Workflow Overview
This page provides visual diagrams to help you understand how Referrals and Service Episodes flow through Manaaki Central. These diagrams are useful for new staff orientation and understanding the end-to-end process.
Referral Lifecycle
The complete journey of a Referral from client search to service completion, showing the Referral and Service Episode statuses.
Referral Intake Steps
The intake form is a three-step wizard. Each step must be completed before the next unlocks:
| Step | Label | What is captured |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intake | Service first, then the client, the referrer and the reason for the Referral |
| 2 | Consent | How consent was obtained, and what was provided to the client |
| 3 | Review & Submit | Read-only confirmation, then submit and dispatch to a service |
The Referral record is created at the end of Step 1, not at final submission — from that point it exists with a reference number and Draft status and can be returned to later.
Once all three steps are complete and the entry is submitted, it moves to Pending Service Dispatch.
For the full walkthrough see Creating a Referral.
Role Responsibilities
This diagram shows how work flows between the roles in Manaaki Central.
Role Quick Reference
| Role | Primary Responsibilities | Dashboard Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Intake Officer | Search/create clients, complete 3-step intake, dispatch to services, can directly assign Case Workers | New Referrals, review queue, service dispatch |
| Head of Intake / Intake Officer | Review all Referral information and submit review | Review queue, pending reviews |
| Supervisor / Program Manager | Approve/reject service requests, select Case Workers on approval, monitor team | Pending service reviews, team Activity |
| Case Worker | Activate Service Episodes, deliver services, record activities, close Service Episodes | Active Cases, follow-ups due, client interactions |
Priority Handling
Different priorities have different expected response times.
Priority Guidelines
There are five priority levels. The Referral form shows the expected response time against each one as you select it.
| Priority | Response time | When to Use | Example Scenarios |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency | Now | Immediate safety concern requiring emergency response | Child at risk, medical emergency |
| Crisis | 4 hours | Crisis situation, handle urgently | Acute family breakdown, imminent harm |
| Urgent | 24 hours | Needs attention within a day | Family in distress, time-sensitive support needed |
| Priority | 3 days | Important but not an emergency | New client intake, scheduled assessment overdue |
| Routine | 5 days | Standard processing | Regular check-in, administrative Referral |
Daily Workflow by Role
Status Reference
All status values used across the system, grouped by lifecycle. These are the values you will see in badges, filters, and reports.
Referral statuses
These statuses track where an entry is in the intake-to-allocation pipeline.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Draft | Entry has been created — Step 1 complete, Consent not yet done |
| Pending Consent | Awaiting consent and agreement |
| Pending Review | Consent recorded, awaiting review and submission |
| Pending Service Dispatch | Submitted, ready for service selection and allocation |
| Pending Service Review | Service request sent to supervisor/programme manager for approval |
| Accepted Pending Allocation | Service accepted, Case Worker selection pending |
| Allocated Awaiting Service | Case Worker assigned, Service Episode created and ready to commence |
| Service In Progress | Service delivery underway |
| Completed | Service concluded successfully — final status |
| Closed | Entry closed without completing — final status |
Completed and Closed are the only final statuses. There is no separate "Cancelled" or "Withdrawn" status — an entry that is cancelled, or whose consent is withdrawn, ends up as Closed with a recorded reason.
Service Episode statuses
Once a Referral is allocated, a Service Episode is created and moves through its own lifecycle.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Awaiting Staff Assignment | Service Episode created, no Case Worker yet confirmed |
| Awaiting Commencement | Case Worker assigned, waiting for them to activate the Service Episode |
| Active / In Progress | Case Worker has activated the Service Episode — service delivery is underway |
| On Hold | Delivery temporarily paused (e.g. client unavailable, waiting on external factor) |
| Completed | Service Episode successfully concluded |
| Closed | Service Episode closed without full completion (early closure or termination) |
Consent statuses
Consent is tracked separately from the Referral status and may change at any point. It is not a single status field — consent is active when all of the following hold, and withdrawn once it has been withdrawn.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Consent active | Consent to service and information sharing are both recorded, guardian consent is complete where required, consent has not expired, and it has not been withdrawn |
| Consent withdrawn | The client has withdrawn consent — service delivery must not proceed |
Withdrawing consent is not reversible in the system, and it does more than change a flag: it closes any active Service Episodes and closes the Referral itself, recording the withdrawal reason. Check with your supervisor before withdrawing consent on anyone's record.
Related Documentation
- Intake Officer Dashboard - Processing Referrals
- Supervisor Dashboard - Managing team and approvals
- Case Worker Dashboard - Managing Caseload
- Referral Overview - Detailed Referral documentation
- User Roles - Role permissions and responsibilities