ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the key features that make case management a natural and exciting part of social work practice. Social work case management integrates aspects of all the traditional methods of social work practice, and provides a conceptual unity to problem-solving with systems theory as the underlying theoretical base. Case management is a process of service coordination and accountability and a method of ensuring the client's right to service. Social work case managers have long advocated for long-term or community-based systems of care that provide service options along a well-planned continuum of care. The chapter discusses the eight direct-practice functions delineated by Weil et al., which they suggest are progressive and "present in some form in all case management programs". They are client identification and outreach; individual and family assessment and diagnosis; service planning and resource identification; linking of clients to needed services; service implementation and coordination; monitoring of service delivery; advocacy to obtain services; and evaluation.
