Our online Intake Tool
A cutting-edge approach to online intake
Why we created an online Intake Tool
Until the release of the Intake Tool in 2018, most of Justice Connect’s programs ran primarily phone-based intake systems.
The Intake Tool is driving increased uptake of legal services, as well as reducing the time spent by staff on intake and triage. The Intake Tool is not designed to replace phone-based intake, but to make alternative channels available.
The Intake Tool has two key components: a program sorter, and program specific questions. The program sorter asks people some short questions and determines which they should apply for at Justice Connect. The key aim of our Program Sorter is to connect eligible people and organisations with the right Justice Connect program as quickly as possible, and to inform them if they are ineligible as early as possible.
Each Justice Connect program also has its own tailored intake pathway, which people can choose to use directly as well as via the program sorter.
The tool has been co-designed and iterated with Justice Connect clients over many years to ensure it continues to meet their needs.
The impact of our Intake Tool
The first iteration of the tool was released in August 2018. One year later, we conducted a full evaluation to inform its impact.
Key findings from our evaluation include:
- People and organisations are increasingly finding and engaging with us online. With little promotion, our Help page is now one of our most popular website pages.
- 66% of those surveyed indicated a preference for applying for assistance online over phone-based applications.
- For most programs, the Intake Tool is resulting in significantly less time spent on the phone overall, with efficiency gains of between 22% and 44% across most Programs.
- The Intake Tool is reducing the emotional burden of frontline interactions and can provide valuable information to prepare for difficult conversations.
- Staff think that the tool presents Justice Connect to the public in a more professional, consistent, and coordinated way.
Read our full evaluation of our Intake Tool:
Integrating our artificial intelligence (AI) model with our Intake Tool
Our AI model was integrated into our Intake Tool in 2022. Early findings show that it is increasing progress rates, and reducing drop out when selecting their legal problem type.
