Routing Categories Walkthrough
How every caregiver signal finds the right worker and the right resource.
Every message a caregiver sends enters the EXP Engine at one of four urgency levels, routes to the Foster Care Worker, the Care Connection Worker, or both — and surfaces the matching resource automatically. The eleven categories below carry a Vantaggio recommendation. The six topics in Part Two are set by the Department.
Four levels. One escalation path.
Every caregiver message enters at one of four levels. Only Respond now sends anything outside the dashboard — a text and email to the assigned worker immediately. The other three carry no clock and no automatic escalation. Respond now is not set by category level; it is set in Part Two, where the Department decides which topics notify immediately and which escalate.
Urgent or emergency. Text and email to the assigned worker immediately, plus dashboard.
The caregiver is asking for something now. Dashboard.
Worth a look, nothing required. Dashboard.
The caregiver answered and raised nothing. Dashboard.
Routing follows the signal, not the category.
A signal about the youth goes to the Foster Care Worker. A signal about the home goes to the Care Connection Worker. A signal that is both notifies both. Twenty of the eighty-six signals are currently tagged as both.
Only on Respond now signals.
Escalation runs only on Respond now. A worker explicitly claiming the message stops the escalation — opening the dashboard or reading the email does not. All timing is Central, and the clock starts when the message arrives.
School
ReviewAttendance, enrollment, IEP and 504, tutoring, anything the school raised. Enters at Review, becomes Respond when the same need comes back.
Behavior
ReviewConduct at home or school, sleep, eating, defiance, escalation the caregiver is managing. Enters at Review, becomes Respond on repeat.
Youth Relationship
ReviewConnection with the caregiver, siblings, peers, settling in. Enters at Review. The most underreported category — make it easy to say something small.
Caregiver
ReviewSupport, respite, training, and the point where fostering gets hard to sustain. Enters at Review; a request for help now enters at Respond.
Visitation and Family Contact
ReviewScheduling, transportation, missed or difficult visits, birth family contact. Enters at Review; blocked or unreachable enters at Respond.
Licensing and Compliance
ReviewRecertification, training hours, home study updates, paperwork tied to the license. Enters at Review; a date the caregiver cannot meet enters at Respond.
Administrative
ReviewBoard rate, reimbursement, clothing allowance, status of a submitted form. Enters at Review — the questions caregivers stop asking after a few tries.
Transition
ReviewA move being planned, a new placement arriving, reunification, a youth approaching eighteen. Enters at Review; a set date enters at Respond.
Household
RespondFood, utilities, transportation, anything that means the week cannot run. Enters at Respond the first time — a need with a date on it, not a concern to watch.
Authorization
RespondA signature, approval, or decision the caregiver is waiting on and cannot move without. Enters at Respond — the caregiver is already blocked when the signal arrives.
Resource Request
RespondThe caregiver names something needed and asks for it directly. Enters at Respond by definition.
These six sit against reporting duty, so Vantaggio brings no recommended level. Every one of them notifies a worker. The Department sets two things for each: whether it notifies immediately or waits on the dashboard, and whether it escalates on its own.
Safety
Immediate notification and escalation recommended
Abuse or neglect disclosure
Immediate notification and escalation recommended
Self-harm or harm to others
Immediate notification and escalation recommended
Law enforcement contact
Immediate notification and escalation recommended
Youth missing
Immediate notification and escalation recommended
Medical
Immediate notification and escalation recommended
What Baton Rouge has today.
Fourteen providers were pre-filled from public sources. Straight means the caregiver is sent to the organization directly. Permission means a worker approves the referral first.
Ready to configure routing for Louisiana?
Schedule a planning session.
The routing categories walkthrough is the instrument for the routing portion of the working session. Answers captured become the configuration.