I&R agencies aim to serve everyone and aim to serve everyone equally. Some people face ongoing systemic barriers to accessing services that relate to an ethnic/racial/religious/cultural background which creates additional vulnerability. They may sometimes require more help because of that vulnerability. It is essential to act with positive respect toward people from all backgrounds and circumstances. Nothing less is acceptable.

Despite increased awareness, there remains a stigma about mental health and a lack of understanding of what the term “mental disorder” really means in either a broad or a narrow sense.

This interactive course provides general introductory information on mental health disorders and the services available to affected individuals. It is primarily intended for staff at Information & Referral (I&R) organizations that need the ability to handle a wide range of clients and disorders, including those involving mental health concerns. However, as a basic course, it has relevance to anyone within the human services sector who is not a specialist in mental health and related issues.

This course is primarily for Community Resource Specialists.

When you have successfully completed this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the nature and types of major mental disorders (e.g., depressive disorders, bipolar and related disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders, anxiety disorders, etc.).
• Communicate more effectively with persons who have a mental disorder/disorders.
• Explain the basic structure of services available to persons with mental disorders.

Every day, Information and Referral (I&R) Specialists answer calls from vulnerable people in difficult situations. With experience, they get to handling these calls quite adeptly. This course is about those other calls. An I&R specialist must have the skills to meet the needs of all types of people in all types of situations, including people who are angry, hostile, manipulative, call frequently with the same problem, or are otherwise difficult to serve. This interactive course describes the range of “challenging” calls generally encountered within an I&R program, techniques for diffusing situations, setting boundaries, and if necessary, terminating calls. This training was written by AIRS staff member, Clive Jones, a former President of InformCanada, who is responsible for the AIRS Certification Program, in addition to assisting with training and standards development. It was adapted from material within The ABCs of I&R (copyright AIRS). AIRS is the nonprofit Alliance of Information and Referral Systems at www.airs.org.

This course is primarily for Community Resource Specialists.

When you have successfully completed this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the range of clients who may be described as “challenging” for reasons other than the nature of the call. 
• Outline techniques to defuse hostility and cope with challenging clients. 
• Identify when your own feelings are being “triggered” and you are at risk of losing control of the inquiry. 

Information and Referral is about much more than providing the “I” (Information) and the “R” (Referral). It is about empowering people to help themselves both now and in future situations; while it is sometimes also about advocating for people who are not currently able to help themselves.

Empowerment and advocacy are fundamental principles of I&R. 

This interactive course is for Information & Referral (I&R) Specialists who handle human service inquiries from the public and the supervisors who oversee this essential work. The course describes the nature of empowerment (helping people to help themselves) and advocacy (when people really need additional support) within the context of I&R.

The course was written by AIRS staff member, Clive Jones, a former President of InformCanada, who is responsible for the AIRS Certification Program, in addition to assisting with training and standards development. It was adapted from material within The ABCs of I&R (copyright AIRS).

This course may not be applicable to human service professionals engaged in case management activities.

AIRS is the nonprofit Alliance of Information and Referral Systems at www.airs.org.

Learning Objectives

When you have successfully completed this course, you will be able to:

1. Define the concept of empowerment within an I&R environment.
2. Describe the meaning of advocacy in I&R and identify situations in which advocacy is necessary.

Recognize the difference between individual and system advocacy and     examples of each.

This package consists of 5 courses essential to providing a foundation of success for Community Resource Specialists. 

First Course: Introduction to Information & Referral

Service Delivery: The Information and Referral Process

Service Delivery: Anatomy of a Good Call

Service Delivery: Confidentiality in Information and Referral Services

Service Delivery: Information and Referral Customer Service

Learning Concepts and Objectives:

• To describe the role of I&R in a crisis situation
• To outline the types of crises that are encountered in an I&R service
• To assess the nature of a crisis
• To identify techniques for defusing and handling a crisis
• To describe the components of a crisis intervention model
• To define the basis elements of a suicide risk assessment

The core of your job is to help people – to “serve” them – to provide I&R customer service.

A Community Resource Specialist may answer 100 calls in a busy day. But each of those calls is the most important call of the day for the person who makes it. The challenge is to respond to each of those 100 calls as it if was also the most important call of your day.

Depending on organizational preferences and background, the people who contact I&R services may be referred to internally as “clients”, “inquirers”, “callers” or “customers”.

This course is primarily for Community Resource Specialists.

When you have successfully completed this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the nature of “I&R customer service” and why it is important.
• Define the pivotal role attitude plays in the provision of quality I&R.
• Identify positive communication strategies.
• Outline the elements involved in opening and closing a call.
• Describe the importance of a continued commitment to improvement through ongoing training and regular supervisory feedback.

Information and Referral (I&R) is not a crisis service. Yet I&R practitioners have always and will always need to occasionally handle crisis situations, including suicide calls. This course addresses the skills required to do so. This course covers all aspects of crisis intervention within an I&R environment. Topics discussed within an interactive format include defining the nature of crisis, the search for coping mechanisms, and the types of crisis generally encountered within I&R. It includes a crisis intervention model and the elements of a suicide risk assessment. The material is primarily geared for front-line staff at I&R services that are responsible for the provision of services delivery to the public. It is not appropriate for crisis specialists but may be a practical primer for other professionals within health and human services. The course was written by AIRS staff member, Clive Jones, a former President of InformCanada, who is responsible for the AIRS Certification Program, in addition to assisting with training and standards development. It was adapted from material within The ABCs of I&R (copyright AIRS). AIRS is the nonprofit Alliance of Information and Referral Systems at www.airs.org.

This includes an introduction to the AIRS Standards and an overview of the various ways in which I&R services operate (it is appropriate for experienced I&R practitioners). The course was written by AIRS staff member, Clive Jones, a former President of InformCanada, who is responsible for the AIRS Certification Program, in addition to assisting with training and standards development. It was adapted from material within The ABCs of I&R (copyright AIRS). AIRS is the nonprofit Alliance of Information and Referral Systems at www.airs.org.

This course is designed for anyone filling any role in any I&R organization!

When you have successfully completed this course, you will be able to:

• Explain the nature of I&R
• Identify the variety of roles performed by an I&R for individuals, families and communities
• Describe the importance of the AIRS Standards

This package consists of 5 courses essential to providing a foundation of success for Community Resource Specialists - Database Curators.

First Course: Introduction to Information & Referral

Resource Database: An Overview for Resource Specialists

Resource Database: Style

Resource Database: Introduction to Taxonomy and Indexing

Resource Database: Maintenance

This package consists of 5 courses essential to providing a foundation of success for Community Resource Specialists. 

First Course: Introduction to Information & Referral

Service Delivery: The Information and Referral Process

Service Delivery: Anatomy of a Good Call

Service Delivery: Confidentiality in Information and Referral Services

Service Delivery: Information and Referral Customer Service

This package consists of 5 courses essential to providing a foundation of success for Community Resource Specialists - Database Curators.

First Course: Introduction to Information & Referral

Resource Database: An Overview for Resource Specialists

Resource Database: Style

Resource Database: Introduction to Taxonomy and Indexing

Resource Database: Maintenance

This practice test for AIRS Certification as a Community Resource Specialist - Aging/Disabilities (CRS-A/D) examination consists of 63 questions while the full exam contains 100 questions. However, the questions are in the same format and weighted in the same proportion in subject area as the full exam. Success in the practice exam certainly does not guarantee success in the full exam, but it will provide you with some realistic preparation for the actual experience. Finally, please note that some of the questions within this practice exam might be using the "old" designation of an "I&R/A Specialist" or a "CIRS-A/D."

This practice test for AIRS Certification as a Community Resource Specialist (CRS) examination consists of 50 questions while the full exam contains 100 questions. However, the questions are in the same format and weighted in the same proportion in subject area as the full exam. Success in the practice exam certainly does not guarantee success in the full exam, but it will provide you with some realistic preparation for the actual experience. In addition, although this practice exam contains no questions specific to I&R within Aging and Disabilities, because of the overlap of questions between the CRS and CRS-A/D examinations, this is also a useful preparation for CRS-A/D candidates. Finally, please note that some of the questions within this practice exam might be using the "old" designation of an "Information and Referral Specialist" or a "CIRS."

This practice test for the AIRS Certification as a Community Resource Specialist - Database Curator (CRS-DC) examination consists of 50 questions while the full exam contains 100 questions. However, the questions are in the same format and weighted in the same proportion in subject area as the full exam. Success in the practice exam certainly does not guarantee success in the full exam, but it will provide you with some realistic preparation for the actual experience. Finally, please note that some of the questions within this practice exam might use the "old" designation of a "CRS."