Durrant Pate/Contributor

Social case management in Jamaica is going through a radical transformation resulting in the delivery of social assistance going through at a much faster rate than in previous years.

This is being done through a new partnership between the Government of Jamaica and the World Bank aimed at transforming the delivery of case management for social assistance and creating a brighter future for the society’s most vulnerable. Central to this transformation is the roll-out of the Case Management Information System (CMIS), designed to revolutionize how social workers deliver aid to families in need. 

This innovation enables social to provide more efficient, coordinated, and holistic services. After years of relying on paper-based systems that were slow and cumbersome, social workers are now testing out a new digital prototype for their case management work. 

CMIS system in detail

The digital CMIS application, developed through the support of the World Bank’s Rapid Social Response Trust Fund and the Case Compass initiative, social service workers to better manage their caseloads, streamline communication, and free up time spent on administration to focus more on the human side of social work.

This system empowers social workers to capture real-time data so they can pull data of families and individuals in real time and assess their needs and eligibility for benefits and services, ensuring that no family’s needs fall through the cracks. This seamless integration will enable quicker responses and more accurate tracking of families’ progress.

This shift moves case management from typically only a one-time intake model to long-term, client-centered care. As such, social workers can track family progress and ensure continued support through integrated digital case files, reducing errors and enabling timely interventions. 

The system allows real-time capture of broader needs during home visits, such as food security and water access, facilitating coordination of additional services and ensuring families receive ongoing, holistic assistance. Two long-standing social workers in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security shared their enthusiasm for the system’s efficiency. One remarked, “Unlike the old process—using paper, returning to the office, and inputting data on the computer—this system provides immediate results from our clients.”

The CMIS prototype was designed based on best international practices in case management and is based on a human-centred design approach to reduce barriers to delivering case management services for both beneficiaries and social workers. The system builds on the global expertise of the World Bank Case Compass team and their support to strengthen case management processes and case management information systems worldwide. 

The CMIS is designed as an interoperable system with MLSS’s planned Social Protection Information System and other information systems in Jamaica. The CMIS design, informed by detailed beneficiary and social worker interviews and testing, allows social workers to respond with empathy and precision.