Newsletter: Resources for Israel/Gaza Casework
No matter how many times casework teams handle crisis situations, they are uniquely difficult every time. Our support goes out to everyone working to help constituents in Israel and Gaza, especially those with personal ties to the conflict.
Today, we’ll round up a few resources you may have missed for handling casework abroad, serving constituent needs at home, and taking care of yourselves through a difficult period of casework. Here’s what’s below:
Basics for helping constituents in overseas crises (with some tips on this particular crisis)
Resources for handling threats to houses of worship locally
Examples of Congressional office responses and constituent-facing materials
Support resources for caseworkers and other front-line staff
We also wanted to let you know that in light of the current developments and the workload for caseworkers, we are going to postpone Friday’s webinar on Administrative Burden: Diagnosing Casework Problems. Stay tuned for the reschedule!
Hang in there, and let us know what else we can do: anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
Handling Casework for Overseas Crisis
Our casework manual chapter on handling casework for constituents in overseas crises is available here. This chapter describes the legal responsibilities of the Secretary of State, common asks and appropriate roles for casework teams, and tips on screening, triage, and more.
A few tips to keep in mind for Israel-specific casework:
Stay up to date with casework-specific resources
House: while the main House Teams chat for handling the Israel crisis is at capacity, we strongly encourage House offices to subscribe to the view-only Israel crisis discussion list here for updates, including the schedule for State Department briefings.
Senate: you should still be able to join the Senate version. CRS is also updating a rapid-response guide.Have your constituents complete the State Department’s CACMS crisis intake form for updates and evacuation support, but only one time
If you’ve ever had to merge duplicate cases in your office’s casework software, you know it can be confusing and time-consuming to sort out duplicates—same goes for the State Department. Encouraging your constituents to submit once will help make all processing go faster.Prepare constituents looking into US-chartered exit flights that they will need to sign an evacuation manifest and promissory note.
Be cautious with direct referrals to outside aid groups offering support, but know that they’re active and an option for constituents.
Some options include Save Our Allies, Project Dynamo, and more.AnalystArmy is updating with information on local conditions, resources, and exit routes.
We know this situation is changing rapidly, so please flag any questions or anything you think would be helpful to send to this list later this week: anne@popvox.org.
Security Resources for Houses of Worship
Unfortunately, many houses of worship are seeing a dramatic increase in threats of violence. DHS and CISA offer support resources and programs for risk assessment, threat mitigation, and response.
A full roundup of resources from DHS is available here, and a printable overview is here. We’ll note in particular:
Six-step guide to promoting safety
infographic on enhancing perimeter security (low and no-cost options included)
prevention resource finder including grant opportunities, trainings, and more
self-assessment guide (paper and online) for houses of worship.
Sample Resources from Congressional Offices
We are so impressed by the many, many offices who have stepped up with timely resource guides, tweets, and more. Here’s a very non-comprehensive roundup:
Take Care of Yourselves
SENATE CASEWORKERS: TODAY, Oct 17th, 3pm ET: Senate EAP is offering a caseworker forum on handling Israel-related casework. Ping Senate EAP for details (or email us and we’ll connect you).
Remember that the EAP teams on both the House and the Senate side are available for individual 1:1 support, team-based support, and regular events. Their offerings change constantly, so if you’ve never reached out before or haven’t done so in a while, it’s worth checking in.
We also hosted a webinar with the Schwartz Center for Compassion in Healthcare on strategies for addressing burnout and fatigue. One key takeaway: a simple “red/yellow/green light” check in with your caseworkers daily or weekly to keep an eye on burnout symptoms and address them early.
While the midst of a crisis may not be the right time to think about process changes, it’s worth keeping an eye out for things to work on in the future:
Consider limited cross-training so that multiple members of your team are available to pitch in to handle issue-specific casework surges.
Think about setting policies in place to offer caseworkers who have recently handled surges paid time off to recover and seek support.
For casework managers in particular, modeling a healthy approach to casework for your team is critical: yes, casework crises demand round-the-clock work, but setting reasonable boundaries, talking openly about mental health, and encouraging your team to seek assistance when needed (including preventive care!) are all vital parts of creating a strong, sustainable casework team.
Upcoming Events
Administrative Burden: Diagnosing Casework Problems
POSTPONED: was October 20, 2023 at 1pm EDT (webinar)
featuring Donald Moynihan, McCourt Chair, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, and special guest Rep. Derek Kilmer [D, WA]
“Administrative burden” describes the obstacles constituents face in accessing benefits that do not reflect their legal eligibility—it also happens to describe a significant proportion of reasons constituents seek casework help from their Members of Congress.
Don Moynihan, McCourt Chair at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, has pioneered the study of administrative burden, including new language and frameworks to understand the types of costs associated with navigating complex bureaucracies. Caseworkers will come away with a deeper understanding of the root problems behind common casework inquiries, and ideas for tracking types of casework and articulating casework challenges to policy staff.
Cumulative Impact: How Programs Work Together
November 13, 2023 at 1pm EST (webinar)
featuring, Max Ghenis, Cofounder and CEO, PolicyEngine
One of the most challenging aspects of casework is when programs and benefits collide: a veteran might have a permanent disability rating with the VA, but need to recertify for SSDI, or a slight change in income that increases one benefit makes another one fall by a larger amount. For individuals, these interactions can be confusing; for the economy and government spending as a whole, they can have huge impacts.
Max Ghenis, CEO and co-founder of PolicyEngine, will delve deeper into this conundrum. PolicyEngine has developed open-source tools that empower anyone to input details about a household and subsequently estimate their taxes and benefits. This provides a clearer understanding of the intricate ways in which various programs interact. During this webinar, Max will discuss the nuances of navigating the complex web of interacting programs, and the experience of building PolicyEngine.
How Do We Fix This? Championing Implementation vs. Policy
November 16, 2023 at 1pm EST (webinar)
featuring Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
Every government program starts with good intentions—it’s how they’re carried out that can make them fail in big ways or in small ways that add up.
Jennifer Pahlka has been at the forefront of the push to reimagine government technology, and her new book, Recoding America, is an argument for seeing policy and implementation as coequal parts of governing—with stories and core concepts that will resonate for every caseworker. While caseworkers are part of the branch in charge of policy, casework experience is all about implementation: how do good policy ideas become complicated and counterproductive as they’re filtered through agencies?
Jennifer has argued that every policymaker should have experience in government customer service positions. This webinar will discuss how caseworkers and other frontline implementation experts can and must leverage that expertise to reimagine government service for the 21st century.
