Referrals and beneficiary registration

There are two ways to bring a person into Care:

Route	When to use it	Result
Referral, then Accept	Someone (police, a hospital, family, the person themselves) asks you to take the person on, and you want a record of the request and your decision.	The person is registered automatically when you accept.
Register a person directly	You already know the person will be supported, for example an internal move or historic records.	The person is registered at once.

Either way, registration does not admit the person or give them a bed. That is a separate step; see Admissions.

Before you start: the person must exist as a Party

Care never creates people. The person must already exist as a Person Party with a person profile: first name, last name and date of birth. If the exact date is unknown, tick estimated. Party records are created in the Party / Person area of the application.

1. Search for the person first, in Party and in Care → Beneficiaries, to avoid duplicates.
2. If they don't exist, create the Person Party with their name and date of birth.
3. Then return to Care.

Never create a second Party to get round a restriction

If a search shows nothing, the person may exist but be hidden from you: protected, in another home, or outside your caseload. Ask a colleague with wider access to check before creating anyone.

Record a referral

Where: Care → Referrals → New referral. Who: care.referral.manage.

Field	What to enter	Example
Person being referred	Search for the Person Party	Maya Khan
Referred by (optional)	The person or organisation making the referral, if they exist as a Party	Westfield Children's Services
Source	Police, Court, Hospital, Social services, NGO, Religious institution, Family, Self, Community or Other	Social services
Urgency	Routine, Urgent or Emergency	Urgent
Referred on	The date the referral was received	28/02/2026
Requested programme	Optional: the programme asked for	Children residential care
Requested facility	Optional: the home asked for	Sunrise North House
Reason	Why the referral was made. Factual and brief.	Mother hospitalised; no other family carer available.

Select Record referral. The referral appears at the top of the Referral queue with the decision Pending.

Rules:

• Only a Person Party can be referred: "Only a PERSON Party can be referred".
• If the person is referring themselves (the Referred by is the same person), the Source must be Self: "Use source SELF when the person refers themselves".

Decide a referral

Where: Care → Referrals → the Referral queue. Use the Decision filter to show only Pending or Waitlisted referrals.

Button	Use it when	What you are asked	What happens
Accept	You will support the person	"Accept the referral for Maya Khan? This registers them as a beneficiary."	The person is registered with status Referred. The requested programme and home are set on the new record.
Waitlist	You would accept, but have no space yet	(nothing)	Stays in the queue. You can accept, decline or withdraw it later.
Decline	You will not take the person on	A reason	Closed. The reason is kept.
Withdraw	The referrer cancelled the request	A reason	Closed. The reason is kept.

Only Pending and Waitlisted referrals can be decided. A decided referral shows "Referral is already accepted" (or declined, or withdrawn).

Example: Maya

1. On 28 February Sara records the referral from Westfield Children's Services (Urgent).
2. North House is full, so James selects Waitlist.
3. On 1 March a bed frees up. James selects Accept and confirms.
4. Maya is now beneficiary BEN-000014 with status Referred. Select her name in the queue to open her profile, then admit her.

Example: an accepted person who was here before. If the person is already a beneficiary, accepting links the referral to their existing record instead of registering them twice. This works only while their record is not closed, deceased or anonymised.

Register a person directly

Where: Care → Beneficiaries → Register a person. Who: care.beneficiary.create.

Field	What to enter	Example
Person (picker)	The existing Person Party	Ruth Evans
Primary programme	Optional: the main programme	Elderly residential care
Alias for low-privilege views	A made-up name used where the real name must not appear, such as sponsorship screens. Needed if the person may ever be sponsored.	Rose
Sensitivity	Standard: normal. Elevated: extra care. Protected: hidden from all lists and searches except for staff with protected-record access.	Standard

Select Register. The new record opens with status Referred and its number, for example BEN-000015.

Message	Meaning and what to do
This person is already registered as a beneficiary	Search Beneficiaries; open the existing record.
Create the person profile (name and date of birth) before registering	The Party has no person details. Add them in Party / Person first.
A beneficiary must be a PERSON Party	You picked an organisation.
A beneficiary Party must be active	Reactivate the Party first, if appropriate.

Choosing the sensitivity

Use Protected only when knowing the person is in your care could put them at risk, for example a child hidden from an abusive parent. Protected records never appear in the Beneficiaries list or searches for ordinary staff. Make sure the people who need the record have access.

Find a beneficiary

Where: Care → Beneficiaries → Register (the search panel).

Filter	Example
Number, alias or name	BEN-000014, Star or Khan
Status	Active
Facility	Sunrise North House

Select Search, then select a number to open the profile. The table shows Number, Name, Alias, Age and Status. Protected records are never listed (see above), and anonymised records are left out of normal searches.

If a person is missing from the results:

1. Clear the filters and search by number.
2. Check you have access to their home (facility access).
3. If caseload scoping is on, check you have an open assignment to them.
4. Ask a colleague with protected-record access whether the record is protected.

The overview

The Overview at the top of the profile shows the Number, Status, Name, Date of birth, Gender, Alias, Primary programme, Risk, Sensitivity, Registered and Closed dates. The name and date of birth come from Party, so correct them in Party; Care has no second copy.

Alerts appear above the overview, such as "Prohibited contact: Mark Khan" or "Consent expires on …". See Alerts and what they mean.

Record origin and background

Where: profile → Origin and background → Edit origin. Who: care.beneficiary.update. Religion and ethnicity need the sensitive care.beneficiary.special.view; without it they show Restricted.

Field	What to enter	Example
Country (2 letters)	ISO country code of origin	PK
Region, District, Locality	As known	Punjab, Lahore, Model Town
Primary language	The person's main language	Urdu
Arrival circumstance	Abandoned, Orphaned (both or single), Parent unable to care, Neglect, Abuse, Displacement, Trafficking, Destitution, Elderly with no carer, Medical need, Other	Parent unable to care
Found on, Found at	For children who were found: when and where	12/01/2026, Central bus station
Religion, Ethnicity	Special-category data, visible only with special access	(as recorded)
Background summary	A short factual summary	Lived with mother until her admission to hospital.

Select Save origin.

This is care context, not identity. Names, addresses and date of birth stay in Party. Faith as a personal practice (what the person likes to do) belongs in What matters to me, not here.

Close a record

Where: profile → Overview → Close record. Who: care.beneficiary.update.

Closing marks the whole file as finished. It is different from discharging, which ends one stay.

1. Discharge every live admission and end every community enrolment first. Otherwise: "Discharge and end all enrolments before closing the record".
2. Select Close record and enter the reason, for example "Moved out of area; no further service".
3. The status becomes Closed and the Closed date is shown.

Closing does not delete or anonymise anything. Anonymisation happens only at the end of the retention period, after approval by two people; see Retention.