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Accepting a Care Request

Last updated on 
CareNote card titled Ways to Accept with In CareNote, By email and By text lanes, ending in Submit Care Report
Accept a care request inside CareNote, from the assignment email, or by text, then file your care report.

When a care request lands with you, saying yes matters. Your coordinator stops wondering whether the need was seen, the team can see at a glance who is carrying it, and the person waiting is one step closer to help.

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Watch how Team Members accept and respond to a care request in CareNote.

What accepting is

Every care request moves through a status: Entered, then Assigned once it is handed to someone, then Accepted once that person says yes, then In Progress or Closed as care happens.

How you accept depends on how you use CareNote:

  • Administrators and Team Members sign in and accept inside CareNote.
  • Volunteers are the email-only role with no login. They accept from the assignment email, from their My Care Assignments page, or by text.

Only the Care Provider accepts. Additional Care Providers are told they were added, see the request in their lists, and can file the report, but they never need to accept.

1. Accept as an Administrator

  1. Click Care in the left navigation to open Care Requests, then choose the Assigned tab.
  2. Find a card that shows Me as the assignee. Only cards that are Assigned to you show the Accept and Reject buttons, even if you are an Administrator.
  3. Click Accept.
Care Requests cards on the Assigned tab, with Accept and Reject buttons only on the two cards assigned to Me
Accept and Reject appear only on cards assigned to you; cards assigned to others show just Add Care Interaction.

The status changes to Accepted right away, with no confirmation step, and the change is recorded on the request's Care Timeline. That is all these two buttons do today: they do not send anyone a notice and Reject does not ask for a reason, so let your coordinator know if they need to hear from you.

Assignment Details lists the Care Group and the Care Provider, marked "(accepted)" once someone says yes.

A care request's Assignment Details panel showing the Care Group and a Care Provider marked accepted
Assignment Details shows the Care Group and marks the Care Provider as accepted.

2. Accept as a Team Member

On your dashboard, Care Requests lists the requests assigned to you. Accept and Reject are not separate buttons here. They live in menus:

  1. On the list, click the three-dots menu on the request and choose Accept. The menu also offers View, Reject and Add Care Interaction.
  2. Or open the request and choose Accept from the Actions menu.
A Team Member's row menu with View, Accept, Reject and Add Care Interaction
On the Team Member dashboard, Accept sits in each request's three-dots menu.

When you accept, CareNote lets the person who created the request and the care group's owners and managers know. After acceptance, the Actions menu offers Close Care Request, Reassign and Assign to Group Member.

The Actions menu on an accepted request, offering Close Care Request, Reassign and Assign to Group Member
Once you accept, Accept and Reject leave the Actions menu.

3. Accept from the assignment email

When a request is assigned to a Volunteer, they get an email with the subject "Care Request Needs Your Response." It shows the person, the due date and the description, plus the place and a Directions link when the request names one.

  1. Click Review & Accept Care Request.
  2. Review the details on the Care Request Assignment page.
  3. Click Accept Care Request.
Assignment email with Review and Accept, Review and Decline, and See all of your care assignments buttons
One email holds everything: the need, the due date, and buttons to accept, decline or see every assignment.
The Care Request Assignment page asking Are you sure you want to accept this care request
Nothing changes until you click Accept Care Request on this page.

After you accept, a second email arrives with a Submit Care Delivery Report button. Your accept, decline and report links keep working for the life of the request. They stop working when the request closes, is handed to someone else, or you are removed from it.

4. Use My Care Assignments

The See all of your care assignments button opens My Care Assignments, one page that lists every request you hold. Each card shows the due date and, when you still need to answer, an "Awaiting your response" badge with Accept and Decline buttons.

My Care Assignments page with a card marked Awaiting your response and Accept and Decline buttons
My Care Assignments keeps every request you hold on one page you can bookmark.

If someone loses the link, an Administrator can open Team, choose the person's row menu, and click Send care assignments page. It resends the same link, so a saved bookmark keeps working.

5. When a request is offered to your group

With First-to-Accept on, everyone in the care group gets a request to help. The email says "The first person to accept will be assigned." Click I Can Help to take it. If someone else accepts first, you get a notice that the request has been assigned.

Group email with the I Can Help button and the line The first person to accept will be assigned
The first person to click I Can Help becomes the Care Provider.

6. Accept by text

If your team has turned on Volunteer SMS Acceptance, a CareNote Plus feature, the request arrives as a text too. Reply with the keyword and the request number:

  • MORE for details
  • ACCEPT to take it
  • PASS to decline

After ACCEPT, you can reply REPORT with your notes to add a report, or COMPLETE to close it.

A text thread offering MORE, ACCEPT and PASS, and the reply after accepting
One reply of ACCEPT and the request is yours.

7. Submit your care report

Accepting is not the finish line. After the visit or call, tell your team how it went.

Administrators: open the request and choose Submit Care Report, the first item in the Actions menu. Only the Care Provider and Additional Care Providers see it.

The Actions menu with Submit Care Report as the first item
Submit Care Report tops the Actions menu when the request is yours.

Write what happened in Content, then check Close Care Request after Report Submission. It starts at your team's default. The toggle is hidden when you ask for follow-up, when the request is ongoing, or when it is already Closed.

The care report slide-over showing the Close Care Request after Report Submission toggle
Turn the toggle off to keep the request open for continued care.

Team Members: open the request, go to the Care Story tab, click Add Interaction, and choose the Care Report type.

Volunteers: click Submit Care Delivery Report in your acceptance email, or Submit Care Report on My Care Assignments. Fill in Care Delivery Date, Care Delivery Method and Care Results/Notes, and turn on Additional Follow Up Required if the person needs more.

The Care Report form with Care Delivery Date, Care Delivery Method, Care Results/Notes and a follow-up toggle
Three required fields and a follow-up switch are all it takes.

Every path follows the same rule. The request closes per your team's default unless follow-up is requested or the request is ongoing. Asking for follow-up keeps the request open and adds one task to it.

If you can't take it

Choose Reject, or Decline in the email or on My Care Assignments, so it can go to someone else. On the Team Member dashboard, Reject asks whether you are unavailable and for a reason. See Passing on a Care Request for the details, including Request Reassignment after you have accepted.

Frequently asked questions

Why don't I see Accept or Reject on a request? They appear only while the request is Assigned and you are its Care Provider. If it is already accepted, assigned to someone else, or you are an Additional Care Provider, you won't see them.

Can I accept a request that went to my care group? Yes, when First-to-Accept is on. Click I Can Help in the email, or reply ACCEPT by text if your team uses Volunteer SMS Acceptance. The first person to accept is assigned.

What happens if a Volunteer never responds? The request stays Assigned until someone acts. Due and overdue reminders include the My Care Assignments link, and an Administrator can resend it with Send care assignments page.

I'm an Additional Care Provider. What do I do? Nothing to accept. You are told you were added, the request shows in your lists, and you can file the care report.

Does accepting in the Admin Care Requests list tell anyone? Not today. The Accept and Reject buttons there only change the status, so follow up with your coordinator yourself.

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