Social Work Case Management Guide

Social workers and case management professionals carry out some of the most crucial work in our society. Their work consists of a great amount of paperwork. Intake forms need assessments, case files are all examples of the kind of paperwork they do on a regular basis. This job requires a lot of organization and efficiency, which takes time to achieve.

What is Social Work?

Social Work is a profession that is based on helping individuals, groups, and communities in society. It empowers the people in the society to bring change into their lives, through development and access to strong resources. This profession revolves around human development, social, cultural, and economic factors that affect people and helping them integrate seamlessly into society.

Social Work covers a broad spectrum of societal issues that are currently taking place in society. Homelessness, addiction, child services, and family counseling are just some of the many issues social workers focus on. They aim to increase human development by fulfilling the individual’s needs by working on their personal goals and well-being.

What is Case Management in Social Work?

Case management is a key aspect of social work; it provides a detailed and organized process, consisting of several steps, to ensure that all important aspects are covered for fulfilling the individual’s needs and well-being. Case management helps with assessing, planning, monitoring, and evaluating the services and possible options required for the client’s needs. Case management allows social workers to individually focus on a client and their family’s requirements to provide the best possible care and outcomes.

How to become a Social Worker?

To become a social worker an individual must possess a baccalaureate or advanced degree in social work from a university or program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. It should comply with the licensing and certification requirements of the state in which the individual plans to practice. The individual should also possess the skills and professional experience needed to practice as a social worker.

What does a Social Work Case Manager do?

Social work case managers act according to their client’s personal beliefs, culture, religion, wishes, and needs. Case managers help clients and their families evaluate their options, determine what is best for the needs of the individual, implement the best possible options to achieve the individual’s goals and needs, and fulfill their expectations. Case managers act as an advocate for the client, therefore, it is important for them to be efficient, effective, organized, and equitable when it comes to their work.

Also Read: What are the Four Levels of Case Management?

What is the difference between the Case Manager and Social Worker?

There isn’t much of a difference between the two as case management goes hand in hand with social work. However, case managers focus more on the individual level and have a more client-oriented approach compared to social workers in general. Case managers have certain steps that they implement while dealing with a client.

NASW Standards for Social Work Case Management

NASW standards for social work case management are:

Ethics and Values: working with integrity and possessing ethics and values of the social work profession
Qualifications: having significant qualifications that are required to become a social worker
Knowledge: have knowledge of current theories, policies, evaluation methods, and practices that can be used for case management
Cultural and linguistic competence: the social work case management should be able to provide the client with culturally and linguistically suitable services.
Assessment: Engage clients and family members in gathering information and making decisions based on that information for achieving the goals of the client.
Service Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring: The social work case manager should plan, implement, and monitor services to provide the best possible care and outcome for the client.
Advocacy and Leadership: To advocate for the rights, decisions, and needs of clients
Interdisciplinary and Interorganizational Collaboration: To promote collaboration among co-workers and organizations to increase the quality of service and goal fulfillment.
Practice Evaluation and Improvement: Ongoing formal evaluation should be done so that the social work case manager can improve and increase the effectiveness of the services provided by them
Record Keeping: All case management processes should be documented in an organized manner and should be secured.
Workload Sustainability: Should take on caseload responsibly to ensure a high quality of services.
Professional Development and Competence: Should take responsibility for professional and personal development in accordance with NASW standards and ethics.

Also Read: A Comprehensive Insight Into Case Management Models

How Software Helps in Social Work Case Management

Case managers need to be organized and be ready to fill a lot of paperwork and keep a record of all the cases in an efficient and organized manner. Since the work that is done by case managers is very client-based it is essential that case managers effectively and efficiently keep track of their files and paperwork.

PlanStreet’s Case management software can increase efficiency and efficacy for case managers as it consists of:

Organization: PlanStreet consists of intuitive data input for Medical documentation, case notes, demographics, shared data, youth tracking, and child welfare documents.

Compliance: Keeps confidential files/data safe and secure.

Increase Productivity: Automation and streamlining of processes frees up administrative time to be used for on-the-ground time with clients and their families.

Virtual Centralization: one single, easily accessible place for everything the caseworkers need to access from the office, home, or in the field.

PlanStreet has created a case management software that specifically caters to social work case managers. They can efficiently organize their files and paperwork using PlanStreet’s case management software. The ability to look back over the history of cases for best practices can improve an organization’s effectiveness virtually overnight.

Furthermore, the confidentiality and safety of the files are given top priority as we know that client information is very sensitive and needs to be protected properly. This tool will make work easier for social work case managers in a highly systematic and coherent environment.