Personal preferences, technology literacy, and mobility all impact which communication channels kin can use. If you are only using 1 method to reach kin, such as mailing physical letters, you are not reaching everyone you need to find. Plus, people may think letters from unknown government agencies are fraudulent, so having multiple ways to contact and verify your identity helps build trust.

How to do this

Learn what works for kin. Ask each kin contact about their preferences and record their answers in your child welfare information system.

Give staff multiple communication options. This includes email, text messaging, social media messaging, telephone calls, and even in-person visits. While employees may need to send physical mail occasionally, it shouldn't be your most common method of communication.

Provide clear ways for kin to verify your identity and legitimacy when you make initial contact, especially with previously unknown relatives. Staff can share their work email address, provide a direct office phone number to call back, show a work ID badge during in-person visits, or ask kin you already have relationships with to introduce you to new kin.

Set up supporting systems. Develop policies and practices for document retention, records discovery, privacy, data sharing, and other concerns for new communication methods. Create message templates adapted for each medium. An email will be different from a text message, which will be different from a voicemail.

This strategy in action

Some agencies use customer service tools to communicate with kin via email, text message, and social media. These tools can often handle the security, document retention, and discovery needs of an agency while providing a convenient single interface for employees and the ability for teams to collaborate (like 1 employee jumping into messaging with kin when another is on leave).