	Disaster Recovery Case Management Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

DRCM 8: Personnel

Disaster Recovery Case Management employees and volunteers are qualified by life experience, education, and training to access and coordinate services for the populations served.

Interpretation: Volunteers are a critical, dynamic, and spontaneous resource in disaster recovery efforts. Organizations that deploy volunteer personnel seek to maximize volunteer contributions and experience by selecting, training, and supporting volunteers consistent with their personnel policies and procedures.

DRCM 8.01

Case managers are qualified by completion of a disaster recovery case management specific curriculum and have the experience, personal qualities, case management skills, and current competencies to work effectively with the populations served.

Interpretation: Individuals with a broad range of experience, education, and training are deployed as disaster recovery case managers, as determined by the organization's mission, programs, and requirements. Organizations can determine satisfactory preparation and level of qualification through a combination of training and education, for example, case management certification or a bachelor’s degree with sufficient, appropriate experience.

DRCM 8.02

Case managers are respectful of the individuals, families, and communities served, and their autonomy, and are:

supportive;
able to recognize strengths;
sensitive to the needs of individuals and families in crisis;
aware of the impact of the disaster on the community; and
culturally and linguistically competent relative to the population served.

Interpretation: Several proprietary disaster case management training curricula have been developed and are being utilized in the field. These curricula provide in depth material on qualities and skills of effective case managers, and the traits organizations value in disaster recovery case managers. Currently, these materials typically are available and provided through a skilled trainer, only.

Interpretation: A culturally-sensitive response to the disaster impacted area is critical for effective, efficient, and equitable use of recovery resources. DRCM organizations identify and directly address or seek collaborations to address the needs of those populations. Examples of culturally-sensitive responses include engagement of the community’s formal or informal leaders, translation of forms into the population’s first language, learning about and working with the community’s structure, providing interpretation services, and seeking volunteers from the community to assist in case management and supplemental activities.

Note: Organizations should refer to the Ethical Practice (ETH) standards for more information regarding professional conduct and personnel knowing and following their codes of ethics.

DRCM 8.03

Case managers receive training on the following topics:

establishing rapport and a professional relationship with clients;
cultural competency;
methods of engaging individuals and families;
special issues related to working with the identified service population;
coordinating services as part of a team;
linking clients and making referrals to community services;
knowledge of community programs and how to access services;
case advocacy and case presentation;
confidentiality, conflict of interest, and professional ethics;
knowledge of public assistance programs, eligibility requirements, and benefits; and
the organization’s emergency plan, and disaster relief resources, planning, and procedures.

DRCM 8.04

Case managers receive training on the following disaster recovery related topics:

role of case management in a disaster;
disaster terminology;
stages of disaster response and recovery;
the disaster declaration process;
local, state and federal responses to disaster to include the “sequence of delivery” for governmental assistance;
long-term recovery groups;
methods to promote empowering client recovery efforts;
conducting disaster-related screening and needs assessments;
developing disaster recovery plans;
record keeping and data management for emergency situations; and
self care.

Interpretation: Regarding element (j), shared data base technologies have been, and are being, developed among collaborating recovery organizations as a partial solution for improved monitoring of client goal attainment and increasingly efficient and effective use of disaster-related resources.

DRCM 8.05

Supervisors of case managers are qualified by completion of a disaster recovery case management curriculum for supervisors, and human services experience, including at least four years of supervised experience providing case management or disaster recovery case management services.

Interpretation: Individuals with a broad range of experience, education, and training are deployed as supervisors of disaster recovery case managers as determined by the organization's mission, programs and requirements; however, supervisors should be able to support, monitor, and advocate for case managers and clients, and meet program administration and training responsibilities. Satisfactory preparation and level of qualification can be determined through a combination of training and education, for example, case management certification, a bachelor’s degree, or an advanced degree, with appropriate experience.

DRCM 8.06

Case management supervisors monitor, communicate, and take action regarding:

the support and training needs and effectiveness of case management staff;
the prioritization of client needs, and status and support of recovery plan goals;
the development and processes of disaster specific resources; and
the need for networking and collaboration with agencies and community providers.

Interpretation: The overall impact of a disaster on a community can have an effect on case managers regardless of direct involvement. Supervisors should be aware of any negative effects and intervene and provide support, as appropriate.

DRCM 8.07

A supervisor or case manager is available to provide case consultation whenever services are provided.

DRCM 8.08

Caseload size is sufficiently small to permit case managers to respond to differing service needs of individuals and families, including frequency of contact.

DRCM 8.09

Employee workloads support the achievement of client outcomes, are regularly reviewed, and are based on an assessment of the following:

the qualifications, competencies, and experience of the worker, including the level of supervision needed;
the work and time required to accomplish assigned tasks and job responsibilities; and
service volume, accounting for assessed level of needs of new and current clients and referrals.

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.


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


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


	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


	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.


	CERTIFICATION Assurance from a state or professional association that a person or organization possesses certain attributes, knowledge, or skills.


	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.


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


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	ETHICS Formal principles or values used to determine whether practices are right or wrong, good or bad. Most professional organizations have ethical codes that define general standards of appropriate professional conduct.


	CLIENT See service recipient.


	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.


	SERVICE POPULATION A group or target population that the organization's services are designed to serve in accord with its mission, and which includes the organization's service recipients. An organization's service population may be defined by geographic location, specific problems or needs, religion, ethnicity, culture, or other factors.


	REFERRALS Resource suggestions provided to consumers to address problems or needs that are beyond the scope of the organization's mission.


	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.


	CONFLICT OF INTEREST A conflict between an individual self-interest and the public good. Example: an organization that operates a day treatment program awards a food services contract to a local restaurant that is owned by a governing body member. From a legal standpoint, "conflict of interest" is a term used in connection with fiduciaries and their relationship to matters of private interest or gain to them. When used to suggest disqualification of a fiduciary from performing his or her sworn duty, the term refers to a clash between public interest and private pecuniary interest of the concerned individual.


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


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


	NEEDS ASSESSMENT An initial survey undertaken to determine the special service needs of a defined population.


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


	HUMAN SERVICES Programs designed to address individual and group development and well-being in addition to conditions that impact individuals and groups including: aging, delinquency and crime, child welfare, poverty, housing, education, employment, mental health, physical health, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities.


	ADMINISTRATION The personnel responsible for management functions of the organization, including fiscal management, human resources, and service delivery. Such personnel determine organizational goals, acquire and allocate resources to carry out a program, coordinate activities toward goal achievement, and monitor, evaluate, and make needed changes in processes and procedures to improve the likelihood of goal achievement. The term is synonymously used with MANAGEMENT.


	ADVANCED DEGREE A degree at the Master's level or beyond from an institution of higher education. An advanced degree does not include a Bachelor's degree, an associate's degree, or an educational certificate.


	CASELOAD The aggregate number of clients and/or consumers of service (including individuals, families, and groups) for whom a given employee is responsible. See also WORKLOAD


	WORKLOAD The amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a specified period of time. See also CASELOAD.


	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.


	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.