Case closing is a clearly defined process that includes assignment of staff responsibility and involves the care provider, family members, and others, as appropriate.

PA-HCS 7.02

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

PA-HCS 7.03

When a person's third-party benefits or payments end, the agency determines its responsibility to provide services until appropriate arrangements are made and, if service ends due to non-payment, the agency works with the person or family to identify other options.

Interpretation: The agency must determine on a case-by-case basis its responsibility to continue providing services to families 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-HCS 7.04

When services end involuntarily the agency makes every effort to ensure that individuals are linked with appropriate services.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Individuals who receive Home Care and Support Services obtain a maximum level of independence, functioning, and health, and extend the time it is possible to live safely at home and in the community.

RELATED FILES

PA_HCS Template.doc
NA Request.doc
PA-HCS Reference List.pdf


	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."


	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."


	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.


	LINKED 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 linked to services either directly or by referral. See also CONNECTED.