	Vocational Rehabilitation Services Skill Development Training; Vocational Evaluation; Work adjustment; Job Development and Placement; Supported Employment; and Work Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-VOC 12: Case Closing

Case closing is a planned, orderly process.

PA-VOC 12.01

Planning for case closing:

is a clearly defined process that includes assignment of staff responsibility;
begins at intake; and
involves the worker, service recipients, family members or a legal guardian, and others, as appropriate.

PA-VOC 12.02

Upon case closing, the organization notifies any collaborating service providers, including the courts, as appropriate.

PA-VOC 12.03

When an individual's third-party benefits or payments end, the agency determines its responsibility to provide services until appropriate arrangements are made and, if termination or withdrawal of service is probable due to non-payment, the agency works with the individual or family to identify other service options.

Interpretation: The agency must determine on a case-by-case basis its responsibility to continue providing services to individuals whose third-party benefits have ended and who are in critical situations.

NA The agency does not receive third-party benefits or payments for service.

PA-VOC 12.04

If an individual is asked to leave the program, the agency makes every effort to link the person with appropriate services.

PA-VOC 12.05

The agency that has an interagency agreement with a public authority that does not include aftercare planning or follow-up:

conducts a formal case closing evaluation and assessment of unmet needs; and
informs the collaborating agency of the findings, in writing, as appropriate to the contract and with the permission of the individual or a legal guardian.

NA The agency does not have a relevant agreement.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals with disabilities who receive vocational rehabilitation services achieve increased community integration, social inclusion, and self-determination through the realization of their vocational goals.

RELATED FILES


	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.


	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.


	CASE CLOSING A voluntary or involuntary process which occurs when an organization no longer assumes responsibility for providing services to a particular individual, group, or family. Also known as "termination" or "discharge."


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


	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.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	LEGAL GUARDIAN A person who has legal responsibility for the care and management of a person incapable of administering his/her own affairs. In the case of a minor child, the guardian is charged with the legal responsibility for the care and management of the child and of the minor child's estate.


	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.


	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.


	TERMINATION See CASE CLOSING


	AFTERCARE Additional services provided beyond the period of primary care that offer continuity and supportive follow-up.


	CONTRACT A formal written agreement between two or more parties that specifies the services, space, or products to be provided in exchange for some form of compensation. Also known as "purchase of service arrangement."


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.


	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.