Social Work Case Management: Training for Optimal Outcomes

In social work, case management can involve a wide variety of activities in practice, yet overall is defined by its aim of assessing client needs, and as appropriate, arranging, coordinating, monitoring, evaluating, and advocating for services to meet those identified complex needs. To successfully fulfill the goal of providing quality services effectively to “optimize” the client’s life, a social worker needs to keep apprised of the developments in best practices in case management practices through continuing professional development. This may be through online courses specifically developed for health care professionals.

Unlike case management in other professions, a social work case manager focuses both on the client as a whole person as well as on the encompassing social system. Thus the provided services may be provided through a single agency or be diffused across several organizations. The National Association of Social Workers thus describes social work case management as both “micro and macro in nature.” To work at both those levels requires a sophistication particular to the field.

The complexity of the social worker’s professional obligation necessitates thus both a broad knowledge of the service systems as well as a detailed knowledge of individual and family functioning. Being able to create and maintain a therapeutic relationship with clients while connecting them with needed resources requires training, supervision, practice, and continual professional development.

Particularly useful in developing expertise for the licensed social worker are courses in continuing education that offer a thorough grounding in the principles and practices of case management. A thorough program will also include coverage of concepts and theories, with an eye to the legal and ethical issues involved, as well as the definition and measurement of outcomes.

The National Association of Social Workers provides a clear statement of goals that should be at the forefront of case management training for social workers. In striving to create an optimal outcome for the client and the client’s family, the goals, as stated by the NSWA include enhancing client coping capacities, facilitating the delivery of resources, and contributing to continued development of social policy.

As noted by the NSWA, social workers at times fulfills any of a variety of roles, including “advocate, broker, diagnostician, planner, community organizer, evaluator, consultant, and therapist.“ Dedicated social workers find themselves faced with highly complex tasks for which the utmost preparation is needed. Training and indeed certification in case management can prove a valuable support to a unique profession that provides highly valuable services to some of society’s most marginalized individuals.