Asking your social worker for a referral
Updated August 2026. Sources still to add.
Also known as: referral, care team start, social worker application, hospital-only programs
Some programs only accept requests that a social worker or another member of your child's care team starts. Here is how those referrals work and a short message you can copy to ask for one.
Why it mattered to us: A meaningful share of assistance programs, including some of the most useful ones, cannot be applied to directly by a family. The only way in is to ask the care team.
The short version
Some assistance programs do not take applications from families at all. A social worker, nurse, case manager, or someone else at the hospital has to start the request. This is not a judgment about your family; it is how those programs verify diagnosis and reach families through hospitals instead of running their own intake.
If a program you found says a care team member must start it, the next step is a short, specific ask to your child’s social worker. A message you can copy is below.
How these referrals work
The program gives hospitals a way to submit requests, and the staff member fills in or signs off on the application, confirms the diagnosis, and sends it. Some programs call this a referral, a nomination, or a professional application. The key point is that the request travels from the hospital, not from you, though you will often still supply information for it.
A doctor signing a form you submit yourself is different. When we say a program requires a care-team start, we mean the hospital submits or initiates the request. Our finder marks these programs, and the program page says who can start it when that is published.
Who counts as the care team
Usually any of these people can start a request, and any of them can tell you who the right person is:
- The oncology social worker. For most programs this is the person to ask first.
- A case manager or nurse navigator.
- Your child’s oncologist, nurse practitioner, or clinic nurse.
- A child life specialist or hospital financial counselor, at some hospitals.
If you have not met a social worker yet, call the oncology clinic and ask, “Who helps families at this clinic with financial assistance applications?” Every pediatric oncology clinic has an answer to that question.
How to ask
Bring or send the specifics: the program’s name, a link to it, what kind of help it offers, and why you think your family fits. A specific ask gets a faster answer than “are there any programs that could help us?” — though that question is worth asking too.
Here is a short message you can copy and adjust. It works as an email, a portal message, or something to read from on the phone.
Hello [social worker’s name],
I found a program called [program name] that may help our family with [type of help, for example rent or travel costs]. It looks like a request has to be started by someone on the care team. Could you help us start it, or point me to the right person if that is not you?
I can bring the details to our next clinic visit on [date], or you can reach me at [phone number or email].
Thank you, [your name], parent of [child’s first name]
If the answer is slow or unclear
Social workers carry heavy caseloads, so a polite follow-up after a week is reasonable, not pushy. If the social worker says the program is not a fit, ask what they would suggest instead; they often know hospital-only funds and local options that never appear in a public search. And if you have several programs saved, hand over the whole list at once — see a one-page handoff for your social worker.