Posted: 11/6/2015

Case Manager's Corner: 1st Quarter 2015

by Bill Nunnally, Chief Quality & Performance Officer, Heartland for Children

HFC Case Management Goes "Green"

Heartland was recognized this past quarter as the only CBC in the entire Central Region will all green performance on our contract measures. Every ounce of credit for that goes to case management. Without our awesome front line, we would never be able to achieve that level of excellence. Case Management Rocks!!

Supervisors Setting the Bar

Huge shout out to Monique McMath and James Acevedo for being the first two Supervisors in our Circuit to pass the Supervisor Proficiency Process for the Safety Decision Making Methodology. This was a very intensive process and required a lot of extra work on their parts while still continuing to supervise their teams. Great work Monique and James!!

Frontline Hero

Congrats to Tiffany Olsen, Dependency Case Manager at the Children's Home Society of Florida, named as Frontline Hero during the first quarter.

We love all of our Frontline Heroes–you may view their videos here.  

Psych Meds Shout Out

We had two case managers achieve 100% compliance on the psychotropic medication file reviews for the Corrective Action Reviews in September. These are the first two to accomplish this based upon the review instruments we are utilizing. Samantha Butterfield, Devereux Case Manager and Welda Pierre-Charles, Gulf Coast Case Manager both received 100% on their file reviews. Great Job!!

Special Mention

Donahue Malvo

Donahue Malvo has a caseload comprised of mostly teen boys.  As you know, this population is tough to manage and requires lots of “extra patience”. Donahue takes responsibility for attending all DJJ hearings (advocates for less severe consequences, he readily shares with DJJ court the strengths of the child rather just focusing on the negative behavior.  DJJ has complimented Donahue on his timely responses and his relationship with the young men.  Donahue’s approach to situations are “what makes sense and in the best interest of the child”.  Donahue was just recently promoted to Dependency Specialist as the Life Coach for our young adults.   

Amanda Land

Case Manager Amanda Land has been working really hard with one of her families. Struggling to stabilize a mom on her caseload with very high needs, Amanda ended driving to Haines City after-hours, with a co-worker, and to have the mom assessed for her mental well-being. Soon after, it was a child who needed some extra effort. Even though Amanda was flexing out, she realized the importance of her being present to assess and assist the child during a particular time of difficulty. This is a typical manner in which Amanda approaches her families. We appreciate her dedication to them.

Lisa Kinchen

Responding to a mom in crisis CM/Life Coach Lisa Kinchen drove to the Mission to meet with this mom. She then drove around to several local houses, some with dirt floors, to collect the mother’s belongings. She transported the mother to the local hospital in Lake Placid. The mom gave Lisa a porcelain plate and a fork which she asked her to watch for her. Lisa brought that plate back to the office, washed it and kept it for mom as promised. The next day Lisa traveled to Broward and Palm Beach for some of her over 18 clients. Shortly after returning to her home on a Friday evening, there was a placement disruption with one of her youth. Lisa could have let the on call staff handle this, but recognized that this child needed her, and that few others may be able to handle the matter. She put aside family matters to go and handle the matter, which lasted well beyond any reasonable timeframes. This type of dedication and commitment is what Lisa gives on a daily basis. She is tireless in her work for clients and for humanity in general.

Thank you to all of our Case Managers, Supervisors, and everyone else out there on the Front Line. You’re out there every day doing the heavy lifting, and we appreciate you and all that you do.