Home Visitation (HV) is an evidence-based preventive service that improves health outcomes for parents and children, increases school readiness, and connects families to resources. HV services are offered at no cost to families, and they are available to parents from pregnancy through a child’s fifth birthday. Home visitors walk side by side with parents through the most challenging parts of raising a child, from breastfeeding to safe sleeping to developing strong parenting skills and more. Many HV agencies exist across St. Louis and Missouri with different focuses to meet any family’s needs. Despite all these benefits that HV offers, many families who could benefit from services are not getting connected. Enter the Coordinated Referral and Intake System, or CRIS: a no-wrong-door virtual referral system for Missouri families, emphasizing consumer voice and choice.
The principle behind CRIS is simple. Anyone—a parent, social worker, doctor, friend, family member—can go to the online referral form, fill out some basic eligibility questions for the parent and child, and they will be matched with a local HV partner organization in less than one week. The referral form itself was designed in collaboration with community to ensure that it is easy to use. Currently, the form is available in English, Spanish, and French. Collective Impact sites across the state, like Generate Health, monitor and manage referrals within their regions to ensure that no families fall through the cracks. Because this program covers every county in Missouri, Collective Impact sites can share information with one another and pass on any referrals that are outside of their region. The goal of CRIS is to break down barriers to HV and make it possible for any family who wants services to receive them, free of cost, in a timely manner.
To make a referral, visit the link or scan the QR code below. If you’d like to learn more about home visitation or the CRIS initiative, email BloomNetwork@generatehealthstl.org.
