Origins and Meaning

"Case management" is a term which is understood to have originated from the process of moving mental health patients out of institutional care and into the community in the USA and UK in the 1980's.

There is no clear definition of what  it means; it does not always translate easily from its Anglo-American origins into other languages; the concept usually needs some interpretation when it is transferred from one sector (i.e. mental health) to another (i.e. criminal justice).

The word "management" implies authority and direction, that something more happens than would happen by chance or through the individual's own initiatives.  Any organisation which deals with (i.e. manages) "cases" (episodes with people) might be said to practice "case management"; their approach to it might be called a "case management approach".  The term is often used in this general way.

In correctional systems, it is more commonly used to refer to a way of working in which multiple "interventions" are arranged for multi-problem, multi-issue people (cases).  It contrasts with an approach limited to one-to-one "therapy" or casework, although one-to-one "therapy" or casework may be one of the "interventions". 

It is often referred to as a "teamwork approach" because different people or organisations do different things with the same person at the same or different times.

It is this meaning of the term which is used in the DOMICE project.

There is often, but not always, one person "in charge" at any one time.  Throughout the DOMICE Project this person is called the "case manager", although different organisations use different titles for the same role.