A referral comes in. Someone needs support. You don’t really have the staff. You say yes anyway. Someone picks up overtime. Another employee takes an extra shift. A manager rearranges the schedule. And the same dependable people step up, again, until they can’t.
The cost isn’t just another scheduling headache. Overtime becomes part of the staffing model. Your most dependable employees carry more of the load, increasing the risk of burnout. Managers spend more time solving coverage problems, while limited in-person capacity gets spread even thinner.
You may be serving more people. But at what cost? Hiring matters. But hiring alone may not solve today’s capacity problem. Providers have another lever to consider: how support is delivered.
Start With the Support, Not the Shift
When an overnight shift opens, the immediate question is usually: Who can cover it? Instead, try asking a different question first: What support does this person actually need during those hours?
Some needs require someone physically present. Others may involve reminders, check-ins, reassurance, help navigating an unexpected situation, or access to trained support when it’s needed. All are legitimate support needs, and they don’t always require the same staffing response.
Consider someone who needs in-person support during the evening but primarily needs reminders, reassurance, or access to support overnight. Rather than assuming the entire period requires the same staffing model, providers can explore whether in-person and Remote Supports can work together.
Remote Supports may not be right for every person or every support need. But in-person staffing isn’t the only appropriate response to every support need, either.
Look Where You’re Already Stretching
Start with the staffing issue you already know by name.
Which shifts are consistently difficult to fill?
Where are you routinely using overtime?
Where does your staffing model depend on the same people continuing to say yes?
Which referrals have you declined because you couldn’t confidently staff them?
Which have you accepted knowing your existing workforce would need to absorb the demand?
Then ask: What requires someone physically present? What could potentially be supported another way? An individualized combination of in-person and Remote Supports may provide another way to meet support needs while preserving valuable in-person capacity for the times and needs where physical presence matters most.
For providers, that can mean looking at a referral differently—not simply asking whether you have enough staff to say yes, but whether you can design the right combination of support to say yes sustainably.
The same question applies to people you already support. Needs change. Skills grow. Goals evolve. But staffing models don’t always change with them.
Start With One
One difficult-to-fill shift. One referral you’re struggling to staff. One situation relying on recurring overtime. Ask what support is actually needed—and whether every hour requires someone physically present. More capacity doesn’t always have to start with more staff. Sometimes it starts with delivering support differently.
Bring us one staffing challenge.
We’ll help you explore what requires in-person support and whether Remote Supports could be an appropriate part of the solution.
Clare Husbands is the Director of Marketing at SafeinHome.
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