Lessons for Case Management: Practices from the Field

Evaluation of the OhioMeansJobs Internet-Based Employment Services System
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services used its Workforce Innovation Fund grant to implement and test the state’s new internet-based Ohio Means Jobs (OMJ) service delivery model. This approach is designed to improve and expand access to Ohio’s workforce services to any location with internet access. The report includes findings from the implementation and impact studies of the OMJ website and found that online service delivery was implemented as proposed and that users (more than 70 percent) found the site “very” or “somewhat” useful. The evaluators recommended that (1) the OMJ system should remain a primary feature of Ohio's employment services system, despite the lack of reliable impacts from the impact evaluation; and that (2) enhanced efficiencies might be achieved if select services are automated, and case managers focus on computer literacy and OMJ website user training which would provide the time to work with the “most difficult to serve” jobseekers.

Case Management for Self-Employment Success: Emerging Lessons from the Self-Employment Training (SET)
This resource details early lessons learned from the implementation of intensive case management support for dislocated workers who want to start their own businesses in four states: California, Illinois, Oregon, and Ohio. The SET pilot program assessed the benefits of using case management to support aspiring small business owners. Emerging lessons indicated the model could be implemented with fidelity, and participants found the case management useful. The SET advisors agreed that case management was helpful for some participants and shared that it could help participants gain confidence, develop business plans, and create realistic expectations and strategies.

Effective Case Management: Key Elements and Practices from the Field
The brief provides examples of promising case management methods and highlights related tools and policies from online resources, subject matter experts, and extant data sources, including reports, policy documents, webinars, and tool kits. Case managers can learn how to improve their practice, and administrators will find help with how to hire new case management staff and select a management information system (MIS). A list of more resources on topics, like case manager skills, direct customer service activities, tracking and documentation, and administrative and MIS supports, is included.

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• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies