In June 2025, NNSI invited leading practitioners from across the country to Chicago for a working convening on integrated referral networks. The two-day session focused on how we can build smarter, more sustainable cross-sector referral networks for human and health services.
The insights and key questions below reflect conversations from that day.
Attendees
| Autumn Campbell | Director | Partnership to Align Social Care |
| Heather Black | Vice President, 211 System Strategy | United Way Worldwide |
| Megan Andros | Program Officer | Heinz Endowments |
| Brandon Wilson | COO | Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) |
| Tim Driscoll | Assistant Director of Service Coordination | ABCCM |
| Rachel Marquez | Program Director | NCCARE360 |
| Liz Whitworth | Managing Director | Connect Oregon |
| Gilly Cantor | Director of Evaluation & Capacity Building | D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families |
| Beck Moore | CEO | Community Action Association of Pennsylvania |
| Jeremy Cantor | Principal/Project Director | JSI |
| Paul Cantrell | Director of the Center of Excellence to Align | USAging Health and Social Care |
Best Practices
- Trust-building is the foundation
Strong networks are built on trust between organizations, referral systems, and even funders. It enables smoother communication and collaboration, leading to higher efficiency and better outcomes in the long run.
- Data must be actionable and aligned.
Referral volume alone doesn’t reflect real impact. Instead, networks need a shared understanding of what success looks like and a standardized way of measuring it. That means aligning around outcome-based metrics such as closed-loop referrals or longitudinal outcomes like sustained housing or employment. Shared data standards, quality control, and clarified definitions enable data to drive funding, decisions, and improvement. In the best systems, these are not just outputs of the networks (e.g., successfully resolved referral) but actual outcomes that the client experiences (e.g., completed pathway for housing).
- People drive change, not just technology.
Be aware of over-reliance on technology. Technology may power the system, but people keep it running smoothly. Staff like care traffic controllers and network coordinators ensure services don’t fall through the cracks. Their ability to troubleshoot, support partners, and adapt to changing needs is what makes these systems effective. That’s why ongoing training and strong user support are necessary to ensure meaningful use and long-term engagement.
- Sustainability requires early and ongoing planning.
Networks that thrive long term are those that plan for sustainability early. Long-term success is tied to early alignment with state and health system initiatives, diversified funding streams, and the inclusion of payment and reimbursement models. From day 1, networks should focus on outcomes and SROI. These need to be written into contracts.
- Referral networks don’t solve every problem.
Referral networks are only useful when there are adequate services to refer clients to. In communities where critical services are missing or under-resourced, investing in local capacity and leadership may be more impactful than building referral infrastructure.
As with any good conversation, this convening opened the door to even more learning. Below are some of the questions we’ll be thinking through as this work continues to evolve.
Key Questions
- We need a playbook that provides guidance on how to build, operate, and evaluate hubs and networks based on best practices (or lessons learned) from existing networks across the country, and can be applied to hubs and networks in most states. This playbook should clearly state non-negotiables and establish minimum standards for hubs and networks. It should standardize the definitions, measures, and outcomes used to evaluate the hubs and networks so that these can be used to showcase the ROIs when negotiating with tech vendors or governments. Meanwhile, it should allow flexibility in specific numbers and KPIs, as the development of such networks requires time, and conditions vary across the country.
- How do we advocate together? How can we tell a better story using data and move legislative orders?
- How can we better engage in healthcare? How can different players in a community collaborate with shared goals?
- How can we deploy a CHW workforce nationwide? And on the other side, what can be done to better include CHW workforces in our hubs/networks?
We thank the Heinz Endowments for their support of this convening.