Transfer of Case/Onward Referral/ Case Closure

The role of Case Manager will be needed to be transferred to another agency when:

• The Service User progresses along the continuum of care.
• The service is no longer best placed to meet the Service User’s needs.
• The Service User relapses and so is no longer appropriate for the programme.
• The Service User leaves the service.
• The Service User requests to be case managed by another service

A meeting should be held to transfer the case. The handover meeting should involve a copy of care plan and assessment being transferred to a new case management agency. A care plan review should be undertaken in order to establish the most important supports to be put in place at the current time.

Case Closure

Case closure can be divided into two categories, each with their own procedures:

Positive Case Closure

This occurs when the Service User has achieved all their goals and both the worker and Service User are in agreement that case management is no longer required. If a Service User completes a programme although still has unmet care plan goals and needs, the case should be transferred to another provider. In the case of a positive case closure, a case closure/exit meeting will be arranged.

The purpose of this is to identify progress made, an aftercare plan and the appropriate support services to maintain recovery. The case closure meeting will involve the Case Manager and Service User. The Service User should be informed that if circumstances require, they may re-engage with the service at any time.

Other Case Closure

This is where the Service User stops attending the service for a significant period of time. The Service User decides they do not wish to be case managed or key worked.

In this case attempts should be made to contact the Service User (mail, phone, through messages in other services), to ask whether they would like to be case managed/ key worked by another service, or key worked within our service (if they have decided not to be case managed). It is important that the option of having a Case Manager is kept open to individuals at all times. If they are interested in another service the worker should arrange a case transfer if possible.