Modes of case management

We have already seen that "case management" is not a term which refers to a single way of doing things.  At best it describes a family of related approaches. 

The approach or stance taken will differ from case to case.  Case management may, for example, be passive and supportive, or active and assertive.  In DOMICE we have referred to these different approaches as MODES.

Summarising from the research, four different MODES of case management can be identified in correctional work.  Different writers, academics and policy makers sometimes use different words to refer to them.

ADMINISTRATIVE mode:          the least intrusive and lowest cost; doing the least necessary to implement the sentence
BROKERAGE mode:                 a supportive, guiding, linking mode, typical of resettlement work
THERAPEUTIC mode:               more intrusive and assertive, including technical intervention(s) like addictions work
COMPREHENSIVE mode:         complex, intrusive, including overt control; reserved usually for the most dangerous

The skills and resources needed vary from the low-cost ADMINISTRATIVE mode to the high-cost COMPREHENSIVE mode.  The DOMICE Project tried to find out whether there is a dominant mode in a system or a service, and whether and how different case management MODES are applied to different cases.