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Configuring Referrals

A district administrator’s guide to public intake, form content, referral routing, and notifications.

What referral configuration controls

Referral settings define who may use your district’s public intake form, what they see, which information they must provide, and how a submitted referral reaches the staff responsible for triage.

Setting area	What it affects
District settings	The master switch that makes the referral feature available.
Public intake	Which audiences may submit and which questions appear.
Concern lists and consent	The language submitters use to describe concerns and acknowledge privacy expectations.
Routing and notifications	The initial owner, status, priority, and notification recipients for public submissions.

1. Enable referrals for the district

1. Open Settings, then choose District.
2. Turn on Referrals enabled.
3. Save the district settings before sharing a public link.

2. Review the public link and branding

Open Settings → Referrals. The Public Referral Link is unique to the district and is the URL you may place on a district website, staff portal, QR code, or family resource page.

Use the branding controls to add a district logo, show or hide the district name, and choose the logo size. Preview the result before saving.

3. Choose who may submit

Enable only the intake paths the district is prepared to support. Available audiences include staff, caregivers, student self-referrals, student peer referrals, and community members.

Audience	Typical use	Decision to make
Staff	A teacher or employee requests help for a student.	What identifying and contact information is required?
Caregiver	A parent or guardian raises a concern.	How will the district acknowledge and follow up?
Student self	A student asks for support for themself.	Can the form be anonymous, and who monitors it?
Student peer	A student raises a concern about another student.	What privacy and crisis language is appropriate?
Community	An outside partner submits a concern.	Which contact details are necessary for coordination?

4. Write clear public-facing copy

The landing introduction, crisis warning, confirmation message, privacy text, and footer should use plain district-approved language. Tell people what the form is for, what happens next, and what it cannot do.

A crisis warning does not replace district response protocols. Staff should know where time-sensitive submissions are routed and how often the queue is monitored.

5. Configure the form and contact rules

Choose whether the submitter must select a school or may select I’m not sure. Then choose which concern domains are visible. At least one concern domain must remain available.

Contact fields can be Hidden, Optional, or Required for each audience. You may also require at least one contact method without requiring every field.

Rule	Use it when
Name required	The district must know who submitted the request.
Email or phone required	Staff need a reliable way to clarify details or confirm receipt.
At least one contact method	Either email or phone is acceptable.
Fields hidden	The audience is intentionally allowed to submit without that information.

6. Define concern, crisis, and consent language

Enter indicator lists one item per line. Separate lists let the district use age- and audience-appropriate wording for staff, caregiver, and student forms.

Use the acknowledgment and privacy fields to explain permitted use, confidentiality expectations, and next steps. If consent acknowledgment is required, the submitter must accept the relevant text before submitting.

7. Set routing and notifications

Public submissions can receive a default assignee, initial status, and priority. Notifications may go to the assigned user, district administrators, the referrer, and additional email recipients.

Setting	Recommended interpretation
Default assignee	The person responsible for first review, not necessarily the long-term case owner.
Default status	Usually Pending Review so new items are easy to identify.
Default priority	A neutral starting priority such as Medium; staff should adjust it during triage.
Notify assigned user	Useful only when an assignee is guaranteed.
Notify administrators	A useful safety net for districts with a shared admin intake process.
Email referrer confirmation	Confirms receipt when the submitter provided an email; it is not a promise of a specific outcome.
Additional recipients	Use a monitored team mailbox or designated intake staff.

A recommended district setup

For a district beginning with staff and caregiver referrals:

• Enable Staff and Caregiver intake.
• Require the submitter’s name and at least one contact method.
• Require school selection, but allow I’m not sure when district-wide intake staff can resolve it.
• Start referrals as Pending Review with Medium priority.
• Assign a monitored intake owner and notify that person plus a backup team inbox.
• Send a neutral confirmation that states the request was received and will be reviewed.

Launch checklist

• The district referral master switch is on.
• Only approved audiences are enabled.
• Contact requirements match each audience and anonymous-intake policy.
• Concern lists use understandable, non-diagnostic language.
• Crisis wording matches the district’s emergency procedure.
• Privacy and consent text has been approved.
• Every public submission reaches at least one monitored person or inbox.
• A test referral has been submitted, received, assigned, and triaged.
• The public confirmation and any email confirmation have been reviewed.
• Staff know the expected review cadence and escalation process.