SW 315: SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES

by: Lanny L. Guinit, RSW, MSW

Instructor
 Define what is case management;
 Discuss the process of case
management as a helping process
tool; and
 Discuss what are the major
functions of case managers.
 Social
work clients often have
complex, multiple needs. These
can range from providing food
and transportation to
psychological counseling and
home care or shelter.
 Socialworkers who specialize in
assessing these needs, helping
clients and their families access
needed services, and
coordinating care among
multiple service providers are
known as social work case
managers.
 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.”
 In the context of social work, case
management 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.
(Thelma Lee-Mendoza)
 More precisely, D.P. Moxley
defines it as a service delivery
system that:
 “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 these activities the case
manager seeks to accomplish the
following goals:
 1. to promote when possible the
skills of the client in accessing and
utilizing these supports and services.
 2. to develop the capacity of social
networks and relevant human service
providers in promoting the functioning
and well-being of the client, and
 3. to promote service effectiveness
while attempting to have services and
supports delivered in the most effective
manner possible.
 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.
Formal social support comes
from what is termed as
“social support system”,
whereas
Informal social support
comes from the person’s
“social support network.”
 The NASW defines social work
case management as a
method of service delivery in
which a qualified case
manager conducts
assessments of clients and
their families.
 Based on the needs identified
in an assessment, a case
manager then arranges,
coordinates and monitors
multiple services from different
providers to serve client
needs.
 These providers can include
national and local social service
agencies and nonprofit
organizations.
 Social work case management
addresses not only the
psychological and social needs of
clients, but also the condition of the
social service system in which case
managers operate.
 Itinvolves the social worker in
varied activities, like linking,
mediating, networking,
coordinating, etc. in order to
help bring abut a resolution of a
client’s problem(s).
 Because social workers work in
diverse settings, including
schools, health care systems,
national and local government
agencies, and nonprofit
agencies, case management
varies in practice.
 Forexample, social work case
managers in Child Care Agencies
access educational and psychological
services for children and their families,
while case managers who work with
the elderly may arrange and
coordinate medical, financial and at-
home services, such as Free Meals or,
in the case of terminally ill clients,
hospital and home care.
 In the U.S., Canada, England, and in
other first world countries, a person
who works as a case manager is a
social or human services worker given
a leadership position over other social
workers and tasked with coordinating
and organizing the caseloads of each
individual social worker.
 Many social workers are
government employees,
tasked with investigating and
maintaining contact with
families and individuals who
are experiencing difficulty and
may need government
intervention.
Asocial worker who does not
hold a case management
designation is not tasked with
the same management and
coordination duties as the
case manager.
 For example, the social worker
maintains regular contact with the
client, attends court proceedings
and makes court
recommendations.
 Or, social workers work with elderly
patients without family, homeless
individuals and those facing
substance abuse or mental illness.
 Inmost cases, the case manager
reviews the case initially and
assigns the client to an
appropriate social worker. The
case manager periodically
reviews the case progress and
requires the social worker to report
all occurrences pertaining to the
client.
 Asthe case manager determines
the best services for the client, it is
the social worker's job to
implement the case plan and
work to meet the goals laid out for
the client.
 The health care realm defines the
roles of case manager and social
worker differently.
 In a hospital setting, the case
manager is tasked with coordinating
the patient's insurance coverage,
follow-up rehabilitation, hospice care,
prescriptions and any other
components of the patient's recovery.
 The social worker in a medical setting
is responsible for offering counseling
and support for the patient and his
family during the recovery and
discharge process. The social worker
makes certain the patient has access
to community resources, if necessary,
but does not have a role in speaking
with health insurance providers or
other practitioners.
 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.
 Usually, therefore, the social worker
assumes the role of case manager,
coordinating the work of other service
deliverers, facilitating communication
among them, thus, enabling them to work
together.
 Allthe service providers comprise
a case management system,
which means that “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.”
 1. Assessment - this 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.
 2.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. The
case manager will engage all
involved parties in the development
of the Case Plan, including the formal
and informal sources of support.
3. Implementation of the Case Plan –
the network of needed services is
mobilized on behalf of the client. The
manager works with the client by
linking, coordinating, negotiating, and
mediating services. The delivery of
services is monitored based on the
Case Plan, which is modified if
necessary.
 4. Evaluation - it is done with the
client to find out if the services agreed
on were effective in solving his
problem.
 5. 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.
 6. Follow-up - This is done to
ensure that the gains that have
been achieved are maintained
and that no new problems have
emerged.
 Q: Should the case manager limit
her work to coordinating and
expediting service delivery or
should she also perform direct
therapeutic functions?
 Inthe Philippines, case managers
have no choice but to also
provide direct service, which
means performing, when
necessary, any of the social work
roles, such as resource provider,
mediator, social broker, enabler,
counselor/therapist, and
advocate.
 Finally,an important indispensable
task for a case manager/social
worker is REFERRAL.
 Referral - is the act of directing a
client to another worker/ agency
or organization because the
service needed by the client is not
offered by the worker’s agency.
A referral, however, is not just a
matter of informing the client
what agency offers the service he
needs and where to find it.
 An affective referral demands
that the worker does her best so
that the act culminates in service
delivery to the client.
1. 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 (auspices or sponsors), and who may avail
of them (service eligibility criteria).
 This knowledge should always be updated.
 The worker should know the key persons in the
agency and cultivate professional relationships in
the interest of the client.
2. 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.
 Also includes explaining the agency’s
policies and rules, clarifying the client’s
questions, giving instructions or tips, name
of contact persons, etc.
3. Preparing the referral agency.
 This involves sharing information about
the client with his consent. A telephone
conversation, and, if necessary, a
meeting with attendant staff, are part of
the preparation of the referral agency.
 The worker has to prepare a referral
summary on the client (who should also
receive a copy).
4. Follow-up.
 This provides the worker with an
opportunity to review whether the
client is receiving the expected
services and is moving towards
the objectives.
There is no other professional
helping person in our society
better equipped or in a more
strategic position to do case
management than the social
worker.