Referral Meeting Guide
Referral Fee
Upon receiving the initial contact enquiry, we will email the enquirer our ‘Referral/Info’ pack, which contains the referral form, the pricing schedule and other relevant information documents. This will be accompanied by the £72 referral fee invoice (inclusive of £12 VAT). The invoice will be addressed to the nominated payer. The referral fee covers the following:
Processing of the original referral form
Emailing out a referral form to the other party and the processing it
Setting up the initial referral/introduction meeting with each party (via Zoom video)
Completing a risk assessment
Booking contact sessions and allocating contact workers to the family
Please note that if we decide to decline the referral based on our determination of high risk, or if one or both parties (parents/carers) decide not to complete the referral process, the referral fee would NOT be refundable. The referral will NOT be progressed until the £72 referral fee is settled first.
Software and equipment for video intro meetings
We use a professional- grade video conferencing software, called ‘Zoom’. The software should download to your device automatically when you click on the link we will email you ahead of your first zoom meeting. You can also download it from the internet in advance and use it for your own personal needs whenever you like. Please note this is a USA-based domain and thus .uk will not come up in searches. Here is a download link: https://zoom.us/download
The software is free for everyone to download and use. Any references on the Zoom website to purchase options are meant for businesses, organisations and those individuals who use Zoom to facilitate multi-user video meetings (like AGCC contact supervisors). But for you as a ‘client user’, it is free. Zoom is like a much improved, more professional and versatile version of Skype.
You will need an internet-enabled device with a webcam, speaker and microphone. This means that you can use your smart phone, tablet, laptop or computer. But, we recommend larger screens for optimal contact experience, so phones would not be ideal for this.
Should any of the parties request for the referral intro meeting to be held in-person, our centre manager will be happy to help facilitate this. In fact, we feel it is helpful if the child involved has the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the contact venue and meet our staff before their first contact session.
The Process
Upon receiving back completed referral forms from both parties, we will liaise with each parents/participant to arrange a date and time to connect via video or meet with them in the centre in person, separately of the other. Such meetings should not last more than 20 minutes each. The subject child/ren would be encouraged to participate in at least part of that meeting together with their resident parent/carer, unless the child is an infant.
Connecting via Zoom.
AGCC manager can arrange for a trial connection with all first time Zoom users, to help set everything up, ahead of the actual contact session. This way we can help ensure that there is no anxiety or confusion getting in the way on the day of contact or introductory session. Please let us know if this is something you would like, thank you.
So, you will receive an email from an AGCC manager, inviting you to connect to a Zoom session at a specific time and date. The email will contain a link, which you will need to click on at the time the connection is to be made.
Whether you have Zoom on your device already or not, each time your system will ask you to allow the connection and you will need to agree. Once connected, you will see the other participant/s, as well as your own video image in one of the windows. If you cannot hear or be heard, please adjust your device microphone/speaker settings on the Zoom page.
Users can adjust their views (Gallery or Speaker View) via options on the right top corners of their Zoom screens.
Any disrupted connection (including technical problems) can be rebooted by using the original Zoom connection link from AGCC, so if one of the parties gets accidentally logged out, they can reconnect straight away and re- join the meeting.