SW 338.

Social Welfare Agency Administration

Case Management

 According to Webster, the word “manage” means “to have charge

of; direct; conduct; administer; control movement;” and so
management is “the act or manner of handling, controlling,
directing, etc.”
 It is a way of delivering services where a social worker assumes
responsibility for assessing with a client what services he needs, and
helps obtain those services for the client.

 Moxley defines it as service delivery system that:

o Organizes, coordinates, and sustains a network of formal and

informal supports and activities designed to optimize the
functioning and well-being of people with multiple needs.
Through those activities the case manager seeks ti accomplish
the following goals:

 To promote when possible the skills of the client in

accessing and utilizing these supports and services
 To develop the capacity of social networks and relevant
human service providers in promoting the functioning
and well-being of the client
 To promote service effectiveness while attempting to
have services and supports delivered in the most
effective manner possible

o Formal support is provided by formally organized agencies and

organizations which are paid to provide services while informal
supports are provided by family members, friends, neighbors,
co-workers, etc. with whom the client interacts in the course of
everyday life, and to whom he may also give informal support.

o Formal support – social support system

o Informal support –person’s social support network

 The situation of multi-problem clients almost always calls for a variety

of services that may or may not be provided by the social worker’s
agency.
 The social worker assumes the role of case manager, coordinating
the work of other service deliverers, facilitating communication
among them, this, enabling them to work together.

 Case management system – a case manager of a case

management team assumes total responsibility and is accountable
for the well-being of the client while avoiding doing for the client that
which the client is capable of.

 Generic helping process:

o Assessment
 Involves critical scrutiny of the client’s situation in order
to understand the nature of the difficulty with increasing
detail and accuracy. The client’s fullest participation is
essential here, including his strengths that have enabled
him to manage thus far.

o Service Planning
 The case manager and the client develop a case plan.
They set a goal that is realistic, specific, and measurable.
They have to agree on a time frame for the
achievement of this goal; short term, task-centered work
is emphasized and not long-term treatment.
 The case manager defines the tasks necessary to
achieve the goals.
 A review of the client’s strengths is done with the client,
and those that may be helpful in achieving the goals are
identified.
 The case manager is expected to engage all involved
parties in the development of the case plan, including
the formal and informal sources of social support.

 The contract should specify the following;

 Goals based upon the assessment of the client’s

situation or problem
 Time-limits of the contract terms
 Actions that the client, case manager, and others
will take to realize the stated goal
 The individuals who are responsible for carrying
out the action
 Costs for failing to carry out the actions
 o Implementation of the Case Plan

 The network of needed services is mobilized on behalf of

the client
 The case manager works with the client by linking,
coordinating, negotiating, and mediating services, and
is frequently in touch with service providers in order to
ensure that all services linkages are in place and
sufficiently secured.
 These activities demand a great deal of time for
processing papers and communicating with service
providers which implies the need for skills in verbal and
written communication on the part of the worker/case
manager. The delivery of services is monitored based on
the Case plan, which is modified if necessary.

o Evaluation
 It is done with the client to find out if the services agreed
on were effective in solving his problem.

o Termination
 The helping relationship is terminated following
evaluation. The client is informed of the conditions under
which he may be accepted again for agency help.

o Follow-up
 This is done to ensure that the gains that have been
achieved are maintained and that no new prolems
have emerged.

 Referral

o It is the act of directing a client to another worker or agency or

organization because the service needed by the client is not
offered by the worker’s agency.
o It is not just a matter of informing the client what agency offers
the service he needs, and where to find it.
o An effective referral demands that the worker does her best so
that the act culminates in service delivery to the client.

o Four aspects of effective referrals (Compton and Galaway):

 Information about resources

  The worker should have a good knowledge of
what resources and services are available,
including where they are located, who provides
them and who may avail of them. This knowledge
should always be updated.
 The worker should know the key persons in the
resource system and cultivate professional
relationships with individuals in the system in the
interest of clients.

 Preparing the client

 This means discussing with the client what the

referral will involve and what the referral agency
expects, to enable the client to make effective
use of the referral agency.
 Preparation of the client also includes explaining
the referral agency’s policies and rules if the
worker is familiar with them, clarifying the client’s
questions or concerns relating to the agency,
preparing him for the bureaucratic intricacies that
might confront him, and giving him instructions or
tips on how to deal with them. In our setting, this
may include giving him the name of the person in
the agency whom he can approach in case he
runs into some difficulty.

 Preparing the referral agency

 This involves sharing information about the client

with his consent.
 A telephone conversation with a staff in
attendance and, if necessary, a meeting with this
person, are part of the preparation of the referral
agency.
 The worker has to prepare a referral summary on
the client. In addition, her recommendation or
participation for the referral is usually helpful in
facilitating the client’s acceptance for agency
service.

 Follow-up
 An opportunity to review whether the client is
receiving the expected services and is moving
towards the objectives.
 It may reveal client resistance to continuing the
services, or the agency or organization may have
resistance to continuing with the client. Whichever
of this happens, the worker may need to adopt
enabling, teaching, mediation and or advocacy
roles.