Needing to refresh your community counseling referrals list and don’t know where to start? Maybe you find that you don’t have very many agencies in your area to refer? Or, you have so many it’s hard to narrow down to a handful that would serve your situation best. This article will give you five tangible tips to handle community counseling referrals and guide you from start to finish. No more stressing about referrals… you’ll know exactly what to do!

1: Research Your Area

Before you do anything else in your referral journey, you’ll need to do a little research. An old-fashioned Google Search is a great place to start!

I actually like to start my search by looking up community agency resources in my county. I literally type in… community agency resources in ___ county. Then, I look for other agencies that have already put a community list together. This makes it a LOT easier! If your county has a blessed soul that has already completed this monumental task. Use it and don’t re-create the wheel!

If there is not a list out there already, go ahead and start searching for counseling services near me. Write down the counseling agency, provider’s name, phone number, and address. This way you can use it in your resource list once you verify it’s what you need. By this, I mean there are some places out there that will not be serving your desired age range or may not take walk-ins or new clients. We will get to that in a moment. 🙂

2: Connect and Share Community Counseling Referrals

Another way to quickly get some ideas to put on your list is to call other area school counselors and ask them who they have on their list. By networking and connecting with other school counselors you can quickly come up with some reliable resources to use that are more likely going to be a better fit than starting from scratch.

Other community agencies you may contact and get referrals from could be the police station, hospital, juvenile office, local churches, and your city’s chamber of commerce. These offices may have lists of their own they can share or at least tell you a few providers they often refer others to.

3: Collecting the Right Counselor Information

When you have a list of counseling providers, get in touch with them somehow. Make a phone call, visit their office or slip a questionnaire in the mail! There are some things you need to know before referring students. Nothing is more frustrating to a parent than making phone calls to providers who only see adults.

As school counselors, we can gather some of this basic information beforehand and make the process a lot easier. For starters, I like to get the age ranges they work with, if they have a sliding scale, what insurances they take, and if they offer groups or family counseling.

4: Send Out Email or Paper Questionnaire

I actually have a form that I like to get filled out! I can fill this out over the phone or an easier way is to make contact with the provider, get an updated mailing address or email address and let them know you’re sending a questionnaire to them to help your referral process. Usually, they are VERY happy that you reached out and are willing to answer any of your questions.

This is the form I like to use… feel free to click the image and download it for your own use!

       

5: Connecting Parents to Community Resources

Once I have a list of providers, I teamed up with the counselors at my district and we made a district-wide referral packet. This way we can pitch in on updating it as needed. When a family is in need of ANY community resource we grab our packet, flip to the topic they need help with and let them make the necessary contacts they need. It’s like having a referral phone book… everything in one place!

 

Needing ideas for gathering student referrals? Check out… School Counseling Referrals and How to Manage Them

I hope this helps navigate community counseling referrals! Have you had experience connecting with agencies? What do you find most helpful! 🙂