COA - Council On Accreditation

	Disaster Recovery Case Management Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

Definition

Case Management services plan, secure, coordinate, monitor, and advocate for unified goals and services with organizations and personnel in partnership with individuals and families. Disaster Recovery Case Management services include practices that are unique to delivery of services in the aftermath of emergencies and major incidents. These services are delivered under difficult environmental conditions that typically result in loss of infrastructure, disruption of operations, and special challenges for communication, record keeping, coordination, and efficiency. Distinct service delivery challenges are associated with an influx and simultaneous deployment of local, regional, state and, in a declared disaster area, federal assistance. Services may be delivered within, or separate from, a multi-service organization.

Interpretation: Although Disaster Recovery Case Management services may include emergency relief services, such as information and referral, and food, shelter, and clothing provision, DRCM services extend beyond the immediate to address long-term recovery needs.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Disaster Recovery Case Management Services (DRCM) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.

Research Note: Research on case management is, for the most part, focused on specific populations. Additionally, numerous models, approaches, and definitions of case management are present throughout the literature. Generally, case management programs provide assessment, recovery planning, referral for services, monitoring, and advocacy. Research suggests that case management services may contribute to positive outcomes for older adults, persons with psychiatric disabilities, individuals with substance abuse conditions, and other populations. Circumstances under which disaster recovery case management service are delivered create challenges for research and evaluation, for example, control or comparison group studies would be difficult to conceptualize and implement. There is; however, a need for disaster recovery case management studies to determine key components and methods that contribute to quality service delivery and effectiveness, possibly beginning with systematic reviews and publication of documentation of client needs, services received, and client outcomes. DRCM 7, Standards Philosophy, promotes program evaluation.


	PURPOSE: Individuals and families who receive Disaster Recovery Case Management Services access and use resources and support that build on their strengths and meet their service needs.

RELATED FILES


	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.


	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.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	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.


	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.


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


	MONITORING An evaluation involving a periodic review of consumer services, organizational activities, or conduct. Specifically, monitoring is an activity of case coordination, whereas more broadly, monitoring is an evaluation technique used in overall quality assurance.


	ADVOCACY An act performed with or on behalf of others through direct intervention, empowerment, or representation. Case advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a particular individual consumer. Cause, social, or systems advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a common issue affecting a group of persons.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	DEPLOYMENT The planned, strategic use of personnel.


	SUBSTANCE ABUSE The misuse of a chemical substance in a manner that is detrimental to an individual's physical or mental health.


	CLIENT See service recipient.


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


	QUALITY In this context, the extent to which contemporary and generally recognized standards for professional practice are met and exceeded, and desirable service outcomes achieved.