One of Rose Brooks Center’s agency strategic goals is to improve quality in policy and practice. To that end, emergency shelter management has been hosting “open door” sessions, allowing shelter residents to share what is going well and what would serve them better. One recommended area surfaced through this process: accessibility to case managers. Here’s why.
To understand the “why,” you must first understand a case manager’s role. Case managers connect survivors with and help them network within community resources, help plan their physical and emotional safety, assist in obtaining housing, provide budget counseling, and so much more.
Within direct services they provide advocacy and assisting shelter residents with personal goal plans as well as coordinating services and resources with internal departments and external agencies.
It becomes more and more clear why case managers are such a huge part of a survivor’s healing when you take into account that they may spend a significant amount of time in the community, and will accompany clients to appointments and meetings as needed, providing for or arranging for transportation of clients using agency vehicles or their own vehicle, if needed. As a matter of fact, sometimes they’ll even help you figure out the bus route to your new job . . . and then ride with you on your very first day. ♥
Because of all of this, case managers have adapted their schedules to be available both day and night.