Virtual Service Delivery During COVID-19
Nonprofits are quickly adapting to provide services online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Direct service providers are moving case management, appointments, resource navigation, rapport building, community collaboration, and advocacy efforts to phones and computers. These dramatic changes require best-practice standards for technology-based service delivery. Nonprofits have to quickly think about how they deliver services, provide information to youth and the public, manage and store information about clients, and work as a team digitally.
As you navigate virtual service delivery for your clients it’s important to:
Provide training for staff.
Develop clear, written guidelines and boundaries for youth and staff (and create space to reevaluate these over time).
Address privacy concerns and information sharing.
Staff should think critically about access to technology for youth and ways to facilitate connections to the services that they rely on while social distancing. This can include finding phones and computers for youth to use at home, ensuring that youth have access to stable internet connections, and creating resource web pages, online flyers, social media posts, and other digital tools youth will find easy to navigate.
We can and should still use best practices from case management, healthcare, social work, and advocacy groups to provide mutual aid and care for youth during this difficult time. We have to remember that, even as we are social distancing, human connection leads to positive outcomes for young folks. We have to continue to advocate for youth during COVID-19 and find innovative, new ways to support them.
To support you on your journeys to navigate virtual service delivery during the pandemic, we have collected some resources that can be helpful for you as you navigate technology and service delivery in your community.
RESOURCE SUMMARIES + LINKS:
Technology in Social Work Practice : This resource reviews best practices in providing, managing, and navigating services through technology. NASW, ASWB, CSWE & CSWA align the Social Work Code of Ethics with technology to provide best and ethical practices for social workers.
Telehealth: Legal and Ethical Issues : This free class provides one CE credit, and provides information on ethical and legal issues that can come up when providing therapy online. It reviews solutions to these issues to create an effective telehealth environment for your clients.
Virtual Case Management Considerations and Resources for Human Service Providers : This link lays out key considerations for providing case management virtually and relies on telehealth, which has made considerable strides in online delivery of services to adapt best practices to case management.
Guidelines for Establishing a Telemental Health Program to Provide Evidence-Based Therapy for Trauma-Exposed Children and Families : This article specifically reviews setting up telehealth CBT therapy for children and families in rural and more remote areas. It goes over concrete steps to setting up telehealth therapy online such as MOUs, technology set up, and service delivery. Although it specifies rural areas, it is applicable to anyone setting up online sessions for clients.
Resources to Support Mental Health and Coping with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) : This website has incredible links for professionals that specifically deal with ways to maintain wellness, recognize burnout, supporting staff, using online platforms, behaviors to expect and how to address them during a global crisis, developing safety plans for clients, HIPPA regulations for virtual service delivery, and many more.
Theraplatform.com : HIPAA compliant video conferencing.
Zoom: Online platform for webinars, video calls, meetings, and any need for teleconferencing.