subject: Case Management [print this page] Case Management Case Management
Case management is an integral part in the running of organization. It involves the process of assessment, planning, facilitation and advocacy for provision of services to mitigate a social of health problem. Case management is mainly carried out through effective communication and utilization of resources available in order to promote the most cost effective outcomes. (Peter, 2001) In advocacy for social issues like individual health, care management should be more focused on provision of personalized service which is centered on the needs of the individual through screening, planning, delivering, and evaluation of the impact of these services.
Family ties of Westchester
Family Ties of Westchester is a grass root organization which provides free and confidential advocacy to support families whose children have social, emotional and behavioral difficulties. The agency has six family resource centers through which these services are provided. In order to get more information about the Family Ties of Westchester, I interviewed Ms. Kerry Hardesty who is a Development coordinator with the agency.
According to Ms. Kerry, the mission of the organization is to provide a lasting and most effective support service to families which have children with various problems ranging from social, emotional to behavioral difficulties around the Westchester County. The agency has a vision of becoming the leading community advocacy and support system for children with mental problems and those with special need in Westchester. The agency believes in diversity and respect for the cultural differences in the Westchester community. It values them development of every child and believe that there is no family which should struggle to raise a child with difficulties alone. (Family Ties at Westchester, 2008)
The need to start the agency arose from the increased number of children who were faced with growth and development difficulties. It became necessary to offer them service which more focused on improving their life and empowering them to cope with the situation.
The organization highly values the kind and the level of service which are provided by its employees. Therefore it ensures that there are important credentials which one must have in order to secure employment in the agency as a social service worker. In academic training Individuals must have attained at least a diploma in social services. However personal attributes are more important when hiring since the individual must prove that they can deliver the services in the right way.
Once enrolled in the agency a manager is supposed to provide case management for the various children who are enrolled in the organization and their families. When they join the agency, they are usually assigned to senior employees who are professionals experienced in the field to oversee the development of new employee. This facilitates that adaptability. Case managers are expected to equip families of these children with information on how they can assist their children to deal with their difficulties. Therefore they are supposed to coordinate support groups offering parental skills training, education workshops, foster parent training and certification, and many other services. In order to ensure optimal growth of children, the agency runs a resource library and case managers are also expected to take their client through the library and computer resources to learn more. The nature of service delivered therefore requires case managers to be well equipped with a variety of skills.
According to Ms Kelly, there are a lot of challenges that case manager face in their daily work. Sometimes they are presented with problems which they really find they cannot handle. Economic hardship has been one of the problems that many people are facing and the agency usually refers individuals to welfare program like TANF. (Boulle, 2005) Sometimes case managers can organize support group meeting and later find that it is only few individuals who actually attend. There are many other problem especially pertaining to maintaining relationship with client who find that their expectation are not met in the program that case managers face. In such a crisis, the clients are usually referred to the leaders of the agency who will asses their needs well.
For one to be admitted to the agency, the need must be ascertained. Due to its presence in the grassroots, the organization usually gets report of children and families showing a particular difficult. After getting the information about a particular case, case managers are then supposed to visit and assess the case. If the assessment shows that the case is deserving, then individual are enrolled in the program and participate in support groups which is near their home areas.
From the interview I have gained important insight into the operation of social working agencies in context of case management. I have learned that as a case manager, I need to have full knowledge of the situations that I may encounter. This means that I should be well prepared for any eventually in the filed. I have also learned that case management should be aimed at alleviated the condition of the client to make them have a good life.
