Q&A 04-34


[Q&A Policy Issuances] [Q&A Information Issuances]
Q & A Policy Issuance 04-34 Case Management for Job Seeker Customers

Issuance 04-34
Q	For WIA Title I Adults and Dislocated Workers, the policy states that it is effective immediately. Does this imply that all active cases need to have a case plan complete on the MOSES System or going forward, would you expect to find a complete case plan for new enrollments?


Q	Some career centers are currently using Employability Development Plans, and these, in some cases, overlap with Case Management Case Plans, creating some redundancy. Should staff be moving away from EDPs in favor of The Case Management Model?
A	With the development and implementation of the MOSES Case Management Tool, career center management and staff should be moving to eliminate functional redundancy by adopting the MOSES case management tool as the primary instrument to manage all customer case plans. Local areas may choose to supplement information recorded and provided through the MOSES Case Management Tool with additional information of their choice to meet local needs. The MOSES Case Management Tool will however, serve as the official informational vehicle on which program monitoring of case management services will be based.


Q	Several programs require that customers have at least one goal completed before a career center can be reimbursed, does this same policy apply to WIA Title I enrollees?
A	WIA Title I funds are allocated to local workforce investment areas on an annual basis and are not earned based on a performance/reimbursement model as is EAS funding which is the only federal/state program (administered through the local WIA supported workforce development system) that requires career centers to attain specific program goals in order to be reimbursed for services provided.


Q	The Case Management for Job Seekers Policy (04-34), as written, appears to require that veteran customers be case managed by only a DVOP or LVER (”assigned to the DVOP/LVER case manager”)? Some career centers have been utilizing non DVOP/LVER case manager staff to “case manage” some veteran customers. Must only a DVOP or LVER case manage veteran or Other Qualified Eligible customers?
A	All Veterans and Other Qualified Eligible Persons (covered under the Jobs for Veterans Act) who are in need of case management services must, under the Act, be “assigned” to a particular DVOP or LVER. Nothing in the Act or in the Case Management Policy Issuance 04-34 prohibits a career center case manager who is not a DVOP or LVER from providing or sharing in the provision of specific case management services to Veteran and Other Qualified Eligible customers.


Q	Please define “timely manner” for the data entry into MOSES?
A	MOSES was designed as a “real-time” system, enabling staff to record, without delay, activities and transactions related to customer services, follow-up and outcome information as it occurs or as it is identified.


Q	How should youth services be documented at vendor locations that do not have MOSES access?
A	Documentation of the provision of services to youth must be recorded in MOSES. Each workforce investment area must develop a local process that satisfies this requirement.


Q	Will customers who are case management enrollees, but are not members of the groups targeted for case management on a statewide basis under the Policy, be included in the reporting statistics?
A	Reported statistics are based on services provided to all customers included in the MOSES database during the reporting period


Q	Is sending a follow-up letter to a customer considered a successful contact for reporting purposes?
A	The mailing of a follow-up letter requesting a status update from a customer does not constitute, in and of itself, a “successful” contact if the customer does not provide the information requested. Sending a follow-up letter is documented on the Services Administration tab by selecting Contact and then Letter. If a customer responds to a follow-up letter via telephone, email or in person resulting in two-way communication between the customer and the case manager, the activity is recorded in the Services General tab by selecting the appropriate Service Category.


Q	Is it appropriate to document sensitive issues regarding a customer in MOSES? If yes, where should such notes be recorded in MOSES?
A	As covered in Case Management training, case managers must use “professional discretion”, taking particular caution to preserve customers’ privacy rights when entering sensitive information in the Notes window. The window is not generally open for view in MOSES. The Notes window turns green as a visual cue that information has been entered in the Notes window. In Notes, the case manager can click Add and then click Confidential to prohibit staff without the appropriate security level from viewing sensitive information. It must be noted, however, that the full customer record is subject to “Freedom of Information” requests and to subpoena under court action.


Q	May non-agency staff access customers’ case management records?
A	Career Center staff (not withstanding which partner organization employs them) who have been assigned an individual MOSES User ID can and may access customer records in MOSES. Included in the process of registering as a sanctioned MOSES User, the staff person must agree to comply with established security/confidentiality policies and procedures to protect customers’ privacy rights. This agreement must be renewed on an annual basis by each MOSES User.


Q	May non-agency staff be assigned as back-up case managers?
A	Career Center staff of any partnering organization who demonstrate the necessary skills and abilities to effectively provide case management services may be assigned as back-up case managers if they are a sanctioned MOSES Users with an individually assigned MOSES User ID and have complied with the security/confidentiality terms regarding the privacy rights of customer information.


Q	Does the Case Management Policy mandate either a specified number of follow-up attempts that must be made to a customer or a specified follow-up period?
A	The Case Management Policy states that as a “standard practice” case managers should contact customers at regular intervals that should not exceed 60 calendar days. Certain programs or contracted agreements however, may specifically require shorter follow-up periods (30 days for veterans, for example) and all case managers must adhere to the follow-up requirements for any specific program or contractual agreement. The policy does not stipulate a specific number of follow-up attempts. However, case managers must make a reasonable attempt to maintain regular contact and communication with case managed customers in order to assure continued progress toward completing planned actions and attaining their employment goal.


Q	If, after a significant period of time, a customer of one career center who has not responded to follow up contacts begins utilizing the services of a second career center and a staff person (as the case manager) of the first career center finds out and tries to “re-contact” the customer to complete follow-up but the customer still does not respond what should the original case manager do as that customer is still recorded as a member of the original case manager’s case load?
A	A customer may choose to work with any number of career centers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If a customer chooses to work with a subsequent career center other than the center for which a case manager originally established a case plan for the customer, the original case manager should utilize Help, View Staff Directory in MOSES to find the telephone number or email address of the staff person from the second career center who has subsequently also provided intensive services. The original case manager should confer with the second staff person to determine whether the original case plan should be continued, modified or should be closed with the second case plan followed, instead. If it is determined that the second case plan is to be used, the original case manager should close the original goals on the Case Plan, Goals tab and suspend the case from Job Seeker, Caseload Management so that his/her supervisor can close the goal. If the original case plan is to be continued, the supervisors of both the original and second case managers must email MOSES@detma.org to allow the MOSES Help Desk to physically transfer the case to the second career center and the new case manager.


Q	Does the “follow-up” clock (for contact purposes) begin ticking once the customer is enrolled into case management or once the customer has been assigned to a staff member?
A	The follow-up time frame begins upon a customer’s enrollment in Case Management.


Q	What if a customer, particularly a customer from one of the groups targeted for case management under the Policy, refuses to be case managed and only wishes to receive a basic level of career guidance or to use the career center for “miscellaneous” services?
A	The case management model implies a partnership between the one-stop career center case manager and the customer to participate in a formal, agreed upon plan of action in order to attain a specified employment goal. Without agreement of both parties, case management can not take place. For customers who are members of one of the case management target groups, the staff person must enter in the individual’s Case Plan the date by which it is estimated the individual will become employed and record in the Goal Narrative that the individual declined case management services and will manage his/her own job search. When the case manager learns the individual has found employment, the case manager will enter Attained in the Goal Status window and enter the Completion Date in the Case Plan tab.


Q	What if a customer does not wish to provide required documentation?
A	Customers who desire staff assisted services under specific programs must comply with all documentation requirements for those programs in order to be enrolled as a participant.


Q	Whose responsibility is it to “close out” a case, the staff member or the manager?
A	Case Managers must close any goals or tasks in the case, then change the status on the Job Seeker, Caseload Management, Cases tab from “Open” to “Suspended” and write the reason why the case is closed. Career Center Managers then close the cases after reviewing the MOSES record on the Administration, Career Center Management, Staff Caseload tab.


Q	When assigning a “back up” case manager, should the back up be able to add/edit the case plan immediately or does MOSES process that information over night or making it necessary for the back up to wait until the following business day to perform/record any transactions or to make edits?
A	If the customer record is open, once the back-up assignment has been saved by clicking the OK button, the record must be closed, then reopened to enable the back-up case manager to begin performing and/or recording transactions or making any edits to the record. If the customer record is closed, a newly assigned back-up case manager can begin recording services/transactions immediately after the OK button has been clicked to save the entry of the back-up assignment.


Q	On the EAS Case Plan screen, if there is no completion date entered (in the upper right of the screen), can staff other than the manager or Help Desk access the record as lack of access holds up the case managing staff member?
A	The entry of a completion date has no bearing on access to the customer record. Any back-up case managers must be assigned through the Job Seeker, Caseload Management, Cases tab.