My interview with Michele Corrow

The person I chose to interview for this paper was my boss Michele Corrow at PRIDE Support and Services.  Michele requested that rather then asking specific question an open forum would be better. She is one of the founders of the agencies and has been employed in human services over the last 20 years in various states.  Michele received her master’s degree from Springfield College in Community Psychology.

Our meeting took place at the office which is located in Barre on 36 Summer St.  PRIDE provides services to individuals that have survived a traumatic brain injuries or TBI.  PRIDE is usually the last step in an individual’s road to recovery.  The services included Case management, Community based residential living in the shared home of a trained person, and Community based day supports centered within a person's local community.  PRIDE receives its funding through the TBI wavier of Vermont.  Each individual in services has their own waiver and is given a chose on the agency they would like to receive their services from.  PRIDE is a chose agency and with that the client has a great deal of input into their programming.  

As a case manager for PRIDE the caseloads are a maximum of six clients.  This is to ensure each client is given the right amount of time with their case manager and that the case manager does not become overwhelmed with an extensive caseload.  Plus since each client is on a wavier there is a great deal of paperwork that accompanies each client.

At PRIDE there is never a typical day.  You can plan out your day from the moment you walk into the office to till moment you leave.  But as soon as your cell phone goes off there is a great chance your entire day is going to be rearranged.

The mornings consist of checking in with each client’s staff to make sure that they are following the schedule and that nothing has come up.  In a typical day you will do face time with at least three clients to ensure their needs are being meet.  A meeting with a client can last anywhere from twenty minutes to a couple hours depending on what the meeting is about.

The client’s schedule is made during one of the weekly meetings the case manager has with the staff and client.  Once the schedule is written up it is the case manager’s job to type up the schedule and get it into the client’s LSA (life skills aide) book.

In addition to weekly meeting with the client it is a state requirement that the case manager hold an once a month team meeting.  At the team meeting the client, LSA, home provider, guardian and case manager are all present to discuss the current programming.  This is a great time for the whole team to sit down and just discuss what has happened in the last month and what the team would like to see accomplished in the next month.  Before this meeting the case manager, staff, and client sit down and talk about what topics they want to talk about so it gives the client time to prepare themselves for the meeting.  Once the meeting has taken place it is the case manager’s job to type up a team meeting note.  When the team meeting note is typed up the case manager and client need to sign the note signify that the team meeting did in fact take place.  Once it has both signatures on it the document is then filed into the client’s case manager book.

It is also the case manager’s job to attend medical appointments with the client.  This is ensuring that all important information is gathered from the doctor or given to the doctor.  As with most of the clients at PRIDE they tend to have impairments with their memory and sometimes don’t always remember all the relevant information that the doctor may need to diagnose the illness.  At each medical appointment a medical summary is present to the provider that lists presenting problems and attached is a current medication list (EFS).  EFS stands for emergency fact sheet on this sheet there is the client’s names, social security number, client’s home phone number, home provider’s name, all of the physicians the client is seeing along with their contact number, and a current list of medications with the dosages and the time the medication it taken.  It is the case manager’s job to ensure that prior to each medical appointment the EFS is update so it can be given to the doctor.  When the appointment is finished it is the case manager’s job to ensure that medical summary is filled in by the physician and signed so it can be filled in the client’s medical book.  If any changes to medications at the appointment the case manager needs to update the EFS and make sure the client, staff, and home provider has a current copy.

As a case manager of PRIDE you are responsible to keep contact notes that are due the following Monday morning.  Each client has a current amount of case management hours allotted by the state of Vermont. 

The case managers are also responsible to ensure that each staff has written their weekly note on their clients.  These notes are also due on Monday due noon.  Once each note is reviewed it is filed in the LSA book.  Most of the case manager’s week is spent chasing their staff for the paperwork to ensure that it is done correctly and in on time; but on time isn’t always the case.

Once a month it is protocol for the case manager to pull their client’s books and do a quick review to ensure all necessary documents are filed in the books.  It is important to insure documentation is accurate and present.  The state of Vermont performs periodic book audits.  If documentation is missing or inaccurate the state may take corrective action.

So you would think that case managers at PRIDE only had contact notes, team meeting notes, weekly calendars, and LSA notes to worry about.  Well you would be wrong.  Since each client is on a waiver their funding gets reviewed depending on the client every three or six months.  For the review it is the case manager’s responsibility to prepare documents that the state reviews.  These documents are called independent living assessment, individual services plan, and a rehabilitation quarterly or long-term semi-annual evaluation.

The independent living assessment scores the client in the following areas Physical Development & Mobility, Communication / Cognitive Skills, Eating Behaviors, Food Preparation / Cooking, Personal Hygiene / Grooming, Health / Safety, Social Behavior / Leisure Time, ADL’s and Household Chores, Budgeting & Numerical Skills, Transportation & Travel and Vocational Skills.  The score range from 1-8; 1 meaning unable to perform and 8 being independent. Once the ILA is complete the case manager can see what areas of development the client is struggling in and prepare the other reports.  When it is time to make the goals of what client will work on in the next quarter the case manager meets with the client to get their input.  As PRIDE is a person center based program and greatly appreciates that client’s input on what they want to work on.

In conclusion I was shocked at the amount of paperwork required for case managers at PRIDE.  It is nice to see such a person centered organization where focus is on the client’s goals.  I feel very lucky to be part of such a team that cares so much about their clients.  Each year Michele and her business partner take the entire organization including the client to the coast of Maine for two nights as a time celebrate all the gains in progress the clients have made over the last year.  It is a great time to kick back and relax forgetting the titles of case manager, client, LSA and just people individuals on vacation.   This is usually the only vacation the clients will have all year so it is great to see the smiles and laughs.  

Michele Corrow

The outside of the building 

 

The conference room where most team meetings are held due to the open space

Resources

WWW.PRIDETBI.com

http://www.biavt.org/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/PRIDE-Support-and-Services-Inc/100892889964841?sk=wall