A program of Pathfinders for Hope
Referral tracking software for homeless services
Sent
Handoff initiated by the sending organization.Received
Confirmed by the receiving organization.Arrived
The person is confirmed present.Referral tracking software records what happens to a person after a handoff is sent. Operation Iron Gate is built for one job: confirming that a person referred by one organization actually arrived at the next. It does not replace the systems you already run and it does not take your clients.
The pilot has not launched. Recruiting for it has.
The problem
The record stops before the person does.
What a referral does now
One organization sends a person to the next — a shelter bed, a clinic, an ID appointment — and the record stops at the moment it's sent. The referring worker marks it done. Whether the person ever walked through the next door is unknown to everyone who could still act on it.
Where it goes wrong
If the person never arrives, no one is told. The gap doesn't show up in any report. The next time anyone notices is when the same person surfaces again, further behind than before, and the work starts over.
Under the hood
Built to be counted.
20
case statuses in one state machine
Every person is somewhere specific — never "lost in the system."
12
barrier codes, fixed and countable
The reason a person is stuck is recorded the same way every time.
2 hrs
from an intake without ID to a resource
Recovering the ID is the first step, not the gate.
90 days
when a handoff is checked for real
Whether it held, not the day it was sent.
7 yrs
minimum record retention
A record is corrected by adding a new one, never by erasing the old.
2
people, and one coded legal basis, behind every denial
No one is turned away on a single say-so.
In practice
What it does
Tracks every handoff to confirmed arrival.
When you refer someone, you find out whether they got there — not merely that the referral was sent.
Produces a number you can cite.
Confirmed arrivals, in your own data, in a form you can put in a board report or a renewal application.
Does not turn anyone away for missing ID.
A person without a government ID is not blocked at intake. Recovering the ID is treated as a first step, not a precondition.
Keeps your data yours.
Export your organization's data in a standard format at any time. Leave whenever you want and take it with you.
If you already run an HMIS
It does not replace your HMIS.
HMIS reports what happened. Operation Iron Gate makes sure it happens.
It runs alongside the systems you already have and adds the one thing they don't: confirmation that a person handed off actually arrived.
Who joins
Who it's for
Direct service nonprofitsContinuum of Care lead agenciesCounty and city human servicesLarge and national nonprofitsNGOs and state agencies
The process
What joining involves
One — a conversation.
You tell us what your organization runs and where handoffs break.
Two — a written outline.
What you would do, what we would do, and what neither of us would do.
Three — you decide.
There is no obligation to continue.
Straight answers
Common questions
Operation Iron Gate is homeless referral tracking software that follows every referral to confirmed receipt, so no client falls through the cracks.
Is there any charge to participate?
No. Operation Iron Gate is a program of Pathfinders for Hope, a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Organizations join the Vallejo pilot as program partners.
Is this a government program?
No. Pathfinders for Hope is a California 501(c)(3), and Operation Iron Gate is its program.
How many organizations have joined?
None yet. We are recruiting the first cohort. We would rather say that plainly than show you a wall of logos.
Has this been tested in the field?
No. There are no results to show you and none are claimed anywhere on this site. What exists is the build, the measurement standard, and a commitment to publish the numbers whether they are good or bad.
Will you take our clients?
No. The people you serve are yours. Pathfinders for Hope is not a service provider and is not becoming one.
What if we join and it does not work?
You leave, and you take your data with you.