Figured it out. The element property on the reference is actually the span element that wraps the input element that I want to focus. I was able to write a custom focus function using the following JS -
radzenFocus: (element) => {
if (element instanceof HTMLElement) {
for (const child of element.children) {
if (child instanceof HTMLInputElement)
child.focus();
}
}
}
If I get some time, I may create a pull request with an extension for this!