View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Case Assignment Principles for Achieving Worker Well-Being, Organizational Justice, and Casework Quality.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Case Assignment Principles for Achieving Worker Well-Being, Organizational Justice, and Casework Quality.
Authors: Steen, Julie A, Stewart, Chris
Source: Social Work. Jul2026, Vol. 71 Issue 3, p221-228. 8p.
Subjects: Child welfare, Supervision of employees, Social workers, Personnel management, Qualitative research, Research funding, Medical case management, Content analysis, Psychological well-being, Right to work (Human rights), Human rights, Research methodology, Data analysis software, Employees' workload
Abstract: This qualitative descriptive study was designed to identify case assignment principles and capture the ways supervisors and case managers experience these principles. A total of 59 supervisors and 127 case managers from the child welfare field responded to two open-ended survey questions about the case assignment principles used in their agencies. The first aim was to provide a description of case assignment principles. Coding of responses revealed eight principles that guided case assignment. These eight principles include rotation, equalization of caseload, equalization of the number of families/children served, equalization of caseload complexity, matching to case manager competence, matching to case manager interest/convenience, respecting case manager safety, and supervisor discretion. The second aim was to provide a description of experiences with these varied case assignment principles. Authors identified three themes of fairness/organizational justice, worker well-being, and casework quality. The results outline the varied ways in which case assignment is conducted and point to the difficulties in simultaneously achieving the three goals of fairness, worker well-being, and casework quality through a single case assignment method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Social Work is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 194970789
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Case Assignment Principles for Achieving Worker Well-Being, Organizational Justice, and Casework Quality.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Steen%2C+Julie+A%22">Steen, Julie A</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stewart%2C+Chris%22">Stewart, Chris</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Social+Work%22">Social Work</searchLink>. Jul2026, Vol. 71 Issue 3, p221-228. 8p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+welfare%22">Child welfare</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Supervision+of+employees%22">Supervision of employees</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+workers%22">Social workers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Personnel+management%22">Personnel management</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Qualitative+research%22">Qualitative research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+case+management%22">Medical case management</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Content+analysis%22">Content analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+well-being%22">Psychological well-being</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Right+to+work+%28Human+rights%29%22">Right to work (Human rights)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+rights%22">Human rights</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+methodology%22">Research methodology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Employees'+workload%22">Employees' workload</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This qualitative descriptive study was designed to identify case assignment principles and capture the ways supervisors and case managers experience these principles. A total of 59 supervisors and 127 case managers from the child welfare field responded to two open-ended survey questions about the case assignment principles used in their agencies. The first aim was to provide a description of case assignment principles. Coding of responses revealed eight principles that guided case assignment. These eight principles include rotation, equalization of caseload, equalization of the number of families/children served, equalization of caseload complexity, matching to case manager competence, matching to case manager interest/convenience, respecting case manager safety, and supervisor discretion. The second aim was to provide a description of experiences with these varied case assignment principles. Authors identified three themes of fairness/organizational justice, worker well-being, and casework quality. The results outline the varied ways in which case assignment is conducted and point to the difficulties in simultaneously achieving the three goals of fairness, worker well-being, and casework quality through a single case assignment method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Social Work is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=194970789
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1093/sw/swag022
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 8
        StartPage: 221
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Child welfare
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Supervision of employees
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social workers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Personnel management
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Qualitative research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical case management
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Content analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychological well-being
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Right to work (Human rights)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human rights
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Employees' workload
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Case Assignment Principles for Achieving Worker Well-Being, Organizational Justice, and Casework Quality.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Steen, Julie A
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Stewart, Chris
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: Jul2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 00378046
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 71
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Social Work
              Type: main
ResultId 1