You have submitted a referral. What happens next should not be a mystery. A good provider runs the same process behind every referral, quickly when it has to and carefully every time. This is what the process looks like at TIFA Life, and what you should expect from any provider.
Step 1: Acknowledgement (within 2 hours)
A referral should be acknowledged within two hours, with more than "we'll be in touch". The acknowledgement says the referral has been received, that it is being assessed, when the full response will come, and which senior person is handling it.
If a provider cannot acknowledge a referral within a few hours, it will not respond within a day either, and the placement will probably run the same way.
Step 2: Initial screening (can we safely deliver this?)
Before commercial or capacity questions, a proper screening asks: does this referral fall within our capability? What are the presenting risks? Do we have staff trained appropriately? Are the current residents in the property a safe fit for this young person? If the answer to any of these questions is uncertain, screening continues. If the answer is clearly no, the provider should decline, fast and in writing.
Step 3: Risk assessment (Operations Lead sign-off)
Risk assessment happens before any offer is made. The Operations Lead signs it off, because operations will live with the consequences of accepting the placement, so operations must hold the authority to decline it.
The risk assessment is documented. If the placement breaks down three months later, the assessment is revisited: was the risk understood, were the controls sufficient, what changed?
Step 4: Capacity and property match
Is there a suitable bed? "Suitable" is more than empty. It means the right property type, the right location for the young person's needs, the right existing peer group, and the right staffing ratio to cover the presenting risk. If the right bed is not available, the provider should say so, and not accept in the hope of sorting it out later.
Step 5: Offer or decline (honest, in writing)
The outcome is communicated in writing. If we can take the placement, the offer includes the property, the named keyworker, the staffing plan, the reporting cadence and the start date. If we cannot, the decline names the reason and, where possible, suggests an alternative the commissioner could explore.
You hear from us in writing within 24 hours of receipt, and the decision itself follows within one working day for standard referrals. Same day for emergencies.
Step 6: Pre-placement preparation
Once the offer is accepted we get the placement ready before the young person arrives. We check the property, brief the staff, prepare the welcome documents. The shift team gets the risk plan, the allocated worker gets the safeguarding escalation route, and starter provisions are in, suited to the young person's culture.
A young person who arrives to a placement that is not ready gets a worse start than they needed to. However short the notice, the essentials have to be in place before they arrive.
Step 7: Placement commencement
The keyworker is assigned, reporting starts, and the first report is scheduled for the first week. The named senior contact is in place. We test the safeguarding escalation route: the allocated worker has our numbers and the shift team has theirs.
What a bad referral process looks like
- Slow acknowledgement: hours become days.
- Vague offers: a verbal yes without property, staffing or start date.
- Accepted without proper risk assessment: "we will sort it out".
- No named senior contact at offer stage.
- Safeguarding escalation not shared before arrival.
- First report weeks after placement start, not days.
TIFA Life's process
Every step above is our process. We acknowledge within 2 hours and the Operations Lead signs off before any offer. You get a written response within 24 hours, a decision within one working day (same day for emergencies), a named senior contact from the offer onwards and the safeguarding escalation route on day one.
To submit a referral, use the form at referrals. For commissioner-facing information on our response times, reporting templates and due diligence, see for Local Authorities. Full service offer at services.