Social casework 003-17072600

A social worker can make a social casework referral:

• if they identify the suitability of a customer and the customer agrees to engage in social casework
• after first considering available external services to avoid service duplication

To complete referrals:

• for FDV, people thinking about suicide and/or self-harm or people impacted by disasters and emergencies, go to Step 2
• in Process Direct, go to Step 3
• in Customer First, go to Step 4

To create a social casework referral for customers experiencing FDV, people thinking about suicide and/or self-harm or people impacted by disasters and emergencies, a Fast Note must be completed.

Use Customer First and run the Fast Note workflow:

• Key Social Casework in the search field
• Select Search
• Select Social Casework Referral – SWO use only Fast Note
• the text auto-fills
• Select Confirm

Note: each region has its own specific keyword to enter for referrals. Manually enter the region keyword to the Fast Note.

Staff must:

• not remove any existing keywords. These prepopulated keywords and additional region code are required for the Fast Note to capture correctly
• manually add the keyword into the Fast Note for the customer's local region. Without a keyword, the Fast Note will not get allocated

The keywords for the customer's local region are:

• SWOCQLD - Central Queensland
• SWOSEVIC - East Victoria
• SWONA - North Australia
• SWONNSW - North West New South Wales
• SWONQLD - North Queensland
• SWOSA - South Australia
• SWOSNSW - South West New South Wales
• SWOSQLD - South Queensland
• SWOSYD - Sydney Metro
• SWOTAS - Tasmania
• SWOWA - Western Australia
• SWONWVIC - North West Victoria

After adding the keyword and notes on the DOC, select Continue.

Do not complete the DOC. It must be left open to move through Work Optimiser. The DOC will remain open and will show on the AL screen in Customer First.

• Go to Step 5

To create a referral for unsupported customers under 25 years in Process Direct:

• Open the customer's record
• Select > Referral
• Referral type: select Social Work Service
• Referral reason: select Referral for Social Casework
• Select Next
• The Referral Summary page will display. Note: a warning message will appear. Read to make sure the correct process is followed
• Referral detail:
• to select the customer’s zone, go to Office Locator
• key the customer's home office or Regional Office Code (ROC)
• select Office Hierarchy
• Select Next
• The Referral Summary page will display. Review the referral details in the Referral data table
• Add a short summary of the referral reason in the Additional comments section, including presenting issues and any other relevant information
• Select Finish
• Go to Step 5

To create a referral for unsupported customers under 25 years in Customer First:

• Run the Social Worker Referral guided procedure
• Select Referral for Social Casework from the dropdown menu
• Select the customer's zone from the dropdown menu to assign the referral to the right team
• to select the customer’s zone, go to Office Locator
• key the customer's home office or Regional Office Code (ROC)
• select Office Hierarchy
• Add a short summary of the referral reason in the Additional comments section, including presenting issues and any other relevant information
• Select Next
• Select Finish

Make sure the customer's contact details are correct.

• Go to Step 5

When social work referral has been completed:

• If referring customer to another location, tell the customer another social worker will contact them as soon as possible. Tell them the call will come from a private number. The social worker will send them a text before they call if the customer is registered for pre call SMS
• Record details on a Note/DOC about the contact

Under 25 social casework referrals are received via WLM or warm transfer from Service Officers, social workers or other stakeholders, depending on the referral category.

Social casework referrals for Family and domestic violence, People thinking about suicide and/or self-harm and People impacted by disasters and emergencies are received via WLM or warm transfer from social workers. Service Officers cannot directly refer these customers for social casework.

For People with difficult or challenging behaviours:

• Service Officers cannot directly refer these customers for social casework
• A social worker must be consulted about these referrals to social casework. This can be through the:
• Zone panel or Customer Conduct Team
• Managed Service Plan (MSP)
• Personalised Services team
• Service Centre Manager
• The social worker will decide whether to accept or decline a referral

If the referral was received via WLM, go to Step 2.

If the referral was received via warm transfer, the social worker must:

• use the Guided Procedure for Under 25 social casework referrals. This includes referrals where the customer is under 25 years of age and the primary referral reason is family and domestic violence (FDV) or suicide/self-harm
• complete the Fast Note 'Social Casework Referral - SWO use only’ for Family and domestic violence, People thinking about suicide and/or self-harm, and People impacted by disasters and emergencies referrals. This includes allocating a local region keyword in the fast note
• assign the work item via Work Optimiser using staff log on, go to Step 3

WLM allocates these social casework referrals based on the customer's footprint.

Incorrectly assigned social casework referrals should be reassigned to the appropriate footprint by a Social Work Support Manager.

After receiving a new referral via WLM:

• Assign the work item to inbox
• Put the work item on hold for 6-8 weeks. It should stay on hold while the social casework is in progress. Work items cannot be kept on hold indefinitely. Start with 6-8 weeks. Extend the period on hold if needed

The WLM activity remains open and on hold while following up the referral and/or engaging the customer in social casework.

Note:

• Do not finalise the activity until the customer declines or has exited social casework
• Record social casework contact in the Social Work Recording Application (SWRA) in Process Direct or Social Work Information System (SWIS) in Customer First. Do not record casework contact in the WLM notes
• WLM activities must not be closed in place of Fast Notes

Within 3 days of receiving the referral, contact the customer to:

• give them information about the service offer
• engage the customer in social casework
• make a suitable time to start social casework
• give the customer contact details for the social worker assigned to the social casework

Make at least 3 attempts over 48 hours to contact and engage the customer. Take into account their personal circumstances, potential risks, cultural or linguistic needs and social background.

Has contact been successful?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 6

Does the customer agree to social casework commencing?

• Yes, go to Table 3
• No, record the contact in SWIS and close the WLM work item. Procedure ends here

Is the customer affected by Family and domestic violence (FDV)?

• Yes, assess the customer’s record first as part of a safety assessment. This is needed to make a professional judgement about the appropriateness of sending a letter to the customer or creating DOA Fast Note SCW - social work referral in progress on their record. Take into account factors such as:
• the customer’s relationship status
• if they have PPE/NOM on their record
• if their address/contact details have been updated
• any recent disclosures of FDV or safety concerns
• No, and/or no safety concerns have been identified, consider these options:
• create a Q999 or Q888 letter. Q999 letters can be printed straight away on a local printer. Q888 letters can be printed centrally through the mail house. See the Resources page for approved text
• leave a message when the customer is clearly identified in their voicemail message
• book an appointment if appropriate. Allow enough time for the system to issue the letter to the customer
• use Desktop Messaging

Required action

• If safe, create Fast Note - SCW – social work referral in progress. This will stay as Display on Access document (Flash DOC) until the end date
• Update the initial social casework Fast Note with all contact attempts. Make 3 attempts to phone the customer over 48 hours at different times of the day before completing the referral
• Close the WLM work item
• Record the contact in SWIS

Procedure ends here.

To create the Fast Note staff should:

• enter SCW - social work referral in progress in search box, and select Search
• select template: SCW – social work referral in progress, tick Display on access box and select Confirm
• enter Expiry Date and select Confirm. Note the expiry date should be 6-8 weeks in the future
• update the Text section and select Continue

The Fast Note should now display as a Display on Access doc until the entered expiry date.

Undertake a holistic, customer-centred assessment to identify their needs and goals. The 5 common focus areas are:

• safety and wellbeing
• financial stability
• education and employment needs
• strengthening community connections

Identify the customer's obligations in relation to income support payment and strategies required to ensure the customer meets them.

Develop the case plan in collaboration with the customer. Tailor the case plan to the needs and circumstances of the customer, within the relevant focus areas.

The case plan is a 'living document' and is progressively updated in SWIS case notes.

Will the case plan be created using the SWRA in Process Direct?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 9

Use the Social Casework Case Plan template for the case notes. See the Resources page for the templates.

Record the activity in the SWRA:

• Select Social Work Recording Application on the Task Selector screen
• Select Start
• On the Reports and Case Notes Summary screen
• Select New
• Assessment type: field from the drop down list select Case Note - Social Casework Plan
• Select Next

On the Consent to Record and Share screen:

• Complete all of the mandatory fields
• Add third party contacts where required

Some fields on the Referral Record screen will prepopulate. Review all fields and make appropriate changes.

• Area and Location fields will prepopulate based on the user profile. Update if needed
• Referral date: will prepopulate with today's date. Update if needed
• Customer Status: will not pre-populate. Select appropriate option:
• Job Seeker
• Student
• Carer
• Parent
• Not on Payment
• Other
• Cultural background: will prepopulate based on the customer’s information. Update if needed
• Interpreter used?: select Yes or No
• Referral allocated through workload manager?: select Yes or No
• Referral Source: field select appropriate option
• Customer currently on income management?: select Yes or No. If Yes, select the relevant measure from the Initiative drop down list
• Referral issues select Social Casework and up to 2 other appropriate issues
• Select Next to go to the Contact Record screen

• Area and Location fields will prepopulate based on the user profile and can be updated if required
• Contact date: field will prepopulate with today's date. Update if needed
• Contact Type: field will prepopulate to File/Paper Assessment and cannot be changed
• Entitlement Decision, will be blank and cannot be changed
• Social Work Intervention, and Outcome of Intervention fields will prepopulate based on the information recorded on the Assessment Type screen and cannot be changed

• Select Next to go to the Consent to record case note screen and complete all mandatory fields
• Select Next to go to the Case note screen
• complete the Consent to store section
• complete all mandatory fields including the Social Casework Plan in the Details section. The prepopulated headings can be used as a guide when writing the plan, information that is not applicable can be deleted
• After the case plan has been completed select Submit for the information to be transferred over to SWIS in Customer First as a Case note and initial referral contact

Note: when the case note has successfully transferred, the additional contacts must be entered in SWIS Customer First. The SWRA cannot be used to record progress notes. Any subsequent contacts and progress notes must be completed in SWIS by appending the ‘Progress Notes’ and ‘Interventions, Goals and Actions’ in the SCW case note. Append and SWIS each time an update is required.

Go to Step 10.

Note: social workers allocating referrals from WLM to another social worker should not record the referral in SWIS.

When to record in SWIS

Social Workers should capture new social casework referrals that have a case plan in SWIS, ensuring no duplication of SWIS entries.

Case consultations and other work which does not turn into a case plan/social case work referrals should be recorded as a general referral within SWIS.

What to record in SWIS

Record the social casework in SWIS as a new referral:

• Referral Source: select applicable referral source
• Referral Issues: select Social Casework and 2 other applicable issues for the customer
• Contact Type: as appropriate to the intervention. This will depend on the channel of contact and the action taken by the social worker for each contact
• Social Work Intervention: select up to 3 relevant options
• Social Casework Plan Developed/Reviewed: select if a case plan will be created
• Outcome Intervention: select Social Casework and 1 other applicable outcome

The SWRA cannot be used to record progress notes. Any subsequent contacts and progress notes must be completed in SWIS by appending the ‘Progress Notes’ and updating ‘Interventions, Goals and Actions’ in the SCW case note. Append and SWIS each time an update is required.

Record the activity in SWIS:

• Contact Type: File/Paper Assessment
• Social Work Intervention: select Social Casework Plan Developed/Reviewed
• Outcome of Intervention: select Social Casework and 1 other outcome

Following the final contact with the customer, record the exit by appending an Exit Summary to the SCW case note in SWIS.

If the customer has disengaged from social casework and no further progress has been made, append the SCW case note with an Exit Summary.

In SWIS record:

• Contact Type: File/Paper Assessment
• Social Work Intervention: select Social Casework Plan Developed/Reviewed
• Outcome of Intervention: select Social Casework and 1 other outcome

Close the social casework item in WLM.