COA - Council On Accreditation

Case Management Services plan, secure, coordinate, monitor, and advocate for unified goals and services with organisations and personnel on behalf of individuals and families.

Intensive Case Management Services provide a coordinated, comprehensive array of services through the ongoing support of and frequent contact with a trusting, caring case manager.

Note: Standards for Assertive Community Outreach programmes are found in COA’s standards for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (CA-PSR).

Note: COA’s Case Management Services standards apply to stand-alone case management programmes. Organisations that provide Foster Care Case Management Services are accredited under COA's Foster Care Services (CA-FC) standards and not Case Management.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Case Management Services (CA-CM) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.

Research Note: Research on case management is, for the most part, focused on specific populations. Additionally, numerous models, approaches, and definitions of case management are present throughout the literature. Generally, case management programmes provide assessment, service planning, referral for services, monitoring, and advocacy. Research suggests that case management services may contribute to positive outcomes for older adults, persons with psychiatric disabilities, individuals with substance use conditions, and other populations.


	PURPOSE: Individuals and families who receive Case Management Services access and use resources and supports that build on their strengths and meet their service needs.

RELATED FILES

CA-CM Reference List.pdf
DDS Supplement Replacement.pdf
NA Request Form.doc
CA-CM Private Template.doc


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organisation for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child’s family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	SERVICE One or more organisation-operated programmes or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organisation’s material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organisation that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licenced to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organisation’s tasks under the organisation’s administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality, and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, residential neighbourhoods, business districts, recreational sites, and health and human service sites.


	OUTREACH Contact initiated by a provider to identify persons in need of services, to provide information to them about services and benefits, and to encourage the use of appropriate services.


	PROGRAMME A system of services offered by an organisation. For example, an organisation providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programmes to different populations, e.g., a mental health programme for adolescent teens. The word “programme” can be used interchangeably with the word “service” or to describe specific programmes.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal programme evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilises professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of programme planning and service development for the organisation as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	MONITORING An evaluation involving a periodic review of consumer services, organisational activities, or conduct. Specifically, monitoring is an activity of case coordination, whereas more broadly, monitoring is an evaluation technique used in overall quality assurance.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	ADVOCACY An act performed with or on behalf of others through direct intervention, empowerment, or representation. Case advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a particular individual consumer. Cause, social, or systems advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a common issue affecting a group of persons.