COA - Council On Accreditation

Case Management Services plan, secure, coordinate, monitor, and advocate for unified goals and services with organizations 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 Treatment (ACT) programs are found in COA’s standards for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (PSR).

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

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Case Management Services (CM) in the Tools Index for addtional 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 programs 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, substance abusers, 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

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


	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.


	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


	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.


	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.


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


	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.


	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, 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.


	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.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION