Case Management for TANF and CalWORKs
Implementing welfare reform has brought significant changes in the interplay of eligibility and employment services functions. In some agencies the staff works together closely to craft plans and find supports to move clients to self-sufficiency. In other agencies a new type of eligibility worker is emerging to serve both the aid and employment needs of some clients, and many variations on these approaches exist.
Whether integrating benefit and welfare-to-work functions are embodied in a team or single worker, a core set of knowledge and skills associated with the work are present. The programs focus on that skill set.
As with all Center services, case management training is customized to the needs and staff of sponsoring agencies. The following programs can be tailored to the level, mix and functions of staff involved. The training can also be designed to include staff from mental health, substance abuse, other service providers and partners in welfare-to-work efforts.
CalWORKs Case Management Programs
Integrated Case Management Workshops
Employment Issues
CalWORKs Overview
Marketing CalWORKs to Clients
Client Motivation
Job Retention Strategies
Focusing Interviews on Employability
Interactive Communication
Case Management
Developing and Monitoring Welfare-to-Work Plans
Assessment
The Art of Making Referrals
Problem-Solving and Conciliation Skills
Case Management with Employed Clients
Case Management in a Collaborative Setting
Supportive Services
Child Care Services
Creative Transportation Solutions
Building Client Life Skills
Addressing Client Learning and Educational Challenges
Addressing the Needs of Learning-Disabled Clients
Client Support Groups
Special Populations
Placement Issues for Hard-to-Employ and Special Needs Clients
Cal-Learn: Working with Youth
Working with Refugees
Additional Training in Case Management
Additional training in case management can be found in Service Integration under the integrated casework heading. This includes domestic abuse, mental health, substance abuse, home visits and mandatory reporting.
Eligibility Worker Retraining Series
This series is designed to help eligibility workers assume increased responsibilities for case management. Core courses cover key competencies
CalWORKs Overview
Client Motivation
Effective Worker-Client Interactions
Developing and Monitoring Welfare-to-Work Plans
Job Retention Strategies
Building Client Life Skills
The Art of Making Referrals
Elective courses can be selected to gather more knowledge in specific content areas, to address client needs in a particular county or to support a local agency's approach to welfare reform.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
CalWORKs Case Management Programs
County-Driven Training Programs
There has been growing recognition that eligibility workers need new competencies to address complex client needs and support agencies in meeting ambitious participation requirements.
To help determine those competencies, 50 representatives from 29 California counties, the California Department of Social Services, Cooperative Personnel Systems and the National Eligibility Workers Association met at UC Davis in 1999.
As a result of the gathering, The Center for Human Services at UC Davis now offers two comprehensive and county-driven training programs.
Built on Consensus and Competencies
The CalWORKs Case Manager Program and Certificate Program in CalWORKs Case Management build on the consensus of the advisory group. The future of eligibility work falls into four broad categories
- Technical eligibility work
- Eligibility work with enhanced employment services responsibilities
- Newly classified positions combining eligibility and employment services duties
- Employment services
The group identified seven clusters of competencies associated with this vision
- assessment
- casework and counseling
- interviewing and communication
- technical and organizational skills
- attitudes
- values and ethics
- marketing
Available as a Series or a Certificate
Training in CalWORKs case management can be offered to agencies in two ways. The CalWORKs Case Manager Program offers 11 days of noncredit training. This program can be customized to the situation and specific skill set required in sponsoring agencies. The six courses can be offered consecutively or spread out over a period of months.
The Certificate Program in CalWORKs Case Management is an expanded version of the noncredit program. The program consists of 15.5 quarter units of study. This program meets University of California standards for certificate programs. Because it is an academic program, courses include homework and letter grading.
Based on Best Practices in Human Services Training
Both programs address all levels of learning: knowledge, skills and attitude. Courses will be highly interactive and experiential.
Center staff also can work closely with agencies to address supervision issues such as reinforcing learning and building accountability for using new skills.
The aim is this: to ensure that what takes place in the training room actually transfers to the job.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
CalWORKS Case Manager Program
Policy and Practice in Human Services
Interviewing and Assessing Clients
Case Management
Helping Skills
Case Recording and Documentation for CalWORKS
Technical and Organizational Skills
Customer Service, Community Collaboration and Marketing
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Certificate Program in CalWORKs Case Management
About the Certificate Program
Because certificate programs are academic, a rigorous course of study is required. All courses have reading assignments, papers and/or final exams. Letter grades are assigned and a grade of C or better is required for each course to be applied to a certificate.
The Certificate Program in CalWORKs Case Management has been approved by the Academic Senate and appropriate academic departments at UC Davis. Academic credit may be applied toward degrees at other institutions of higher education at the discretion of those institutions. The Center works closely with certificate program participants to facilitate this process. The Center also can work with agencies and local educational institutions on transferring academic credit.
Earning a Certificate
The certificate is awarded upon successful completion of six core courses and 7.5 units of elective courses. The 15.5 quarter-unit program represents 125 hours of classroom instruction and an optional 90-hour practicum.
Core Courses
Courses from the CalWORKs Case Management Program constitute the core courses for the certificate.
Policy and Practice in Human Services
Interviewing and Assessing Clients
Case Management
Helping Skills
Technical and Organizational Skills
Customer Service, Community Collaboration and Marketing
Elective Courses
Agencies can tailor certificate program content by selecting 7.5 units of elective courses.
Employment Services Skills
Barriers to Self-Sufficiency
Working with Families
Special Topics in Welfare Reform
Practicum and Integrative Seminar
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