Case Management Comparison Paper

Case Management Comparison Paper

CJHS/420

Case Management Comparison Paper

This paper will be discussing the differences of case management in the criminal justice system within the community and in a correctional setting. I will also include the differences between the community and correctional setting in case management, how the process will need to be altered for various special populations, potential clients that will be in need of case management at both settings, and why ethics and confidentiality will play an integral role when working with clients. This will explain the difference between the community and correctional setting and give information on what they provide that are different.

The case manager has various fields and may go from a general case manager in the community to a case manager in a correctional facility. Each department has their own goals on how they can do their job successfully while helping clients in the best way they can. They both have a large number of clients and each and every one is very important in being able to get the help they need, and knowing that it is good for their own personal safety and the community’s safety. Case managers function by the same methods and techniques in order to serve their clients and society better.

Case Manager

Case managers take on various roles and the most important is director, which is directing their clients to the right resources, to the proper programs and to keep them going in the right direction so that they will not fall off and turn around and go back to what they were doing before. Case managers whether inside or out like to lead them in the right direction and want to see them succeed because them succeeding shows the case managers have succeeded as well. Case managers have five jobs the first being assessing the client’s needs, developing a service plan, directing client’s appropriate services, monitoring the client’s progress and being an advocate for the client and their needs (Healey, 1999). They are the voice for the client and can recommend what is needed for them and what is not. Case managers are not only there to help the client but to help the families also by providing therapy sessions, helping the family be a strong support system. Most of the time spent is helping the client but a portion is also being a record keeper, meaning keeping records of their client’s lives, programs they are being sent to, therapy sessions they interact with along with any emergency services their client may need.

Correctional

Case managers working in a correctional setting may also be referred to as Correctional Treatment Specialists. The specialist otherwise known as a case manager work inside institution settings assessing, developing and analyzing the needs of the inmates inside the facility. Case manager’s job just like the community case manager is to monitor and evaluate the process of offenders within their programs and assign them into training programs. The most important job for a case manager and which I see very encouraging and useful towards the inmate is a release plan. The inmate needs a plan when they are going to be released and know where they are able to continue the help they need so they can stay on a path that will guide them in a more positive direction. The caseload for each case manager is based off of the population in the correctional facility and the number of case managers that are available. Each and every day the case manager is spending their time with the inmates whether it is accessing their needs and matching them with the correct programs. When an inmate is up for parole it is the case workers job to provide the parole board with a detail report of the inmates progress and change along with what activities they have been in since being incarcerated and if parole will be granted. The case manager can follow the inmate on the outside and continue with their treatment or will set up the inmate with another case manager that can continue to help with their treatment and care.

Community

Community case managers are not much different, the only difference is the clientele. Community case management provide help to the community members who suffer from disabilities, mental or physical, those who are not able to help themselves due to an illness. Case managers help the family by setting up a support system and help the family implement the plan. It is very important for the case manager to stay close and pay attention to what the client wants and what they need. This will help the case manager create a plan for their client on what the client wants for their future, whether it is lifelong care from the family or gaining the ability to be more independent in their everyday life.

Community case managers seen to have a bigger environment and juggle numerous relationships on a more close involvement compared to case managers in a correctional setting. The community case manager not only talks to the client almost every day but the client’s family, development services in the area and the community. Case manager must know the right programs to put their clients in and for this to happen, they must always know about the current programs and the reviews of them and their success rates. (“Case Management Standards”, 2012).

Community and correctional case management goals are the same and that is to provide the help and support the client needs to get them to contribute to society and to become an independent individual that can provide for themselves. Case management strives on helping a family of a sick child, a person with a mental illness or finding a home and job for an inmate who has just been released from prison or jail and is looking forward to changing their life around, guiding them to the right programs which may take a few times and awhile but will get it. The clients may be all different with different problems and backgrounds but the job of the case worker will not change and whether it is in the community or correctional setting they are both looking out for the client in their time of need.

Special Population

Case management deals with various types of people including age, juvenile delinquents, children with disabilities, homeless, substance abusers, mental health and sexual offenders. Each case has a different story and some may be difficult because of their circumstances of their case as well as some of their behavior.

The special needs population may not be addresses as much because they do not seek the help. People who have a drug problem may not want the help they so desperately need because they are in denial or they are just not ready to quit which could lead to them losing their job, home, and support system. Case managers can help when the client is ready and it is up to them to know when they are ready and are willing to help themselves.

Clients in need of Correctional and Community

The community correction officers otherwise known as parole officers, monitor released inmates and track their progress in the community setting. Parole officers track the inmate on their activity while they are out and can suggest programs for them to be involve in. Parole officers are there to make sure they stay on track and not get into any trouble or they will have to arrest them and send them back to jail or prison. If they were in a substance abuse program while they were incarcerated the P.O. may help them continue the program on the outside.

The correctional case manager will meet with the parole board and probation officer or the community case manager on the outside to discuss the inmate’s progress, address any concerns, illnesses or events that have occurred inside the prison. The P.O. will then meet with the inmate and discuss the goals and future of the inmate, and what kind of life they want to live. Some inmates may need to be put on an electronic device to make sure they stay out of neighborhoods and to report their whereabouts of the day along with surprised visits from the P.O. to keep track of any illegal drug use or activity.

Ethics and Confidentiality

The ethics and confidentiality is an important subject in case management whether it is in a correctional or community setting. The case management would need to make aware to the client that anything being said that is in regards to hurting a third person which comes from the case Tarasoff v. Regents (1976). That the case management would have to report and that mental health professionals have the duty and obligation to protect a third party (public) in cases where they reasonably believe a client might endanger the third party; and this duty overrides any obligation to confidentiality (Hanser, Ph.D., Mire, Ph.D., & Braddock, M.A., 2011, para. ).

The ethics of a case worker and client is to find a common ground for the better of the client and having a relationship with the client and being able to figure out what can help them is a direction a case manager would want to continue to go. “The primary responsibility of counselors is to respect the dignity and to promote the welfare of clients” (ACA, 2005, p. 4). The case manager must earn the trust of their clients and by having their trust in keeping information confidential may help the client with the issues they may have in the present and in the future.

Conclusion

The case management in a community and a correctional setting are much alike and that is to provide the help and needs of the client whether they are incarcerated or in the community. Case managers are relied upon heavenly by numerous clients, various organizations to do their job the best they can provided by the cooperation of the client to have them be successful. Case managers have various jobs within the community and in the correctional setting and what they get out of it is to help their client be positive individuals for the community and society to where they will not want or need to turn back.

References

Case Management Standards. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads/disability/ds/comm-cm/standards2/introduction.html

Federal Bureau of Prisons. (n.d). Case Manager. Retrieved from http://www.bop.gov/jobs/positions/?p=Case%20Manager.

Hanser, Ph.D., R. D., Mire, Ph.D., S. M., & Braddock, M.A., A. (2011). Correctional Counseling. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

Healey, K. (1999, February). Case Management in the Criminal Justice System. National Institute of Justice, (), . Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/173409.pdf