Provide case management for families of students who have complex health or safety needs, who have difficulty accessing required services, or whose needs preclude optimal participation or achievement at school.

Case management can enhance students' ability to learn by facilitating timely access to resources (e.g., health, mental health, social, financial) and enhancing communication and coordination among school staff and community-based health professionals, families, social services providers, and others providing resources to the family and student.

Case management is a collaborative process by which students' special health-related needs are assessed, planned, implemented, coordinated, monitored and evaluated. It is also referred to as 'care coordination' and 'care management'. It is a collaborative process whereby a case manager, the person primarily assisting the family, helps families to explore options and services that they and their children require. Referrals for case management may come from the student assistance team (Guideline 4-01). When a student has a community-based case manager, the school's role would be to communicate with that case manager.

Case management should not be limited to students with disabilities or special health needs. Those who are homeless, hungry, overwhelmed by family problems, and/or otherwise distracted from learning, also require case management. School-based case managers can help families by advocating for family and student services, informing and educating families about such services, coordinating access to student and family services, taking on the role of liaison to community providers and organizations, and/or interpreting health-related information to school staff and family. School case management often differs from one community to another, as the location of the community (e.g., urban versus rural) and characteristics of the population (e.g., recent immigrants, families in military service careers) influence the nature of services students and families require.

Case management encompasses many of the key functions of the school nurse. Counselors, social workers and other health professionals in the school setting also often perform case management functions. The category of the school professional assigned to take on a case management role will often depend on the nature of a student's and family's needs and on school staffing.

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97. National Association of School Nurses. The School Nurse and Specialized Health Care Services. Scarborough, ME: National Association of School Nurses; 1996. Available at: http://www.nasn.org/positions/specialized.htm.

113. Reel SJ, Morgan-Judge T, Peros DS, Abraham IL. School-based rural case management: a model to prevent and reduce risk. J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2002; 14(7):291-6.

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