Referring a Client to the Unit: What Social Workers Should Send

Most of the people we see arrive through someone else: a social worker at a district office, a nurse at a clinic in Mitchells Plain, an attorney at a legal aid branch in Johannesburg. That first handover matters more than it looks. A referral that carries the right information gets a client into an intake call within days. A referral that carries too much, or the wrong kind, slows everything down and puts the client at risk.

This piece is for the practitioners who send those referrals. It sets out what to include, what to leave out, and how the two main referral routes differ.

What a referral should contain

We need enough to reach the person and to understand the shape of the request. That means a contact number the client has agreed we may use, the language they prefer for the first call, and whether they are currently in a safe place. A short line on the presenting concern is useful. A full history is not.

If the client has children, note their ages and whether school or childcare arrangements are already in place. If there is an active protection order or an upcoming court date, give us the date. Those two facts change how quickly we schedule.

What we ask you to leave out

No names in the body of an email. No case numbers that link back to a police docket. No photographs, no medical records, no written account of what happened. We ask for this for two reasons. First, anything written travels further than intended. Second, a survivor should be the one to decide when and how their account is told, and that decision belongs in the room with a counsellor, not in a referral note.

Graphic detail also does something specific to the person reading it. It narrows attention onto the event rather than the person in front of us. We would rather start the intake call without it.

Counselling referrals and court preparation referrals

These are not the same request, and the timelines differ. A counselling referral moves at the client's pace: intake call, then a first session, then a regular slot if they want one. Court preparation is tied to a date. It involves walking through what will be asked, who will be in the room, how to request an intermediary, and what happens if the matter is postponed. If you are referring for court preparation, tell us the date and the court. If the date moves, tell us again.

Scheduling the intake call

We call the number the client has agreed to. If they do not answer, we try once more on a different day and at a different hour, then we let you know so you can check in with them. We do not leave voicemail messages that name the unit. Clients sometimes screen calls for good reason, and a missed call is not a refusal.

If the client would rather make contact themselves, they can reach us through the contact page, and we will take it from there.