Kane County Health Department celebrates one year anniversary of referral and intake system

The Kane County Health Department’s Integrated Referral and Intake System celebrated its first year of providing Kane County individuals and families access to services they need.

According to a news release from the health department, this free, web-based communication tool created by the University of Kansas helps organizations connect the families they serve to the right resources in the community, providing transparency to the organizations and a closed loop for referrals, ensuring following up.

Kane County launched the IRIS system in March 2021 during the height of the pandemic. The IRIS community has representation from local community programs, including mental health and psychiatry, primary care, dental, early childhood services, K-12 education, park district programs, adult and juvenile probation, parenting resources, substance abuse services, employment resources, immigration and legal services, emergency shelter and basic needs.

To date, IRIS has sent 1,709 referrals, serving 793 Kane County individuals and families.

The IRIS community celebrated its one-year anniversary with a virtual meeting, including community stakeholders and current IRIS partners to share community referral data, celebrate work strengths and discuss their vision for the future.