CASE PLANNING AND SERVICE ARRAY

Case Plan “Roadmap” The case plan should be driven by the identified needs of the family and not by the readily available resources of the Agency and community. The case plan must be directly and specifically related to the reasons the child cannot live at home safely.

Family Development Theory Cognitive-behavioral theory Solution focused theory Integrated Theory from: Family Development Theory (Carter and McGoldrick, 1999) The Lens of Family Development The Path to Family Engagement The Key to Accurate Family Assessment The Focus of a Case Plan that will Work Family Development Principles Families face common challenges Stages EDLEs Casework needs to focus on everyday life challenges Locate specific skills to those everyday life challenges What was the family trying to accomplish? What has worked well in the past? What will the family need to change? What will individuals need to do in order to make that happen? Cognitive Behavior Theory (Relapse Prev.Therapy) (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985, Pithers, 1990, Beck, 1993) SBC teaches case managers how to manage treatment providers so they focus on the critical skills needed to manage individual and family high risk behavior, as well as how to measure, document and celebrate the mastery of those skills (risk reduction is behaviorally documented vs. trusting the opinion of providers). Solution Focused Theory (Berg, 1994, DeShazer, 1988) Interviewing skills that lead to collaboration Defining the problem in a way that leads to solutions Exceptions to the problems Solution Based Casework

Family system issues Presenting issue Individual issues How will we organize information? Family Level What are the family’s developmental needs? What specific task is giving them problems? What is their interaction around the task? Becomes Family Level Objective (FLO) Individual Level Who loses control when it doesn’t work? What are their patterns for loss of control? What specific prevention skills are needed? Becomes Individual Level Objective (ILO) Case Scenario Physical abuse of out of control teenager

Characteristics of a Good Case Plan SIMPLICITY SPECIFICITY ACCOUNTABILITY RELATIVITY ACHIEVABILITY Simple: Use plain, direct language Specific: Be explicit about the desired changes in attitudes, belief, skills, and behavior. How will progress and success be measured? Behaviorally-specific objectives. Accountable: Steps and goals should identify who, what and when, both with regard to the tasks for the social worker to complete and those required of the parent(s) Relative: Steps and goals / objectives should directly relate to the reasons underlying removal and court involvement Achievable: Balance thoroughness with achievability. Overwhelming clients doesn’t help families. *Reduce # of providers by choosing those that can work on more than one objective whenever possible *Limit separate assessments to situations where case specific questions must be answered before referral *Confront any barriers/limitations to success

Draft a plan to modify your behavior to better implement the QIC practice model.

Compare your plan with a partner. What do you notice?

What characteristics or qualities make for a good plan?

Evaluate Sample Case Plans