Support provision case management overview
All forward-thinking housing organisations are already engaged in a proactive response to the many varied support needs that are known to impact on a tenant's quality of life, their employment opportunities, their general and mental health, and ultimately their ability to sustain their independence. With the right services in place, including established signposting mechanisms to specialist agencies, the goal of tenancy sustainment can even be promoted to achieving tenancies that are thriving. Identifying the areas in which tenants need extra support, and then using a robust assessment process to establish the required level of help before referring them to expert advisers, underpins an 'invest to save' approach to tenancy management. Whilst the benefits to the individual service users are tangible, those housing organisations making this investment can also realise savings over the longer term, as levels of rent arrears, property abandonment and escalating void costs are all reduced.
A new support provision case can be generated directly from within an individual contact record, or via a CRM communication captured previously on the system. The resulting case file represents the single point of reference for all activities that must be actioned in order to conduct an assessment of an individual's potential needs, or to formulate and execute a support plan aimed at addressing the issues that might otherwise lead to a risk of tenancy failure. Whilst the creation of an 'assessment' case file is seen as a prerequisite step to committing resources as part of a targeted 'support plan', the inherent procedures and dependencies are flexible to allow a support plan to be launched in isolation, as appropriate to the local situation. All case file obligations, irrespective of categorisation - Assessment or Support Plan - are managed most effectively through the creation of discrete, parallel or inter-related tasks, providing a logical workflow and controlled timeline for the completion of all inherent actions. The complexity of each custom workflow is completely within the control of the end user, to reflect how differing needs can trigger other support requirements. For instance, tenants with drug and alcohol dependencies may well require assistance with managing their finances and maintaining employment, as well as programmes to support their recovery from addiction. Whilst case management can be thought of as a linear process with sequential events - a model that might work very well for, say, new tenants requiring basic help with setting up their first home - in practice most services executed through the creation of a support provision case will likely be much more complex, with the need for continual monitoring and review of all outcomes in light of the originally identified support aims.
Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of support provision case management, including: