Recommended practice: starting out

When we started, we needed a simple way to start workers of as case managers.

First, we chose the term "Team Leader" to make the task sound more personal and less daunting. We didn't use the term "case manager" except when dealing with outside bureaucracies. Then we wrote a simple job description for a first-time case manager in a residential facility. It depends heavily on:

• having the support of a senior staff member
• leaving the most complex tasks out of the job description
• letting a senior worker lead case conferences
• choosing case managers with personalities that are highly compatible with clients.

All of these reduce the amount of skills required to be a case manager and made it much easier to train them. Oddly, even though it looks very simple, it already covers most requirements of several graduate units. Of course, there was still a gap where they'd still need more experience and training to handle more complex cases and to work with minimal supervision. This could perhaps be simplified even further by delegating the advocacy role.

In this approach, senior staff wait until the client is over the initial settling in period, so they can choose the right person for the client. In the meantime, they appoint someone to specifically look after them during settling in, so the client knows that someone is watching out for them.

 

Team Leader: Job description

1. Meet individually with each team member at least once a week:
1. Be an encouraging friend and keep the meeting informal.
2. Discuss any topics he/she wants to talk about (e.g. friendships, housemates, fitting in, family, recovery session topics, homework, upcoming big decisions).
3. Encourage them to develop positive attitudes and behavior:
4. Motivate them toward rewards/incentives for positive growth.
5. Discourage anything would bring penalties/disincentives.
6. Teach any other self-management skills.
7. Resolve conflicts, avert/manage crises.
8. Fill in a case meeting form and file it.
2. Be an encouraging friend to your team member outside meetings too.
3. Set goals:
1. Help him/her set a personal schedule and keep to it.
2. Help him/her set a personal budget and keep to it.
3. Help him/her set new weekly, monthly and three-monthly goals that are positive and achievable.
4. Monitor his/her achievement of goals and change them as needed.
4. Help them with other organizations as needed (Centrelink, courts, bank, Medicare, etc.)
5. Sit in on your team members doctor's appointments if required.
6. Liaise with parents and family and hold parent meetings:
1. Develop rapport
2. Keep them up to date with the resident's progress
3. Help them maintain a positive outlook about the resident's recovery process.
4. Help them get counseling, police assistance, etc. if they need it and are willing.
5. Answer any questions.
7. Make sure he/she is getting any other kind of help they need.
8. Although he/she might rely on you, don't let them become emotionally dependent.
9. Ask your senior worker for help if you get stuck.
10. If it's not working/helping, tell your senior worker.
11. Participate in case conferences.