and utilities
Staff Training Costs
• Cost Savings Tips and Resources
– Cheaper or Free Trainers.
• Experienced attorneys in-house for substantive
law
• Online training presentations with experienced
hotline managers
• Community partners
– Referrals and resources
– Non-substantive skills
– Working with special populations including
seniors, mental health consumers, LEP,
physically disabled
– Prepare for Next Training: Video your trainings
for future use
Sample Budget Ranges
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Project Manager: $35,000 - 75,000
New Hardware & Software: $1000 per station
Phone System: $RANGE
Space: $0 - 15,000
CMS: $RANGE ($XX - $100,000)
Training: $0 - $15,000
Phone Consultant: $0 - $20,000
Materials (Creation and Reproduction): $0 (inkind) - $20,000
• Staffing: $Depends
• Contract Staff: $15 - 35 / hour
• Outreach and Marketing (Telephone book ads,
etc.)
Staff Training Resources
• AARP Foundation National Legal Training
Project
– Web Trainings for Lawyers on Particular Topics
• Legal Aid University
http://www.legalaiduniversity.org/
– Web Trainings for Hotline Lawyers
• Bar-Sponsored Classes
Sample Budgets from
Forerunners
• Telephone Consulting and Systems:
– APALC spent $XX on phone systems and phone
consulting
– NWJP spent $XX on phone systems and upgrades
– Bay Legal spent $XX on telephone technology
• Case Management Systems:
– Bay Legal spent $XX on CMS tweaks
– APALC spent about $25,000 on a customized, newly
created CMS developed for their hotline
– Others:
• Start Up Management
– Bay Legal spent $XX on start up management
• Room and Basics
– Bay Legal spent $XX on the room
Resource Development
• Funding sources and strategies
• Using data to support the proposal
• Writing strong narratives on technology
and new delivery systems
Funding sources & strategies
Sources
– Local, regional, state,
federal
– Private foundations and
corporations
– Developing new sources
(tech- related, telecom)
Strategies
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Formal, written
development plan
Designated staff
Collaborations
Sustainability
Seek guidance from
funded legal services
programs
Seed funding and
apportioning
contributions
Psychology in resource
development
Grant Writing
• Think creatively about how you use data
1. Establish quality by
• Range of services provided
• Expertise
• Productivity in number of clients served and
accomplishments
• Client satisfaction
2. Use national data if you don’t have local data
Grant Writing
1. “Sell” the hotline concept:
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Some social service funders don’t like to pay for
attorney services, so may take extra explaining.
The NUMBER ONE way to sell the concept is to
showcase dramatic personalized stories that show
how a difference was made. KEEP A BRAG FILE.
2. Demonstrate the need
• Data on the volume of incoming calls and
referrals to other programs
• Research court pro se filings
• Address in detail services of other agencies
• Discuss outcomes
Part IV:
Leadership and Change
Managing Barriers to Implementation
Implementing a Hotline Brings
Change
• In your program and its culture
• Relationship w/other agencies and the courts
• With your funders and grants team
• Within your management team and
management infrastructure
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See, Melissa Pershing, MIE Exchange, Fall 2000.
Change is difficult
• Emotional intelligence of your program, can it
get thru change? Timing considerations
• Operate in concepts of abundance and not
scarcity
• Hotline will change your program and its culture
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See, CEO-in, Something completely Different, MIE Exchange, Kay House, Spring 2002, pg. 7-8.
Hotline Starts From the Top
• Involve top level management in the
planning of the hotline
• Have hotline manager report to first or
second in command
• Hotline manager needs to be part of the
management team
Develop a Timeline to
Tackle All the Concerns From
Each Different Group
 Start internally: focus on staff, management
team, and MIS
 Identify stakeholders
 Identify valid concerns and work on those
 Identify limits of hotline, choose a model that
works for your program
 Transform initial resistance into a dialog and
opportunities for feedback and ownership
1.
See, Kay House, CEO-ing, Something Completely Different, MIE Exchange, Spring 2002, pg 7-8.
Fears of Staff
• Incorporate autonomy w/in daily schedules
• Include training time and down time into
schedule
• Assign areas of “ownership” and special projects
to each person
• Allow staff to as a team develop their own shift
schedules, break time, etc. and be responsible
for coverage
• Create a team that is a problem solving, selfreliant, and that can work together to overcome
most obstacles.
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See John Tull, MIE Exchange, Spring 2003 and Victor Geminiani, The implementation of a hotline, MIE Exchange, July 1995.
Overcoming Fears of
Routine and Mediocrity
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Quality Assurance:
 Always have access to expert attorneys
while on duty
 Have attorney(manager) read all of the
cases done by the hotline for at least the first
9 months
 Incorporate training time into the hotline
schedule
 Have others review a 10-20% of closed
cases, other than manager
a)
See, John Scanlnn MIE 2003 ,
Outside Stakeholders
If you need funding to do it, you will need to
work w/funders on it
Hard to pitch a concept, w/out any data, no
outcomes
Focus on a specific type of funding and on a
funder that understands hotlines,
technology and may offer you technical
assistance
Look at your Current
Infrastructure
• Review your advocacy manual
• Review your basic job descriptions and
salary scale
• Review your intake/case management
software
• Review your management group
Do they support a hotline?
Do any of these need to change?
Evaluation of Hotline Key to
Overcome Challenges
• Since your hotline will be an experiment, it
will be under steady scrutiny by inside and
outside
• Evaluation of the hotline will change the
way you measure outcomes and
performance for the rest of your program
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See Shoshanna Ehrlich, Elements of a High Quality Hotline, MIE Exchange, Beyond Serendipity.
Constant Monitoring of Hotline
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Keep a record on 10-12 numbers every
week, month, quarter.
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2.
3.
4.
Number of calls per advocate
Number of cases per advocate
Distribution of cases, per area of law and county
% of clients referred for extended representation,
in-house or to another program
Number of Cases Per FTE/Year
1400
1200
1000
800
Traditional
Hotline
Brief
600
400
200
0
Cases
Handled
Brief Services Affect on Totals
Average Number of Cases Based on % of Brief
Services Done
2,000
1,965
1,800
1,600
1,513
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
677
600
400
200
13 Hotlines
≤10% brief
services
4 Hotlines >10%
but <25% brief
services
4 Hotlines ≥
25% brief
services
Sample Goals
• Sample Goals for Hotlines
– Goals for clients
– Goals for staff
– Goals for administration and management
Goals for Clients
• Painless, uncomplicated experience for callers
Free, Easy Access to our Program on a First Call
• Reduced wait time
• Ability to respond to emergencies
• Easy Access to Advocates on a First Call
• After-Hours Options
• Ability to Leave Messages with Advocates
Representing Them (24-hour/7-day)
• Mechanism to Support Assistance to ALL Counties
Easy Access 24/7 to Common Legal Questions
• A Person is Always Available When Open
• Multi-lingual Capacity
Goals for Staff
• No Geographical Barriers Among Staff: Our staff should be able
to freely and frequently talk with each other for mentoring, case
discussions, work planning, supervision and other types of support,
whether or not they are based in the same physical office.
• Maximized Use of Our Support staff: Support staff should be
available for phone answering and document preparation for all
offices and advocates, regardless of the physical office where they
are based.
• Promote Productivity and Flexibility for Staff: Advocates should
have flexibility to work from remote locations where appropriate to
increase productivity and effectiveness.
• Facilitate Use of Pro Bono Attorneys and Part-Time Staff: Pro
bono attorneys should have easy ability to communicate with clients
and receive support from legal services staff, without having to
physically come to the legal services office.
Goals for Staff
• Ability for Judges, Politicians, Funders, or Others to Reach
Specific Persons without Waiting: Non-Clients who need to reach
project managers and directors should be able to locate and reach a
personal extension of desired staff, easily.
• Improved Client Referrals by Subject Matter: Clients in cue for an
initial intake advocate should be able to self-select when appropriate
based on their legal matter to enable effective use of pro bono or
specialized staff.
• Improved Client Referrals by Location: Clients in a cue for an
initial call should be able to be routed by area code (or prefix) to the
office that best serves them, if a centralized hotline is not used.
Sample Vision for Administration
and Management
• Ability to Partner and Link with Social or Other Legal Services
Programs: Our hotline or call intake system should have the ability
to directly transfer calls based on appropriate referrals to
participating agencies.
• Improved Reporting and Management: Our managers should
easily be able to create accurate reports of call, hold, service
spikes, and other patterns; and should be able to assess advocate
efficiency and performance.
• Ability to Link the Case Management System to our Phone
System.
• Ability to Provide for Current or Future Opportunities for Video
Conferencing between offices or other partner agencies.
• Telephone solutions should be integrated with our data
systems, easily maintained, and cost effective. Inter-office calls
should be free of charge, and long-distance charges should be
below market rates.
Resources
The following resources can be found at:
www.legalhotlines.org
• ABA Standards For the Operation of Telephone Advice
Lines
• Legal Hotlines: A How to Manual
• Legal Hotline Attorneys’ Manual
• Legal Hotlines Self-Evaluation Measures Report
• Senior Legal Hotlines Annual Report 2004
Handling the Details
• CMS – review your CMS from order of how prompt moves and
special helpline data do you want to capture
– Delete any unnecessary data collection - this just slows down the whole
process
– Keeping client records and correspondence, do they attach to CMS or
separate docs
– Document assembly, hotdocs or something else?
• Telephone - what is your plan for call routing based on Language
and substantive law type
– What is your maximum client hold time - limited or unlimited
– what are your open incoming call hours - remember to plan for time to
complete advice and brief service cases, call current clients with ongoing issues etc. Plan for probono hours also
• Outreach—how will calls get to you? Do you need outreach? Will
your staff do outreach?
• LEP what is your plan for LEP clients - phase in? start at
once? use interpreters? Language Line?
The Details
• Follow up--will you send follow up information to clients after the
call? Do you have brochures available and ready to go? What is the
protocol if there are deadlines for materials? what other post-call
actions will you take
• Training/ resources for staff—canned notes or questions that pop
up for your case handlers? staff training program what resources
are available at every attorney's desk for quick access
• Statewide Websites -- Probono.net? Lawhelp.org? websites
w/court info? Registry of action? does your state have an on-line
case look up system - if so train staff on how to use it
• Counsel and advice, brief service unit—make sure you
understand where the hotline stops and other providers work begins.
Start small, then expand. Gauge volume before you take more than
you can chew.
• Pro Bono and volunteers—remote agents capacity? Hours?
Training and supervision?
• what is your client evaluation plan, telephone surveys, written
surveys etc.
• Evaluation--how do you comply with the ABA and LSC helpline
standards
• what is your plan for client file management - hardcopy files,
computerized files (attach files to CMS or separate system) what is
your client evaluation plan, telephone surveys, written surveys etc.
• Ethics--what are your state's ethical rules related to unbundling?
Conflicts? Scope of services?
• how will you integrate with court based pro se programs