Remote Intake Interview for Use by Clients
Eve Ricaurte, Iowa Legal Aid
The remote intake interview is designed to both deliver information to the user and to obtain information from the user needed to complete an application. This give and take is normal when intake is done in person at a legal aid office, or on the phone on an intake hotline. However, online intake requires different considerations and a different order to the questions asked. Also, there is much more information that can be given to the applicant in an online setting.
Design Considerations
When designing the online interview, the order of questions asked will depend on several factors. When applying in person or by phone, the normal process may be to first ask some general questions about case type, then basic personal information such as name and address and the name of the opposing party in order to check for conflicts. The online interview can be set up in the same way, but decisions must be made about the conflict check step. Unlike a live person doing intake, the A2J program cannot access the case management database to check for current and past clients in the conflict check.
The information first sought from a potential applicant in the A2J interview can mirror that of an in person or telephone intake. This information might include prequalifying information such as type of problem and residency and citizenship. With the online interview there is an advantage in the amount and type of information that can be given to those who cannot be helped by the legal aid program. The programmer or author of the A2J interview can easily provide links to other websites and documents and phone numbers the applicant may use to find help. Also, consistent, accurate and detailed explanations of the reason the program cannot take an application from the user can help ease the frustration and disappointment of those who are turned away. Where some potential applicants feel that they have been singled out when told the program cannot help them, the computer is seen by some as neutral and factual with no personal bias.
The personal information needed from the applicant requires more planning and consideration. The first option is to have the user enter his or her name, address, birth date and possibly the social security number and enter as much of that information for the opposing party as he or she knows. This mirrors the process during in person or telephone applications. At that point the user would stop and the information would be submitted to the legal aid program and a conflict check performed. If there were no conflict, the user would then be allowed to complete the application. The considerations in this step are where the user and opposing party information will be stored, will the user be given a password to use to continue, how will the user be contacted if he or she is using the computer in a library or other public access point, and what the time frame will be for the legal aid staff to review the information and respond. In situations where there is an urgency or deadline, the delay in this step could prove damaging to the applicant. A possible solution would be to have the information transmitted directly to staff and to plan for constant monitoring of the incoming information during normal operating hours.
The second option, which Iowa chose, is to have the applicant complete the application and submit it to a holding pen, or other program, server, device or file that is not part of the legal aid program client database. The basic client and opposing party information is then checked for conflicts. If there is no conflict, the application is then uploaded to the legal aid database for review and response. If a conflict exists, the applicant is notified of the conflict and the application is deleted without staff review of the other information and is never placed in the database of the program's case management system. The advantage of this system is that the applicant can complete the entire application process in one sitting. There is no interruption of the process while the conflict is checked. Also, for those programs which do intake for volunteer or pro bono programs, a system could be set up for that program to receive the completed application when a conflict exists for the legal aid program.
Implementation
Planning for program management of the intakes is crucial. A program must decide how the online intake will be implemented. Placing it on the program's main website may bring in more intakes than a program can respond to in a timely manner, if at all. Iowa chose to place the pilot program on a password restricted page of the website. During the pilot or test of the system, the intake will be restricted to test sites that include domestic violence shelters, an Iowa Legal Aid waiting room and senior centers. The user name and password are given to the user by site operators.
The goal is to use testing of the interview and program systems to handle the intake to make the system more efficient and responsive, before making the application available to the general public. Continued restrictions of the online intake could be part of the plan after testing. For example, a password protected page could be available to social service agencies and domestic violence shelters only.
Issues and Concerns
Deadlines and urgent matters
A computer program cannot respond to in the same way a person can when the user indicates there is a deadlines and urgent matter. Questions to check for these situations are asked early on in the interview, and if the answers indicate a fast response is needed, the user is advised that the using the online system may result in a delay harmful to the situation and to call Iowa Legal Aid directly.
Another way to deal with this would be to have a staff member review all applications as they come in, but in that system, the user should still be advised that the using the online system may result in a delay harmful to the situation and to call the legal aid program.
With both options, if the user applies for help when the legal aid office is closed, and a system is set up to check all overnight applications at the start of business the next day, it could result in faster service for the user. Using online intake only when the intake lines or offices are closed may benefit potential clients who have difficulty contacting the program during normal intake hours.
Third party applications
It is possible for a user to complete an application for someone else. The problem arises when the potential client is unaware that the application has been submitted in his or her name. This can occur with telephone intake as well. Follow up telephone calls to the applicant to verify that the person whose name is on the application completed it on their own (or with assistance) can resolve some of the issues.
Review of policies and procedures prior to implementing online intake might include:
-What to do if the person whose name on the application is incompetent and could not have applied?
-What to do if it is discovered that the person did not apply and a conflict has been created by having the information in the case management data base?
-How to respond to the person who, when called, is surprised upset or disturbed to learn that an application has been made in his or her name?
Incorrect or misleading information
This can occur if the user did not understand the question or if the user made intentional misrepresentations. These same issues exist with telephone and in person applications but may be discovered and resolved more quickly with a live person.
A user may have already applied for assistance in person or by phone and been found to be financially ineligible. The information in the online application may not reflect the income or assets previously presented. Staff reviewing the online applications will need to check for record of previous applications. It may be that the user completed an online application prior to the telephone or in person application, or that the user completed the online application immediately after the being found ineligible. Staff training is important to catch the duplicate applications and deal with the conflicting information.
