Personal Management for Recruiters
Principles of Caseload Management
Goal
The recruiter will know how to use migrant student data to help organize and manage their caseload of migrant families and youth.
Objectives
After completing this section, the participant will be able to:
- Describe the basic principles of caseload management,
- Apply the principles of caseload management to the recruiter’s roles and responsibilities, and
- Identify common data reports that provide information that can assist in recruitment.
Review of Recruiter Tasks
- Determine where migrant families live and work;
- Locate potentially MEP eligible children;
- Interview migrant families and make preliminary child eligibility determinations;
- Gather and analyze information concerning eligibility from parents, guardians & self-eligible youth;
- Clarify such information with additional sources when necessary;
- Accurately and completely complete a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) if there are eligible children;
- Collect data required to enroll eligible children in the Migrant Student Information Database;
- Follow all necessary MEP quality control procedures;
- Maintain auditable records: current, complete and correct;
- Develop a personal safety and emergency plan;
- Communicate and interface with different groups;
- Establish a recruitment network;
- Establish inter-agency/intra-agency communication; and
- Report back to a supervisor.
Caseload Management
Post “Caseload Management” PowerPoint slide 3-4
Recruiter tasks associated with planning
- Determine where migrant families live and work;
- Establish a recruitment network; and
- Establish inter agency/intra agency communication.
Post “Caseload Management” PowerPoint slide 5
Points to be noted:
- A recruiter’s most important role is to ensure that all eligible migrant children receive MEP services.
- Time is a critical component associated with this role.
- Migrant families depend on the cycles of nature for their work and only remain in the area for as long as there is work.
- Recruiters must work quickly to identify and recruit eligible children if the children are to receive services while they are in the area.
- With every lost opportunity, it becomes more challenging for a migrant child to integrate into the larger community and overcome the special challenges posed by their migratory lifestyle.
- A recruiter must look at time management not only in the context of how long it takes to do each job, but the importance of providing services to migrant families and youth in a timely manner.
Planning ahead and prioritizing tasks are excellent strategies for time management.
Post “Caseload Management” PowerPoint slide 6
Points to be noted:
- In their lists of tasks, recruiters also have a number of quality control tasks.
- Quality control tasks are required to ensure that the other tasks are completed completely and accurately.
- There are a number of quality control tasks for which recruiters need to schedule an appropriate amount of time.
- Reviewing a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to ensure that it is accurate and complete is an example of a quality control task.
- Re-interviewing is an example of a quality control task.
- Learning the eligibility requirements, procedures, processes, including local and state processes is an example of a quality control task.
Common Data Reports
There are several common data reports that provide information that can assist recruiters in more effectively and efficiently managing their caseloads. These reports include:
- Monthly reports, which provide a snapshot of current progress in recruiting eligible migrant children;
- Annual reports, which provide a snapshot of progress over a floating period of time;
- Year-to-date reports, which provide a snapshot of progress over an exact period of time;
- State demographic reports, which provide a snapshot of the area where families are coming from;
- Transcripts from a student’s previous school, which help coordinate with secondary credit and accrual program, including Portable Assisted Study Sequence (PASS) programs and other credit makeup programs;
- Recruiter’s logs, which inform the supervisor of a recruiter’s monthly activities; and
- Withdrawal reports, which record the date a child leaves school and moves on to the next destination.
Strategies for improving caseload management skills
- Monitor progress and regularly reassess your caseload;
- Periodically go back and see if you are actually spending the time you need on the tasks that you need to perform;
- Review data reports that provide information about whether or not some tasks should be modified;
- Take a look at your schedule to make sure you are accomplishing the highest priority tasks first and in a timely manner.
How to Recruit Safely
Goal
The recruiter will know how to take precautions to ensure personal safety in the performance of his/her work and know how to develop a plan that can be implemented during an emergency.
Objectives
After completing this section, the participant will be able to:
- Identify potential unsafe conditions that could arise on the job, depending on the local areas and conditions;
- Describe strategies for responding to unsafe conditions;
- Develop a personal safety plan for ensuring personal safety and security on the job;
- Identify potential emergency situations that could occur on the job;
- Recommend actions for responding to potential emergencies;
- Identify the purpose and elements of an emergency plan; and
- Develop an emergency plan that incorporates actions to take to prepare for, and respond to, an emergency.
Examples of unsafe situations on the job as a recruiter include:
• Driving down a country road after dark;
• Encountering threatening dogs;
• Being a female in a male farm shop; and
• Getting lost trying to locate a family.
Preventing Unsafe Situations
*The best response to an unsafe situation is preventing it from happening in the first place.
Post workbook page 11
Safety Case Studies
Case study #1:
Blanca Rodriguez is a new regional recruiter based in Virginia. Blanca’s supervisor tells her that migrant
families are beginning to move into the Gorda Flatts labor camp. Later that day, Blanca drives out to the
camp alone. When she enters Gorda Flatts she sees only men.
• What should Blanca do?
– She should turn around and leave.
• How could this have been prevented?
– She could have talked to her coworkers or the farmer who owns that labor camp or the local agencies and
found out this was an all-male camp or she could have brought a male colleague with her. She also could have asked the family to meet her in a different area.
Case study #2:
Natasha Chevelle was recently hired as a temporary recruiter located in Washington. Natasha is eager to do a good job to impress her supervisor. After a long day of interviewing families, she decides to do one last interview. It is late in the day and the weather is cold, windy, and raining. After Natasha completes her last interview, she slips and falls, bumping the back of her head and shoulders on her way back to her car. While driving home, Natasha begins to experience some discomfort in her upper back and neck. When she arrives home she doesn’t tell anyone about the incident. She takes a couple of aspirin and goes to bed. The following morning, she goes back to work and doesn’t mention the accident anyone because she is embarrassed and does not think she can afford a doctor’s visit.
• What should Natasha do?
– Tell her supervisor.
– Go to the doctor.
• How could this have been prevented?
– She should have been aware of the weather and her surrounding conditions. She should have been aware of her energy level. Natasha should not have pushed to do that last interview which made her so tired.
Case study #3:
It is October and Joe Lopez, a recruiter, is driving to Willmar, Minnesota to visit a migrant family with
potentially eligible children that moved into the area early to look for work at the turkey processing plant.
The weather is getting cold and Joe’s car is starting to make weird sounds.
• What should Joe Lopez do?
– Use his cell phone to call the migrant family and let them know that the weather is getting worse and his car is breaking down. He should reschedule for another time. He should be prepared to contact AAA or a coworker, responsible friend or family member for help in the case his car breaks down before reaching home or a gas station.
• How could this have been prevented?
– The recruiter could have kept his car in good condition
– The recruiter could have checked the day’s weather report and rescheduled the interview if bad weather was forecasted.
Case study #4:
Alison Jones is a recruiter for the Jonestown school district. After lunch, she has several appointments
scheduled with migrant families in the Easton Port Labor Camp. She gathers her documents and heads
toward the camp in her car. As she arrives to the camp, a pack of dogs circles her car and chases her down
the road. The dogs continue barking as Alison turns off her car. Alison sees no one else at the camp.
• What should Alison do?
– When dogs are in packs, they are more dangerous. They might be rabid or aggressive. She should turn the car around and leave.
• How could this have been prevented?
– She could have asked colleagues about the labor camp.
– She could have asked the family if there were any animals in an area.
Creating a Personal Safety Plan
To create a plan you need to do the following:
- Identify unsafe situations you are likely to encounter on the job.
- Determine strategies for preventing or responding to these unsafe situations.
- List objects you should keep with you in order to be prepared for responding to an unsafe situation.
Post workbook page 13
Responding to Emergency Situations
Post “Emergency Preparedness” PowerPoint slide 5
Examples of possible emergencies include;
- A fire in a home where they are interviewing the family,
- Any extreme weather condition,
- A toxic spill or chemical exposure
- A factory or farm equipment accident.
Examples of how to respond in an emergency include;
- Call 911,
- Find an escape route,
- Use a fire extinguisher,
- Ask for help.
*Most, if not all, of these responses require some planning ahead of time. For example, even if your response is to call 911, it means that you have a reliable way to make phone call and to know that 911 will reach emergency services in your area.
Emergency Preparedness
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) has good information on preparing for and responding to emergencies. This information can be found on their Websites: www.fema.gov and www.ready.gov.
FEMA has a four-step plan for emergency preparedness:
– Get informed,
– Make a plan,
– Assemble kits, and
– Maintain a plan and kit.
We will first learn about getting informed.
Get Informed
Post “Get Informed” Video
Points to be noted:
- There may not be a local FEMA office in your area, but there are other ways to get informed about possible emergency threats in your area.
- Recruiters should be familiar with any local community and school emergency and disaster plans.
- A useful way to start the process of getting informed is to take the time to reflect on conditions in your local area and assess the associated risk levels.
- You should do additional research on those hazards or possible emergency situations that you rate as either medium or high risk for your area.
Make a Plan
Post “Emergency Preparedness” PowerPoint slide 6
Post “Make a Plan” Video
Elements that should be in a recruiter’s emergency plan include:
- Key contact information,
- Methods for reporting an emergency,
- Procedures for storing and protecting important documents,
- Escape procedures and routes,
- Methods for staying informed during an emergency,
- Procedures of accounting of people after an evacuation or disaster, and
- List of supplies needed to live without gas, electricity, phone and sewage for at least 72 hours.
Post workbook page 17 – 20
Assemble Kits
Post “Disaster Supplies Kit” Video
Types of things should be in a recruiter’s disaster supplies kit should include:
• Fire extinguisher,
• Fully-charged cell phone,
• Flashlight and batteries,
• Water,
• Matches in waterproof bags, and
• First aid kit.
The following are sample materials for different kinds of kits.
Post workbook page 21-22
Points to be noted:
- Cell phone: keep it charged, keep the bill paid, and always keep it with you so you can call for help.
- Map: always know where you are going and have a backup plan if you get lost.
- Glasses: always be observant of your surroundings.
- Lightning bolt: always check the weather before getting in your car, visiting a new location, or driving on unfamiliar roads, and be aware of approaching storms.
- Water bottle: drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration.
- Car: always keep your car in good condition and filled with gas to prevent breakdowns on unfamiliar roads.
Maintain a Plan and Kit
Post “Emergency Preparedness” PowerPoint slide 7
Review
- The purpose of an emergency plan is to document the essential procedures, resources and information needed to prepare for, respond to and recover from an emergency.
- Your plan should address those hazards and emergencies identified as medium or high risks for the local areas.
- You should determine all the elements that should be part of the plan.
- Determine key information that needs to be gathered and documented in the plan.
- Identify the types of procedures that need to be created and documented in the plan.
- Identify those items that should be gathered and maintained in a disaster supplies kit and create a checklist.
- Once you have developed your plan, you need to practice and maintain it.