|
Home
Meet The Administrators
SPN Brochure
Respite Brochure
Newsletter
Finding Your Way
Table of Contents
| |
Parents as Case Managers
Kenny Rogers, Texas
In this workshop, presented by Susan Rogers and myself, the message Was "no one person can do the job by themselves." However, there are issues that must be addressed, such as most professionals feel threatened by a parent who tries to help, and that those professionals who do a good job and want parents to help don't know how to teach them. The workshop helped us to better understand these issues and more.
I learned that at one time or another all children need case management and that most parents do this automatically without even thinking about it. If your child breaks a leg you find a doctor. If they are failing in school, you find a tutor. But when you have a child with multiple needs or complex problems, you loose some of your objectivity and it becomes increasingly harder to find the help you need. At that point, most parents become overwhelmed and just quit.
What we don't realize is that most of the time we have all of the information (birth history, developmental history, medical history, educational history, professional contacts, etc.) that we need right there in the house, somewhere. In my case, it was in several drawers and a few boxes. The first step is to get organized. Put all of the material in one spot. I suggest a three ring binder. That way the pages don't fall out like in a file folder. And, besides, it is easier to carry around than a drawer!
The professionals learned that parents don't really want to take over their jobs. Parents just want to be included so that they can do a better job of parenting. Some professionals shared how much easier their job had become once they started teaching the parents to be case managers. One professional stated that she was able to get twice as much work done now that her parents served as case managers--she didn't know why it took her so long to realize that she didn't have to do all of the work herself.
Kenny Rogers, a youth advocate, is the son of Susan Rogers of the Dallas Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health.
Duties of a Case Manager
· Service coordination.
· Comprehensive service plan development.
· Monitoring.
· Crisis intervention.
Case Management Process
Identification of your child's needs. This includes a face-to-face evaluation of the child, interviews with significant others, and evaluation of pertinent files.
Planning of services. This is done in collaboration with the appropriate involved agencies. Linkages are made between your family and the services.
· Implementation of the service plan.
· Monitoring, follow-up, and re-planning. Regular contact with your family to determine if services are being delivered and continue to be appropriate.
· Completion of services and transition.
 to the top |
