Making an Impact: Boundaries Help Establish Better Relationship
In the Making an Impact series, clients and services are featured to expand awareness of the wide array of help available at JFS and to ensure donors understand the lives they touch and the difference they make throughout the community.
Lauren is a 46-year-old woman who is on the CADI waiver. She reached out to her JFS case manager because she was upset that she was not receiving SNAP benefits through Ramsey County. She had received them in the past but at some point, they stopped because the annual application was not completed. Lauren said she cannot fill out the application and gather the needed information. She also reported she had a change in her household and did not communicate it to Ramsey County.
Lauren told the case manager that her previous case manager had always done this for her each year, and she wanted her new case manager to do the same. Case managers complete many forms and applications but filling out SNAP applications and gathering the required documentation is not normally done. It would be impossible to do it for everyone we serve. She was informed that the case manager could put a service in place for her so she could receive help with her SNAP application and the needed documentation. She was hesitant to accept new services, but eventually agreed.
Many agencies have waitlists for support staff, but the case manager was able to make a referral an agency that bills through insurance and not through the waiver to help bridge the gaps in healthcare, the hands-on help she needed to submit her SNAP application for review.
Not long after this occurred Lauren called the case manager to tell her that she would soon undergo major surgery. They were able to work through the questions she had and make a plan to ensure her health and safety needs would be met when she returned home. Since the SNAP benefits interaction, the case manager has noticed that Lauren calls more often and brings things to her attention that she had not before, crucial for getting her the help she needs.
By setting boundaries with Lauren and following through with the referral, trust was created and an overall better working relationship is now in place.