	Disaster Recovery Case Management Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

DRCM 2: Screening and Intake

The organization screens applicants promptly and responsively to identify urgency of need and direct individuals to appropriate services.

DRCM 2.01

At intake, individuals and families are screened and informed about:

how well the request matches the organization's services;
applicable eligibility requirements; and
availability and timing of services.

Interpretation: Information about service availability can include an explanation of the phases of disaster recovery case management.

NA Another organization is responsible for screening.

DRCM 2.02

Prompt, responsive screening practices:

include screening for appropriateness, scope, and intensity of service;
ensure equitable distribution of resources;
give priority to urgent needs and individual emergency situations, including early recognition of vulnerable populations;
support timely initiation of services; and
provide for placement on a waiting list, if desired.

DRCM 2.03

Individuals and families who cannot be served, or cannot be served promptly, are referred or connected to appropriate resources.

Interpretation: In some instances, the need for services may exceed an agency’s capacity to serve the client or fall outside the agency’s mission. Policies and procedures should be in place to support personnel in making equitable determinations regarding service provision. Some case management models encourage use of written “triage” guidelines to promote consistency in decision making, and as an educational and support tool for personnel with a range of experience. Training and supervision provide alternative or additional support for staff making connections with appropriate resources.

Research Note: Focus group results suggest that established relationships with partner organizations ease the work of making successful connections for clients. A review of program descriptions and training material that address barriers to timely, efficient delivery of services under emergency conditions, suggest that greater clarity about community providers’ span of services, strengths, and limitations can reduce overcrowded or unsafe conditions in facilities, or long wait lists. While some organizations establish formal relationships, for example, with a memorandum of understanding, other organizations do so with informal relationships.

DRCM 2.04

The organization contributes to effective coordination, delivery, and use of disaster recovery resources through exercising flexibility and cooperation in:

promoting standardization of forms used for information gathering; and
sharing client information with necessary safeguards, including client consent for release of information to ensure confidentiality.

Interpretation: Standardized forms for information gathering, including intake forms, assessment forms, and up-to-date multi-lingual resource guides, are tools considered to be especially useful. Ongoing information sharing between colleagues and organizations is considered critical for effective helping in disaster recovery and minimizing duplicative efforts by organizations and clients, provided written client consent for release of information is obtained. Disaster Recovery case management experience warrants special diligence in protecting confidential information and maintaining secure records. Disaster recovery presents special challenges related to identity theft and protection of client information when information is shared with one or more organizations that have various or limited confidentiality policies.

Note: Organizations should refer to the Clients Rights (CR) standards for more information regarding protection of confidentiality.

QUICK JUMP TO


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

RELATED FILES


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization 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 organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed 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.


	SCREEN A preliminary test administered to a client to determine whether he/she meets eligibility criteria for the services offered by an organization.


	INTAKE The client's entry point for services at which eligibility is assessed against established criteria and a preliminary evaluation of the presenting problem occurs.


	ELIGIBILITY The degree to which an individual, family, group, or community meets the specific criteria and qualifications required to receive goods, benefits, or services.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	APPROPRIATENESS The degree to which a particular service, placement, treatment, intervention, or activity is: best suited to an individual's needs; not excessive, unduly intrusive, or restrictive; anticipated to be effective in achieving the desired and specified outcomes; and adequate or sufficient in quantity to address the problem.


	CONNECTED The means by which individuals access services that may or may not be provided by the organization itself. These terms are used interchangeably when individuals are connected to services either directly or by referral. See also LINKED.


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


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	CLIENT See service recipient.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	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, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	CONFIDENTIALITY An ethical and practice principle that requires the protection of information shared within a professional-client relationship. An organization that upholds confidentiality prohibits personnel from disclosing information about persons served without their written consent.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes 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 program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.