A PMSS Case Study

The easiest way to introduce how Wholistic Care can help young adults through providing PMSS support is via a little example, so let’s talk about a hypothetical Wholistic Care Client named Josh…

Josh, a twenty-year-old, is currently in college and lives off-reserve on his own. He was in care for four years during his childhood, so is eligible for PMSS support under ISC’s criteria and has expressed an interest in signing up for Wholistic Care’s PMSS program after hearing about it from OCFS.

After being told of Josh’s interest in PMSS, the Case Manager called Josh and provided a brief description of what PMSS is – stressing that it is free to sign up and is completely voluntary – and asked if Josh would like to meet to discuss it more and see how Wholistic Care can help him.

In the first meeting between Josh and the Case Manager, the Case Manager explained in more detail what PMSS is and that Wholistic Care can provide him with support that’s tailored to his evolving needs for the next six years (until he turns 26).

The Case Manager explained again that signing up is (of course) free and is completely voluntary (Josh can end his involvement with Wholistic Care anytime). But the Case Manager explained that Wholistic Care can help the transition to adulthood a bit easier for Josh through providing financial support and can also help him build a stronger communal and cultural connection through the help of Wholistic Care’s Cultural Coordinator.

Josh was excited about the prospect of receiving support of any kind (something that he’s lacked up until now) and wanted to sign up. So, the Case Manager reviewed the Wholistic Care Contract and the Wholistic Care Enrolment Consent Form with him. These two documents lay out the terms of Wholistic Care’s PMSS program and the rules that Josh must adhere to (e.g., attending meetings with the Case Manager when asked, being respectful of the Case Manager, etc.).

After these documents were signed by both Josh and the Case Manager, the Case Manger worked through the Orientation Materials with Josh (these include the Monthly Budget Planner, Life Skills Survey, and Goals Worksheet). These Orientation Materials allowed the Case Manager to better understand Josh’s current life situation, his current skillset and what he wants to improve on, and the goals or aspirations that he’s working toward (or needs help getting started on).

After the meeting ended, the Case Manager privately reviewed the Orientation Materials that Josh completed and created a Service Delivery Plan. This Service Delivery Plan is the Case Manager’s view on what Josh’s primary goals are and how Wholistic Care can help Josh reach them (subject to the limitations of ISC’s PMSS system).

For example, in Josh’s situation the Case Manager determined that there’s not too much direct support that Josh needs. He has a part-time job and is doing well in college, so the Case Manager doesn’t want to be too hands on and cause him to become less independent (since the aim of the PMSS system is to ensure that young adults are self-sufficient by the time they turn 26). However, the Case Manager did notice that Josh is having trouble making ends meet each month and that this has caused Josh quite a bit of stress and has interfered with his schoolwork.

So, the Case Manager decided that if Josh keeps his part-time job and continues to be enrolled in college then Wholistic Care will provide him with $1,500 per month in financial support to offset his rent and grocery expenses (all receipts must be kept by Josh so that Wholistic Care knows the financial support is going toward recent and grocery expenses).

This would be a large stress reliever for Josh. But because the financial support is conditioned on Josh still having a part-time job and being enrolled in college this ensures that Josh doesn’t become too reliant on Wholistic Care for financial support (as by the time he turns 26 there will be no financial support from any federal funding program for him – so the aim of Wholistic Care was to provide support to make Josh’s life easier on the pathway toward self-sufficiency, not to make Josh reliant on outside funding support that will not last forever).

To document both the level of financial support that Josh will receive and the obligations that he must adhere to in order to receive it, the Case Manager completed the Conditions on Financial Support Form which will be reviewed and signed by Josh in a future meeting to acknowledge that he agrees to follow the obligations that come attached to the financial support and understands that a failure to do so could result in the financail support being removed.

Another thing that the Case Manager noticed is that in Josh’s completed Life Skills Survey he identified that he would like to spend more time participating in cultural and communal activities but wasn’t sure how and was worried about the travel costs involved. So, the Case Manager decided that an offer would be made to Josh that for every cultural and/or communal event he attends he will receive a $100 stipend to cover transportation and food costs. Additionally, the Case Manager decided to set up a meeting between Josh and Wholistic Care’s Cultural Coordinator to see if there were other ways that Josh could get more involved in communal and/or cultural activities.

After the Service Delivery Plan and the Conditions of Financial Support Form were completed by the Case Manager, the Case Manager then set up a follow-up meeting to discuss these with Josh. The Case Manager described how Wholistic Care plans to support Josh moving forward, and asked Josh to sign the Conditions of Financial Support Form to indicate that he understands the obligations that he will have to adhere to in order to receive ongoing financial support from Wholistic Care.

However, in this meeting the Case Manager made it clear to Josh that if any additional issues arise (e.g., trouble with his landlord, difficulties in college, a sudden academic expense that he can’t afford, the need for dental services that he doesn't have insurance for, etc.) then he should reach out and see how Wholistic Care can help. But the Case Manager also stressed that Wholistic Care is bound by the rules of ISC’s PMSS system, so there are some things that Wholistic Care can’t help Josh with and that the role of a Case Manager is to be a mentor or counsellor not a personal assistant (so Josh needs to handle small issues on his own, as the purpose of the PMSS system is to ensure that he's self-sufficient and independent by 26) .

Moving forward, because Josh is already quite independent, he doesn’t reach out to the Case Manager for help much – which is fine, as he doesn’t need to reach out so long as he is doing well and making progress on the goals within the Service Delivery Plan and that he identified in the Goals Worksheet.

However, the Case Manager still reaches out to Josh about once a week to check-in and see how he is doing. And one of the obligations of receiving ongoing financial support from Wholistic Care was that Josh needs to respond whenever the Case Manager reaches out within 48 hours.

Further, once every three months Josh was required to have a face-to-face meeting with the Case Manager to discuss the progress (or lack thereof) he's made toward his long-term goals. This meeting was required because the Case Manager needs to understand if the support being provided to Josh should be changed to better suit his needs. Further, Wholistic Care is required to produce reports for ISC detailing how each Client is progressing both toward their long-term goals and self-sufficiency (a failure to do so could lead to Wholistic Care no longer being able to support a Client, as ISC will not reimburse Wholistic Care for the expenses incurred to provide support if they're not properly documented and reported).

In the end, the aim of PMSS is to help young adults identify their goals and help them reach them while appreciating the fact that funding will not be available for them beyond the age of 26. Therefore, the role of a Case Manager is to encourage independence and help the Client progress toward their goals through providing support that’s in their best long-term interests.

For Josh, like many other Clients that will utilize PMSS support, there won’t be much hand-holding involved. Instead, there may be a week or more between when they talk with a Case Manager. However, Clients can always reach out to the Case Manager for help and even if the Case Manager can’t directly help, the Case Manager can see if someone else can.

In other words, just because a Case Manager may give a Client some space to encourage their independence that doesn’t mean that a Client should every be concerned about reaching out if they need help. For example, if Josh is struggling with a certain class in college, then Wholistic Care can cover the cost of a tutor to help Josh excel.

Ultimately, the role of a Case Manager is often that of a reliable, trusted resource for Clients who understands their challenges and can connect them to resources that can help them thrive – which is why a Case Manager can make such a large impact on the lives of Clients, and why Case Managers find working with Clients to be so rewarding.