Case management overview#

This guide is for implementers configuring case management in OpenSPP. You should understand your program's case workflow requirements but don't need programming knowledge.

Mental model#

Case management in OpenSPP has four layers:

Layer

What it does

Example

Case type

Categorizes the intervention domain

"Child Protection", "Disability Assessment"

Stage

Tracks where a case is in its lifecycle

"Intake", "Assessment", "Intervention", "Closed"

Team

Assigns case workers and manages capacity

"Region 4 Protection Team"

Assessment

Records risk factors and vulnerabilities

"High risk: domestic violence, food insecurity"

Think of it like a hospital: case types are medical specialties, stages track the patient journey (triage → diagnosis → treatment → discharge), teams are the ward staff, and assessments are the diagnostic results.

Key concepts#

Case types#

Case types define the program domain for each case. OpenSPP supports these domains:

Domain

Description

Social Protection

General social protection interventions

Child Protection

Child welfare and safety

GBV

Gender-based violence response

Disability

Disability assessment and support

Elderly

Elderly care programs

Livelihoods

Economic empowerment and skills

Agriculture

Agricultural extension and support

Health

Health interventions

Education

Education support programs

Other

Custom or cross-cutting domains

Each case type also defines:

Field

What it means

Code

Unique identifier (e.g., "CP" for Child Protection)

Default Intensity

Initial intensity level (1-3)

Recommended Caseload

Suggested cases per worker

Maximum Caseload

Hard limit per worker

Review Frequency

Days between mandatory reviews

Available Stages

Which stages apply to this type

Intensity levels#

Cases have three intensity levels that affect workload calculation:

Level

Meaning

Typical workload impact

1 - Low

Monitoring only, minimal intervention

Low effort

2 - Medium

Active intervention with regular contact

Moderate effort

3 - High

Intensive support, frequent contact

High effort

Common use cases#

Use case 1: Child protection program#

Goal: Track child welfare cases from referral to resolution.

Setup:

  1. Create a "Child Protection" case type with domain = Child Protection

  2. Set review frequency to 14 days (biweekly check-ins)

  3. Configure stages: Referral → Intake → Assessment → Case Plan → Intervention → Monitoring → Closure

  4. Create risk factors: Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation, Abandonment

  5. Set recommended caseload to 25 per worker

Use case 2: Disability assessment#

Goal: Process disability assessments for benefit eligibility.

Setup:

  1. Create a "Disability Assessment" case type with domain = Disability

  2. Set review frequency to 30 days

  3. Configure stages: Application → Medical Review → Assessment → Decision → Closed

  4. Require assessment at the "Medical Review" stage

  5. Require approval at the "Decision" stage

Are You Stuck?#

Where do I configure case management?

Go to Cases > Configuration. You'll find Case Types, Stages, Teams, Risk Factors, Vulnerabilities, and Closure Reasons.

Case types vs. program types - what's the difference?

Case types track individual interventions (one case = one person). Programs track collective benefits (one program = many beneficiaries). A case can be linked to a program, but they serve different purposes.

Can one person have multiple open cases?

Yes. A registrant can have cases of different types open simultaneously (e.g., both a Child Protection case and a Health case).

How do I link cases to programs?

Ask your administrator to install the Case Programs module to enable program linkage on cases. This adds program and entitlement tracking to case records.

Caseload limit exceeded - what happens?

The system warns when a worker exceeds their recommended caseload. The maximum caseload is a hard limit that prevents new case assignments.

Next steps#