What is county case management?

[Sun Dogs]

Our teen's therapist has recommended that we apply for mental health case management with our county.  I called the intake worker and asked her about it, but her explanation was pretty vague.  So what is case management all about?  What is the benefit to my child and family?  Why add another layer of complexity and bureaucracy?  Any advice is welcome! 

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[peaceandhope]

Sundogs,

You can call your County Mental Health Board and they will be able to direct you.

Case Manager will oversee and co-ordinate everything. Case Manager is a go to person. They will be your child's advocate.

Having case manager is a good thing

 

[momontherun]

Mental health case managers links the patients, family members, law enforcement, community agencies, P's, T's, therapeutic foster homes, day treatment, respite, childrens services, mental health lawyers etc. that are available in your area... . its like a non - biased one stop shopping where all your information gets stored and reviewed for referrals that many wouldn't think of not having all the info. There are many services that are difficult to get into with/without a referral and many don't communicate with each other like your family dr (regular visits) and a dr in an urgent care clinic (last minute and after hour visits) - many times, we forget to let the other one know or just don't for various reasons. They also advocate for additional services (if not in the community already) showing a specific need for them, hold conferences, workshops, do case studies for more research, monitors agencies for effectiveness, have family skills training as well as, family support groups etc... . they do a lot and can be a valuable resource.

They can take months to get into as they are highly sought out - it took 7 months to start the intake here and that was rather quick. I suspect in other area's it won't take as long. During the intake, they will go over some history just to get an outline of whats going on and who all they need to contact that has been involved with the family to start coordinating care looking at the over all picture vs whats currently available in the community. The process is very slow but very detailed.  Once a month, they review each families case to track progress or lack thereof, help formulate goals and plans to coordinate everything. Once they have the documents, they belong to them and cannot be taken off grounds however, they can be photocopied if something comes up where the info is needed like say, court to show an established pattern. Once a case gets opened, the whole family is connected under the one file like though dd15 shows a need for this, services are also coordinated for my sons and myself instead of all different files and all different people... . it really takes a bunch of the stress and burden off. Also, just because they recommend something, doesn't mean you have to do it and can discuss pro's/cons - you have as much say as you do without them... . its an extended team where every issue in your family is addressed.

Of course, different places have different modalities which make them function a bit differently within the constraints of the area. However, I know I would be totally lost without mine trying to do this all myself and often repeating the same things over and over to various places that may or may not take us.

At least this is my experience so far  

[mamachelle]

I'm really interested in this since I have 2 Ssons with serious mental health issues and on the autism spectrum. I have been told that "You need a case manager!" but no one has said to go get one or where I go. Thanks for the info. I was worried about too much gov't involvement but this sounds like just enough to help.

[momontherun]

I wasn't ever told I needed a case manager but rather if I had ever heard of CoDi when dd15 was at the local hospital, which I had not so I looked them up. The name is a bit off putting 'Co-occurring Disorders Institute' and the info on their website is pretty vague rather highlights a couple of their programs (bring the kids home, strengthening families and teen pregnancy prevention) as well as noting how they got started which was a grant through the biggest mental health center in the area to help coordinate services. It was a success and received statewide attention making their reach even broader coordinating even more services instead of sending people 1-2 hours away for help. To keep themselves separate from state and private case management and keep their focus they turned non-profit which gained them even more respect and attention so the main focus stays on the family instead of bureaucracy. Their name came up again when dd15 went to the state hospital and was urged to get in touch with them as we are going to need their help in light of so many places involved with us. It came up again in a couple NAMI meetings (2 hrs away from me) which by then I had already contacted them and was starting to realize how highly regarded they are here.

With that said, without their suggestions I would have had a harder time finding out about them though they are located less then 3 miles away from my home   I would get in touch with your counties mental health services organization... . if it doesn't have one like mine, then the next county over-they should be able to refer you to one. Or if your state has a resource phone number like the roadside assistance numbers but different -ours is 2-1-1. Or contact a resource manager at your local hospital... . all these people would surely know who you need to contact 

[Sun Dogs]

Thank you all for the info and for the reassurance.  Since I first posted this question, our daughter's situation escalated to a new level as tends to happen when she decides to quit meds cold turkey.  Assaulted me, ran off, picked up by county deputies, charged, hearing, and on to probation, community service, etc.  Ugh.  So yes we are applying for case mgt next week.  I am looking forward to that helping -- need all the support that is out there. <3 <3 <3