Onboarding and Ongoing Support
One of the most supportive practices to community members with lived experience is the development of an onboarding packet for work group members.
Agencies should thoughtfully develop an onboarding packet for all workgroup members (not only those who are eligible to receive compensation). This packet should contain, in plain language, information about the agency, the project, impacted benefits, applicable laws and policies to the agency such as confidentiality, public disclosure, non-discrimination, how to request accessibility supports such as language interpretation or
hardware, and compensation and reimbursement instructions.
Workgroup managers and agency staff should be available to support community members to welcome them and create an environment of belonging, answer questions about requesting payment and reimbursement, and troubleshoot problems as they arise. Community members should be given agency staff contact information in advance, so they know who to contact when support is needed.
Communication
Communication is critical in establishing, growing, and maintaining relationships with workgroup members.
Agencies should clearly communicate early and often about what workgroup members can expect in terms of
the compensation process (amount, frequency, timing, method, etc.) Not doing so undermines trust with
community members and may cause more harm, particularly for low-income workgroup members who could
put the funds to use in their household.
Agencies should ask eligible members what their preferred method of communication is and then use that
method. For example, many community members prefer receiving text messages to alert them if something
time sensitive or important needs their attention. If an eligible member states that they do not check email
frequently, or that frequent or lengthy emails are not likely to get their immediate attention, a simple text
message alerting them that there is an important email for them to review can make a big difference.