Tips from a Compliance Coordinator

The following was created by Leanne Wiedemann, Compliance Coordinator for the Kansas City Area Team.

Monthly Contacts Follow-up

Remember that Global Link currently sends an automated message to each liaison on the 15th and 25th of each month with a list of remaining required contacts, so it is best to avoid those dates for your friendlier reminders. Liaisons also have the option to receive text messages on or around the 20^th of the month regarding missing contacts for the current month.

My work flow:

Click "Monthly Contact" on the left side menu

Click the "All participants" button:

Students will be listed on the left-hand side of the screen. The students that you are responsible for (serving as their liaison) will be the first ones listed. Any student that has a “To Do” button means there is a missing contact. A blue button means there is something upcoming that’s due. An orange button means something is past-due. To see what’s due, scroll over the “To Do” button and it will provide a list:

From here, you can see who the liaison is by reading the “Responsible” column. This will be the person you want to contact about completing any missing contacts and visits.

To get the liaison’s contact information, you can click on the “Team” page on the left-hand side of the screen. Then click the “Volunteers & Staff” button and then “All Volunteers.” This will provide a list of all volunteers in the team. To get their contact information, simply click on the volunteer you’d like to contact:

Cut and Paste from the auto-email reminder list

Another resource is the automated email reminder Global Link sends to the Compliance Coordinator along with the Team Chair, Support Coordinator and Liaison Coordinator (and individualized version to each liaison) on the 15th and 25th of the month (Monthly SQL report). As the Compliance Coordinator, or Liaison Coordinator, you will get an overview of all the Team's outstanding monthly contacts as of that date for the current month, which includes a linked service number for each student to their monthly contact page.

Remember that the automated system also sends a list of remaining contacts needed to each individual liaison, a subset of this list, on the 15th and 25th of each month with their own missing contacts, so it is best to avoid those dates for your friendlier reminders. But your version of the automated email is an easy place to copy and paste from, providing the direct monthly contact page link in your targeted emails.

Running the Reports

To pull reports, you’ll need to go to Global Link. To get there from MyAFS, you’ll need to click on the “Global Link” tab on the left side of the screen:

Click on “Reports” on the left side of the screen:

Monthly Contact Tracking Report

The Monthly Contact Tracking Report will provide a list of all the students in your Team and the status of each month’s contacts with both the student and their host family.

To pull the report, things should automatically default to get the information you’re after. You may want to change the year and cycle if you only want NH or SH students. You also have the option of changing the “Selection” status to show all contacts, only students who have been contacted, or only students who have missing contacts. Then click the “View Report” button:

These excel spread sheets can be manipulated. I usually hide irrelevant columns and rows (select the entire column, right click, select ‘hide’) and sort by the liaison name (agree to the prompt to expand so the entire content is sorted, not just the selected column). The report also lists the Associate Support Coordinator, if one is assigned, who can also be copied to help mentor the liaison.
Then, send an email with the text: "Just a friendly reminder that the following students and or their host families need a May contact entered into Global Link. Thanks for all you do!" Paste in the relevant rows and columns from the report.
I sometimes add another tidbit about resources or timely reminders about the kind of things to focus on for a particular time. I take these from the liaison training or support website.
Lastly, sometimes I will remind them about the need for school reports, general reminders about 30/60 day contacts early in the year, or other requirements. I try to make it different each month, so they might actually read it!

Monthly Contact Percentage Report

This report will give you an overview of the percentages of Monthly Contacts for Hosted Participants and Host Families:

You can open this report in the same way you would open the Monthly tracking Report mentioned above. You may want to adjust the “Cycle” but everything else should default to get the information you’re after. Then click “View Report”:

This opens as an Excel spread sheet and may need to enable editing and adjust column width so the numbers show (#### means not enough room to display full number so need to increase width of columns).

30-60 In Home Visit Report

The 30 – 60 In Home Visit Report will provide a list of all the students in your Team and the status of any 30- or 60-Day In Home Visits. It also includes the due date of any upcoming required in home visits:

To pull the report, things should automatically default to get the information you’re after. You may want to change the year and cycle if you only want NH or SH students. You also have the option of changing the “Regulations you want to show” status to show _All (meaning both 30 and 60 day visits), only 30 day requirements, or only 60 day requirements. Then click the “View Report” button:

These excel spread sheets can be manipulated. I usually hide irrelevant columns and rows (select the entire column, right click, select ‘hide’) and sort by the liaison name (agree to the prompt to expand so the entire content is sorted, not just the selected column).

Other notes

There are many useful resources on MyAFS Help & Learning that can be shared with liaisons, including how to record a contact, FAQs, and many others!
Note that if a liaison is missing a contact for a month, reach out to the Associate Support Coordinator for that student (if there is one), the Liaison or Volunteer Coordinator for the team, or contact a nearby volunteer who might help out or mentor the liaison.
Note that the Liaison Coordinator(s) also receive the auto-emails with all the Team’s missing contacts twice each month.
Remind the liaisons of the MyAFS contacts and visits timeline feature, which you can get to by clicking on the student’s name in the contacts and visits page in MyAFS. It shows all requirements, missing and completed contacts, and when each requirement is due:

Tips from a Compliance Coordinator

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