“Using IRIS, Community Health Workers in our community can quickly connect Wyandotte County residents to the resources they need.”
The Data
2017
73
3,442
2,584
The Vision
In 2017, a small group of community programs in the Wyandotte County portion of Kansas City, Kansas embraced a new opportunity to strengthen partnerships, communication, and accountability by piloting IRIS. Quickly finding referral efficiencies and benefits for families, the network expanded to engage a broad array of partners who share a vision for improving successful connections to services for local families. Today their IRIS network includes more than 60 community partners representing diverse services.
Representatives from two community organizations—Connections Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Referral Program and the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County—function as the local IRIS leadership team. They bring experience serving families, crucial knowledge, and established relationships with community partners to their roles. Applying their deep familiarity with community systems and implementation expertise, these leaders creatively and efficiently adapted IRIS to meet their community’s emerging COVID-19 response needs.
Bright Spots
Community Health Workers (CHW) play a vital role in community health by helping residents navigate health systems, create and achieve health goals, and connect with resources. In 2020 the United Government Public Health Department (UGPHD) established a team of CHWs to respond to the needs of people quarantining or exposed to COVID-19. The small team of CHWs was soon overwhelmed with the volume of patients directed to the program. An established group of CHWs at the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County mobilized to meet the need. The two teams made two quick decisions: 1) To ensure support was available for every resident, the UGPHD CHWs would refer a portion of their patients to the CHWs at the Community Health Council and 2) IRIS would be the vehicle for those referrals. IRIS was the clear choice to support referral coordination between the two programs since many staff already used IRIS and the leadership team had the capacity and expertise to quickly onboard the new program.
Seeing Results
Community Health Workers at both organizations immediately began coordinating referrals. In the first six months of the partnership, 338 residents were referred for childcare, housing, income, and mental health needs as well as assistance applying for Unemployment Insurance and Medicaid benefits. The Community Health Council CHWs successfully connected with 65% of those referred.
