Housing options process management overview
All housing options services provided by local authorities share a common goal: to help people with either finding a home for themselves and their family, or keeping safe an existing home. These services may include:
In its simplest form, the core function of the housing options module is to match all aspects of a customer enquiry to the most appropriate guidance, which is compiled from a series of predefined advice statements stored on the system. There is no limit to the breadth of advice that can be captured and therefore presented to a service user; the only governing factor is to ensure that each individual statement is constructed in such a way as to separate information that might only be applicable to certain subgroups. The workflow underpinning a specific case controls the range of statements that could potentially be selected, and the rules defined around the linked enquiry form - a custom question template - determine the specific customer responses that will trigger the relevant advice. This process management approach ensures that for those service users whose enquiry is channelled to a specific housing option workflow, there is still the opportunity to personalise the advice based on their individual combination of responses. By storing advice entries in a statement bank, the consistency of service is upheld and their automatic selection accelerates the ability to generate a customer information pack - a handy reference guide that brings together into one document all the information that will steer their housing options journey. As each housing options enquiry constitutes the creation of a unique case, every activity is monitored, tracked and auditable throughout its lifecycle. Indeed, the process of managing housing options cases is deliberately structured into a series of discrete tasks, allowing the assigned owner to channel their efforts accordingly. Under the complete control of the end user, tasks can be configured as separate events within each case framework, or they can be stacked as progressive and dependent events, using time lags to dictate their earliest activation point.
Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of housing options process management, including: