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What should a recovery coaching intake workflow accomplish?
Help the person understand the available support, establish the next responsible staff member, and preserve what was agreed. The workflow should make it clear whether the team received a request, made contact, delivered coaching, or arranged a later action.
Consider a common handoff problem. A referral arrives, someone adds the person's name to a spreadsheet, and a coach assumes another team member has already called. The record contains information, but nobody owns the next step. A useful intake workflow connects information to responsibility at each stage.
| Stage | Question to resolve | Useful handoff |
|---|---|---|
| Receive the request | What support is being requested and who should review the request? | A responsible intake owner and the next action. |
| Prepare contact | What current information and approved instructions does the team need? | The assigned contact, communication instructions, and unresolved questions. |
| Introduce the service | Does the person understand the role and want to discuss support? | The person's preference and what was actually discussed. |
| Begin coaching when appropriate | What matters to the participant and what support is wanted now? | A goal or priority, actual support, and the participant's response. |
| Agree and follow through | Who will do what next, and when should it be revisited? | An owned task or appointment, or a clear record that no further contact was requested. |
How are a referral, intake, and first coaching session different?
Give each stage a clear meaning in your program. Receiving a referral establishes that a request arrived. Intake addresses entry into the service. A coaching session records support actually provided, which may happen during the same contact or later.
A participant might call a community program directly, be introduced by a partner, or meet a coach through outreach. Those entry routes can converge on one workflow without requiring everyone to repeat the same story. Record where the request came from and use the approved process to decide what information can be used.
Avoid using 'intake complete' as a catch-all status. One team may mean that administrative paperwork is complete, while another means that the first coaching conversation happened. Define the status before you count it, use it to assign work, or communicate it to another team.
| Event | What it establishes | What it does not establish by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Referral received | The program has a request to review. | The person has agreed to services or received coaching. |
| Contact attempted | A staff member tried to reach the person. | A conversation occurred or the person declined. |
| Administrative intake completed | The program's defined entry steps were completed. | A coaching service was delivered or a claim is payable. |
| First coaching contact completed | The documented support occurred. | A later action or participant outcome has already happened. |
| Follow-up agreed | The person and team identified a next step. | The next appointment was attended or a referral resulted in a connection. |
Write these definitions where intake staff, coaches, supervisors, and reporting staff can all find them. If a contract uses a different definition, keep the contract measure identifiable rather than silently changing the meaning for everyone.
What should staff prepare before contacting the person?
Confirm the responsible staff member, the purpose of the contact, the approved communication process, and any unresolved entry questions. Review only the information needed for the task through the organization's authorized systems.
The intake owner should be able to answer a few operational questions: Who is making contact? What is the person expecting? Which service is being discussed? What should happen if the person cannot be reached? If any answer is unknown, assign the question rather than leaving the coach to reconstruct the referral.
- Service context: identify the program being offered and the approved explanation of what it provides.
- Existing information: locate the current referral or program record and avoid creating another record simply because a second message arrived.
- Communication: check the applicable instructions for contact method, language access, accessibility, and messages.
- Responsibility: name the person making the contact and the person covering when they are unavailable.
- Open questions: identify qualification, entry, or administrative questions for the appropriate program owner.
Do not ask a coach to settle an eligibility, legal, or clinical question outside the role just to move a record to the next column. The workflow should include a route for those questions and a way to tell whether they are awaiting review. An unresolved question is a useful status when it has an owner and a next action.
For field or partner-site work, prepare the practical conditions too. Confirm where the conversation can happen, how staff access the approved record, and how they reach help. If a device or connection fails, follow the organization's approved fallback and record-reconciliation process.
How do you separate administrative forms from the coaching conversation?
Explain what each step is for and use the organization's approved forms for formal program entry, permissions, and required information. Keep those steps distinguishable from the participant-led conversation about goals and support.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) emphasizes participant direction, choice, and a respectful working relationship in its peer-worker competencies. For intake design, our recommendation is to explain why information is requested and keep the person's priorities visible throughout the process.[1]
An opening conversation could explain the service, identify any administrative steps that apply, and ask what the person would find useful today. The exact explanation should reflect your program. If the organization needs a particular form before a certain activity, staff should know how to explain that requirement and whom to contact with questions.
Make a form inventory before adding new questions. For each form, identify the purpose, owner, approved version, access rules, and when it is used. Remove unnecessary duplication through the organization's review process. Do not replace an approved consent or release with a conversational preference checkbox from a worksheet.
| Document or record | Planning question | Owner to identify |
|---|---|---|
| Program entry material | What service is being explained and what steps apply? | The program's designated policy or intake owner. |
| Formal permissions or releases | Which approved process governs this proposed use or disclosure? | The organization's responsible privacy or legal reviewer. |
| First-contact record | What happened, what was agreed, and who owns the next step? | The staff member responsible for the contact. |
| Coaching note | What support was actually delivered in the approved service context? | The coach and any reviewer required by the program. |
| Follow-up task | What action is outstanding and when will it be reviewed? | A named staff member with a coverage arrangement. |
Which questions are useful in a recovery coach's first session?
Use a small number of open prompts to understand the person's priority, existing strengths, preferred support, and next step. Adapt the wording to the conversation and the program's approved role instead of reading every prompt as a mandatory questionnaire.
| Purpose | Prompt to adapt | What the coach listens for |
|---|---|---|
| Understand the priority | What would make this conversation useful for you today? | The person's own starting point. |
| Recognize existing support | What has been helpful to you recently? | Strengths, relationships, and approaches the person chooses to share. |
| Explore the requested help | What kind of support would you like from me? | A request that can be discussed within the coaching role. |
| Consider options | Would it be useful to talk through a few possible next steps? | Permission to explore options without deciding for the person. |
| Confirm the agreement | What would you like to do next, and what would you like me to do? | Separate responsibilities and realistic next actions. |
| Discuss another contact | Would you like another conversation? What contact arrangements work for you? | Whether follow-up is wanted and the applicable communication instructions. |
These prompts are conversation aids, not required data fields. The person may want to begin with a practical concern, may not have a clear goal yet, or may decide that another conversation would be useful. Document what actually happened using the approved record rather than forcing an answer into every prompt.
Avoid making the first contact an exhaustive history interview simply because a long form exists. Have the program owner distinguish information needed now from information that may be discussed later for a defined purpose. If a formal assessment belongs to another role, route it through that process.
Listen for the person's language. 'I want a more predictable week' preserves a different priority from a staff-created label such as 'poor engagement.' Ask enough to understand the requested support and reflect it accurately. A coach can discuss options without inventing an explanation for the person's choices.
What does a first coaching conversation look like in practice?
Follow one fictional request through introduction, a participant-led priority, support, and an agreed handoff. Keep the example focused on the work that occurred so the record does not claim a later outcome.
The coach asks what would make the employment-resource conversation useful. Sam wants to understand appointment availability and what materials to prepare. They draft three questions together. Sam chooses to make the call independently and asks the coach to check in on Friday using the program's approved contact process.
| Part of the workflow | What the example establishes | What remains unknown |
|---|---|---|
| Request | Sam asked for help preparing questions for an employment resource. | Whether the resource will offer an appointment. |
| Coaching activity | The coach and Sam discussed the planned conversation and drafted questions. | Whether Sam will make the call. |
| Participant response | Sam selected questions and chose to call independently. | Whether an employment outcome will follow. |
| Next action | The coach will check in Friday as agreed. | What support Sam will want at that time. |
The team should be able to find both the record of today's support and the outstanding Friday action. If the coach is unavailable Friday, the coverage process should identify who reviews the next step. The original note should still identify the person who delivered today's support.
Change the scenario during training. Sam might decide not to call, prefer to reconnect later, or ask for help the program does not offer. Practice recording the actual choice and following the relevant process. The exercise should not require Sam to accept a referral for the coach to demonstrate good listening and a clear handoff.
What should be recorded after the first contact?
Record the facts needed to understand the contact and continue the agreed work, using the program's approved record. Separate the participant's request, support delivered, response, and future actions, and identify who created the record.
An intake record may contain administrative information that is not the subject of a coaching note. A note may describe support delivered during the first conversation. A task may identify work that still needs to happen. Decide how those records connect so staff can find the next step without copying the entire intake into every subsequent note.
This narrative illustrates a clear connection between the request and the next action. It is not a complete service note, a verified participant history, or billing documentation. Your approved form determines the full record, including any service facts, signatures, and review needed.
- Use the facts from the actual contact rather than copying a fictional example.
- Keep a planned appointment or offered option separate from support already delivered.
- Distinguish what the participant reported from what staff observed or verified.
- Give an agreed staff action an owner and a review point in the established workflow.
- Follow the approved completion, correction, and review process for the record.
How do you handle assignments, referrals, and follow-up?
Make the next owner explicit and track the next observable step. A resource suggestion, an accepted referral, a sent request, a response, and an actual connection are different events with different evidence.
In the Sam example, the participant chose to make the call. The coach's task is the agreed follow-up. It would be inaccurate to mark a staff referral completed or an employment appointment attended based on that conversation. The same distinction matters when the coach helps initiate a connection through the program's approved process.
| Next step | Responsible person | Evidence for the next review |
|---|---|---|
| Participant chooses an action | The participant decides whether and how to proceed. | What the participant later chooses to share about the action. |
| Coach agrees to follow up | The assigned coach or designated coverage owner. | The contact attempt or conversation that actually occurs. |
| Administrative question needs review | The designated intake or program owner. | The decision, source, and effect on the next step. |
| Partner response is outstanding | The staff member assigned to coordinate the request. | The response received or the next permitted follow-up. |
| Usual coach is unavailable | The person identified by the coverage process. | A reviewed handoff and clear responsibility for open work. |
Review partner information before relying on it. Keep a process for checking contact details, service descriptions, and how people can access the resource. A directory entry is a starting point for a conversation, not a guarantee of availability or suitability.
When responsibilities change, explain the next step through the appropriate program process. Staff should know who owns the handoff, and the participant should not be expected to resolve an internal assignment problem. Preserve the earlier record of who did the work.
What if the person is not reached, declines, or needs a different service?
Use specific statuses and respectful descriptions that reflect what happened. Route unresolved or out-of-scope questions to the correct owner, and use the organization's established process for urgent concerns.
| Situation | Record accurately | Resolve the next step |
|---|---|---|
| No response to an attempt | The method and result under the approved documentation process. | Follow the program's contact instructions and review point. |
| Person declines further coaching | The choice expressed during the contact. | Use the program's closure or future-return process. |
| Person wants to reconnect later | The request and any agreed timing. | Assign only the follow-up that was agreed and permitted. |
| Different service is requested | The request and the options discussed. | Use the program's referral or coordination process. |
| Entry question is unresolved | The question and responsible reviewer. | Keep affected work within the program's current authorization. |
| Urgent safety concern | Use the approved safety and documentation procedure. | Contact the appropriate immediate support through that procedure. |
Avoid treating a missed call as refusal. It may establish only that contact was not made. Likewise, a person declining an offered option does not prove lack of interest in all support. Specific records help the team respond without building future decisions on assumptions.
Set a practical review process for open items. A record awaiting a decision should identify who is deciding. A record awaiting contact should follow the program's contact policy. This guide does not set a universal number of attempts, a closure deadline, or a clinical response protocol.
How should the workflow change for different recovery coaching settings?
Start with the shared sequence, then adapt entry steps, responsibilities, information, and follow-up to the setting. Use current official and organizational sources for actual requirements instead of importing an entire form from another program.
The Vermont Department of Health's published Recovery Coaches in the ED intake form, updated June 10, 2020, separately asks about referral agreement and follow-up calls. It is a historical example from a specific emergency-department program. We use it only to illustrate that these choices can be recorded separately, not as a current national intake standard.[2]
| Setting | Workflow question | Source or owner to consult |
|---|---|---|
| Community recovery program | How can people request support directly and return later? | Current program entry and participation procedures. |
| Treatment-linked coaching | Which role owns each entry step and which record is used? | The organization's approved role, documentation, and coordination procedures. |
| Recovery residence with coaching | How are housing administration and coaching records distinguished? | Current residence and coaching program policies. |
| Outreach team | How do staff arrange contact, coverage, and follow-up away from an office? | The organization's field-work and communication procedures. |
| Funded or contracted service | Which information and definitions are required for this service? | Current official program, contract, and payer materials as applicable. |
Do not copy the Vermont form's time windows, questions, signatures, or submission instructions into your program because the document is available online. Establish which sources actually govern your work and who has checked their current applicability. Keep that source review separate from the example conversation prompts.
How can you tell whether the intake process is working?
Review defined stages, unresolved handoffs, participant feedback, and the team's ability to explain the next step. Use operational measures with clear denominators rather than treating every form or contact attempt as another person served.
Start with a small manual review if your team has not agreed on definitions. Select an appropriate set of records through the organization's authorized process and ask where requests wait, where responsibility is unclear, and which questions staff repeatedly have to answer. Use findings to improve the process before requesting a new dashboard.
| Measure | Definition to agree | Interpretation limit |
|---|---|---|
| Requests received | What counts as one request, its date, and how repeat referrals are handled. | Requests are not the same as unique participants. |
| Time to first attempt | Elapsed time from the defined request event to the first recorded attempt. | An attempt does not establish a conversation. |
| First contacts completed | The defined first conversation within a specified period. | Completion does not establish a later outcome. |
| Open items awaiting ownership | Work that lacks a current responsible person under your rules. | The status alone does not explain why the handoff failed. |
| Agreed follow-ups reviewed | Which agreed actions reached their defined review point and were reviewed. | A review is not proof that the participant achieved a goal. |
If calculating a rate, use a consistent group and observation window. For example, requests received during a week and first conversations completed during that week may concern different people. Do not divide those totals and call the result a conversion rate without deciding which requests belong in the denominator and allowing for later contacts.
Ask coaches and participants what made the entry process easier or harder through your approved feedback process. A faster administrative step may still be confusing. Use numbers to identify questions worth reviewing, and use the review to understand the experience.
How do you test the workflow before using it with participants?
Walk through fictional cases with the people who will perform each step. Test an ordinary request, a declined option, an unsuccessful contact, a coverage change, and a question that needs another role.
- Draw the path from incoming request to the next owned action. Put a staff role beside every handoff.
- List the approved forms and procedures used at each step, including who owns their current versions.
- Run the Sam example without coaching the staff member through the answer. Notice what is difficult to find.
- Change one condition, such as the assigned coach being unavailable, and check whether responsibility stays clear.
- Record each gap, the person responsible for resolving it, and what must be verified before using that part of the workflow.
Invite an experienced coach and the intake owner to review the exercise together. If the process only works because one person remembers a special exception, document that exception in the appropriate procedure. If a form asks the same question in several places, have its owner decide how to remove duplication without losing required information.
After the team begins using the approved process, schedule a review based on enough actual experience to identify patterns. Keep the review focused on the workflow and the support staff need. Do not interpret the first few records as evidence of a program-wide outcome improvement.
Where can Smores Health help with the intake-to-coaching handoff?
Evaluate the connection between participant assignments, schedules, tasks, documentation, and supervisor review. Smores Health supports these daily operational areas; confirm the exact forms, entry steps, permissions, and reporting your program needs during a walkthrough.
Smores Health's Operate and Document areas connect staff coordination with structured records and review. Bring your blank intake workflow and a fictional first contact so the walkthrough can focus on your handoffs. The downloadable planning worksheet is not a built-in form or a claim that every intake process is already configured.[3][4]
Ask the presenter to show how a coach finds assigned work, records the support actually delivered, and follows the applicable review process. Then discuss how the team handles the next action and coverage. Identify any required form, integration, or approval that needs separate confirmation before making a purchase decision.
How do you use the editable intake planning worksheet?
Download the worksheet and adapt it with your intake owner, a coach, and the appropriate program reviewers. Use it to document decisions about the process, then continue using your approved systems and forms for actual participant information.
The worksheet includes a stage map, form inventory, conversation prompts, handoff table, exception checks, source-review log, and a fictional rehearsal. It is intended for planning. Keep real identifying information out of the planning copy and give the approved operational process a clear owner and version.
Review the worksheet whenever the program changes its entry routes, staff responsibilities, forms, or service model. A useful revision describes what changed, which step is affected, and what the team needs to practice. Updating a document date alone does not tell staff how to work differently.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a recovery coaching intake form?
The download is a workflow planning worksheet for an organization. It contains example conversation prompts and decision tables. It is not an approved participant intake form, a clinical assessment, a consent or release, or a billing record.
Should intake and the first coaching session happen together?
They can occur during one contact or at different times, depending on the program and the person's choices. Keep administrative steps and coaching actually delivered distinguishable, and use the current requirements for the service.
What if a participant does not have a clear recovery goal yet?
The first conversation can explore what the person would find useful and what support they want now. Do not invent a goal to fill a field. Use the program's approved record to describe the contact and any next step actually agreed.
Does agreeing to a follow-up permit sharing information with a partner?
Do not treat those as the same decision. Use the organization's approved permissions, privacy, and disclosure processes for any proposed sharing. The worksheet's conversation prompts are not a substitute for those processes.
Can Smores Health automatically approve intake or eligibility?
This guide makes no such claim. Evaluate the verified operational tools for assignments, documentation, review, and follow-up, and confirm your exact configuration. Program entry and eligibility decisions remain subject to your responsible team and applicable requirements.
Sources and product pages
Sources support the specific guidance cited above. Program guidance is not a universal requirement. Product pages describe capabilities to verify against your organization’s needs.
- Core Competencies for Peer Workers: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. National peer-worker principles and uses of competencies for training, job descriptions, and development. Official indexed text checked October 9, 2026.
- Recovery Coaches in the ED: Intake Form (June 10, 2020): Vermont Department of Health. Historical program-specific example, accessed October 9, 2026. Pages 2 and 3 separately record referral agreement and follow-up preferences. Not cited as a current or nationwide requirement.
- Operate: Peer Support Workforce and Caseload Management: Smores Health. Smores Health workforce, caseload, schedule, supervision, and task workflows.
- Document: Notes, Assessments, and Supervisor Review: Smores Health. Smores Health structured notes, assessments, signatures, and review workflows.