For organizations
Referral management software for homeless service providers: the North Bay Pilot.
Operation Iron Gate is referral management software for the homeless service providers and agencies of Vallejo and Solano County. It confirms a referral was received and acted on, instead of assuming it was.
- Cohort 01 · recruiting
- Vallejo, California
- Not yet launched
The pilot has not launched, no results exist yet, and the projected launch is January 2027.
Apply to the North Bay PilotLooking for services yourself? This page is for organizations. Get help.
The handoff ledger
Follow one referral to the end
Referral management software keeps each referral open until the receiving organization confirms the person arrived. That is a closed-loop referral. Sent is not the same as served.
Operation Iron Gate The loop closes
- Referral MadeThe sending organization records the destination, the reason, consent and the responsible role.
- Referral ReceivedThe receiving organization confirms it has the referral.
- HandoffResponsibility transfers explicitly. Both sides can see who owns the next action.
- ConnectionThe record shows whether the person actually reached the service.
- Documented OutcomeThe result is recorded as what it was. Now it counts.
- Next ActionIf the person did not connect, the record routes to a next authorized step.
Today The loop stays open
- SentA phone call and a spreadsheet row.
- QuietIt goes quiet.
- No trailNobody can follow it.
- UnknownNobody can say whether the person reached the help.
An illustration of the status words, not a record of any person or agency.
Four deliverables
What your agency gets
A confirmed handoff
You find out whether they arrived, not just that it was sent, and you get your own numbers for a board report or renewal application.
No ID at the door
A person without government ID will not be turned away at intake.
Your data, exportable
Take your organization’s data out at any time, in a standard format.
Someone to call
A named point of contact at Pathfinders for Hope when the pilot opens.
How it works
What it takes to take part
A conversation. You tell us what your organization runs and where handoffs break.
A written outline: what you would do, what we would do, and what neither of us would do.
You decide. There is no obligation to continue.
Your data
Who can see what
- Staff only
A person’s file is visible to the staff working with that person, not to everyone who holds a login.
- Recorded
Every time a file is opened, that is recorded.
- Counts only
The public view carries counts and rates only. No names and no case identifiers, ever.
Five questions
Questions directors ask
More on how this works: What is referral accountability? · What is Operation Iron Gate? · Why referrals fail between organizations · Who Operation Iron Gate is for · Referral tracking software for homeless services
Will you take my clients or my funding?
It does not control another organization’s intake, eligibility, services, clinical decisions or records.
Does this replace our HMIS, or add data entry?
No. It sits alongside your Homeless Management Information System, not in place of it, and the pilot is scoped to the handoff rather than to everything your staff already record. See how coordinated entry works in Solano County and how Solano County agencies share referrals.
How many organizations have joined?
Uses only the information needed for the agreed handoff; partners decide who may view a status.
Has any of this been tested?
A receipt is never reported as a service delivered, and a closed record never hides an unanswered handoff.
What if we join and it does not work for us?
Every next step has a responsible role and a backup.
Door 3 · North Bay Pilot Applications open
Open now
Apply to the Operation Iron Gate North Bay Pilot
Fill this out and a person on our team reads it. Nothing is verified or approved until they do.
What the pilot protects
Operation Iron Gate North Bay Pilot: five commitments
What a serious pilot conversation should protect before any organization agrees to take part.
A bounded purposeReceipt, ownership, barriers, outcomes. Nothing more.
The pilot has not launched and no outcomes are reported. Future results will use defined measures, visible denominators and clear limitations.
Limited and authorized informationOnly what the agreed handoff needs.
Uses only the information needed for the agreed handoff. Partners decide who may view a status and which systems remain authoritative.
Status words that mean the same thingA receipt is never reported as a service delivered.
Shared definitions for sent, received, pending, unknown and outcome confirmed. A receipt is never reported as a service delivered, and a closed record never hides an unanswered handoff.
An owner and backup for every next actionOwnership survives shift changes and turnover.
Every next step has a responsible role and a backup, so ownership survives shift changes, leave and turnover.
Honest reportingDefined measures, visible denominators, clear limits.
The pilot has not launched and no outcomes are reported. Future results will use defined measures, visible denominators and clear limitations, and will not claim causation without an appropriate evaluation.
A conversation does not create participation. Use the partner resource sharing kit to prepare, or choose Apply to the North Bay Pilot when you are ready.
Organizations, officials, funders and press
Not ready to apply yet?
Join GATEHOUSE
Our community platform, where Pathfinders for Hope does your intake, barrier review and the calls to agencies, is live now. Registering does not enroll you in the pilot.
Register on GATEHOUSEGet on the map
You do not have to join the pilot to be on the map. It takes about five minutes and asks nothing about the people you serve.
Request a briefing
Officials, funders and press: ask for a briefing (press, mark it press), or call (707) 205-7588.
If you need services yourself, do not use this page: go here instead. Nothing on this page asks a person in crisis for their details.
