Closing a Casework Operation
BY ANNE MEEKER
Introduction
When a Congressional seat becomes vacant due to a Member leaving office or passing away, one of the most complex but important elements of a transition is handing off casework.
Casework handoffs can be emotionally difficult, sometimes for both constituents and caseworkers who have invested time and energy into serving them. But it is also the last, best chance to make a great impression in your district, and to make sure that your constituents with unresolved casework have the best possible chance of success with their new Members and team. Even if the transition is not what you and your boss would have chosen, it is the right thing to do.
Ultimately, having a clear plan in place for handling casework transitions will both minimize the work involved in a handoff and help manage expectations for constituents, leading to a smoother process all around.
This guide includes some starting points for offices to develop that plan, including working with your CRM provider to handle the technical decisions. As with the rest of the chapters in the POPVOX Foundation Casework Basics manual, this guide is not intended to be prescriptive of the “one best way” to handle transitions, but to prompt thinking and planning that will make this transition easier for your team and your constituents. As always, we encourage offices to check in with their chamber for up-to-date rules, best practices, and guidance — especially the House CAO’s Transition team, and both chambers’ Office of General Counsel for guidance on wording constituent communications.
Transferring Your Data
The first and most important decision you should encourage your boss to make as early as possible in their term, is whether your team will authorize a data transfer of the constituent information in your CRM should the Congressional seat become vacant.
Your Member is the sole owner of the data in your CRM, including constituent data in casework, and they have sole authority to release or transfer that data to other Congressional offices.
This means that in order for your CRM provider (IQ, Fireside, Indigov, etc.) to transfer cases to their new districts, they must have your Member’s signature on a Data Consent Form submitted to HIR. We strongly recommend that Members authorize transferring all case data in office closures.
The deadline to submit this form is technically at the end of the Congress; however, offices planning to transfer data should return the form no later than mid-November to give the CRMs adequate time to prepare the transfer before the end of the current Congress.
Starting with the 118th Congress, the House is also offering Members the option to explain why they are not transferring information, if applicable. This feedback is very helpful for the Committee on House Administration and CAO in determining future options for casework data handoffs, so we encourage your team to respond!
However, in order for the constituent’s new office to continue to act on their behalf, the constituent must submit a new Privacy Act Release Form for their new Representative’s office. We would also recommend flagging the transition for constituents ahead of a data transfer cut-off, giving constituents the option to have their cases closed instead of transferred (more on this later).
A few other things to know about transfer options:
The incoming office is not obligated to accept a data transfer.
Transfers between CRM providers may lose some elements of data captured (e.g., if your team uses a tag system in IQ that is not supported in another provider).
Some CRM vendors charge for a transfer using the House’s secure shared data system. Check with your vendor early about the cost so that you can factor it into your final budget.
Making a Transition Plan
The three central questions to ask yourself when planning for a casework handoff are:
Your casework team and your office
Every transition, whether planned or unexpected, will involve some element of chaos, but early conversations about priorities, expectations, and resources can help make things as smooth as possible. Remember, this is an emotional period for everyone, including your Member!
Besides the conversation about a data transfer, some important conversations to have with your boss (your Member, Chief, District Director, etc.) and your comms team may include:
Messaging
Does your Member feel that it’s important for their signature to be on any handoff letters? Is there anything that they and your comms team want to emphasize in handoff materials? If your team tracks casework kmetrics, is there anything the office is planning for a final report where they will need help from you on gathering final numbers?
Timing
What date does the office want to stop taking on new casework? What other elements of closing the office will impact the casework team’s ability to finish out cases?
Materials & Support for Your Successor
What is your office’s policy on transition? Beyond the formal data transfer (if you’re authorizing it), is there anything you want to provide to the incoming office? Will your office prohibit any support for the incoming team?
Resources & Staffing
Understanding that as the office gets close to closing, some staff will leave for their next positions, is there anything you should know about planning for timing on closing out cases?
Working backward to create a plan and timeline
There’s a lot to do in just a few months between the transition to a new Congress or during the process of a new Member being selected to fill an unexpectedly vacant seat. But we can break it down into a few distinct phases that will help you get ready: preparation (including case cleaning and closing) this fall through November, handoffs with constituents through December. For example, your sample timeline might look like this:
September [If you know your boss is leaving at the end of the term]
Sit down with your boss to go through some of the questions about priorities and policies as you navigate the transition.
October
Start the process of auditing and cleaning out your casework to close as many cases as you can (more on this later).
Continue taking cases, but have the discussion with new constituents that your team will only be able to work on their case for a short period of time.
November [Everyone]
Make sure your Member submits their Data Transfer Authorization form!
Stop accepting new casework: prepare and circulate form letters and phone talking points to let constituents know that your team will be leaving office at the end of the year, encouraging them to reach out to their elected official in the other chamber for assistance in the meantime (don’t forget give your colleagues in the other chamber a heads up first!).
Consider preparing a form letter to go out to all closed cases informing constituents that your team will be leaving office (even better — have this letter come from your Member).
Continue auditing and closing out cases where possible.
Start reaching out to constituents whose cases will not be closed by the end of the Congress to explain next steps and options.
If your team is preparing a final report including casework metrics, pull any final metrics to show your team’s impact. For your caseworkers seeking their next roles, it can be nice to help them pull metrics on their personal impact as well.
Bonus points, but nice to do: prepare any final Letters of Commendation or thank-you notes for your network of casework referrals (like helpful VSOs, senior center directors, legal aid clinics, etc.).
December
All hands on deck push to get those cases closed!
Make sure that constituents whose cases will not be resolved understand next steps.
Safely dispose of any casework-related materials you may have, including shredding any sensitive documents (anything with constituent PII), recycling materials for office hours, etc.
Coordinate with the rest of your team to handle any electronic devices or other resources you may have for casework — these often need to be turned in before the holidays.
Don’t forget to have your team submit any outstanding requests for reimbursement!
January 3
You’re out of here! Pat yourself on the back and move on to your next thing with your head held high.
Keep in mind: Many Members resign from office before their term officially ends or, unfortunately, are unable to serve the remainder of their term due to other unexpected events. If you are given any foresight or forewarning, adjust your timeline accordingly.
Preparing Cases for Handoff
Auditing cases to close out
Auditing cases as you prepare for a casework transition serves two purposes:
It will help your team clean out your caseload and close out any cases that can close before the end of the Congress, and
It will help make sure that, if your team is transferring casework, that casework is as clean and well-organized as possible to set the new team up for success.
To make the work less intimidating, consider developing a phased handoff prep plan (e.g., each caseworker with cases to transfer preps X cases per week through Y date when your team plans to start messaging to constituents), or involving some of your team’s interns to help write draft case summaries, copy and paste emails, or relabel documents.
Closing Cases
The Casework Basics guide to closing out cases has a checklist for understanding the right time to close a case — this will work slightly differently in the context of a transition.
In a transition, the most important aspect of whether a case can close is its process status. A case is ready to close if…
The agency has returned a final response, with no additional appeal rights or avenues to contest the decision.
The case has reached a stage where additional action must come from the constituent.
The case has reached a stage where a Congressional office is no longer the most appropriate resource for the constituent.
While it can sometimes be easy to hang on to these cases while waiting for the constituent to take action or hoping for inspiration on another action, the transition forces the issue: it’s time to reach out to the constituent to let them know that your office is closing and you will close out their case as well.
Developing a case closed phone script or checklist should involve the following elements for transition-related case closure:
A clear explanation that the office is closing and will be unavailable for further assistance. It may help to lead the letter with this information to ensure that it is understood, and serves as the context for why the constituent’s case is closing out.
A clear record of the steps the office took on the constituent’s behalf: this is more important than ever in a transition when the constituent may want to reach out to the incoming office to try again. Having a clear record they can show the incoming office is helpful.
Referrals to any relevant community resources they can consult if needed: similarly, in a casework transition, it is more important than ever to make sure that the constituent understands where else they can turn for assistance in the future if needed — this may include local resources like legal aid clinics, food pantries, etc.
As to be expected when closing out casework, most constituents will understand, but some will undoubtedly be anxious or upset. It may be helpful to provide a phone script for your intern team or other staff answering the phones to help explain and reiterate how your office is handling the transition.
Transfer casework checklist
While it is definitely ideal to close out as many cases as possible, some cases may not be resolvable before the end of your Member’s term. If your team is planning to transfer cases to the incoming office, consider using this audit as an opportunity to clean up cases to make sure that the incoming team has all of the information they need. A sample checklist might include:
Does this case have…
Updated constituent contact information
A clear goal statement or case summary
Clear notes on the next expected action and deadline
Clear tags for which agency and program(s) are involved
Copies of all correspondence
Contact information for all agency contacts involved
Any additional background information on the constituent’s circumstances or communication preferences that may be helpful for a new caseworker
Have I made sure to…
Check that all documents for the case are clearly named and dated
Clarify any notes that may be confusing or taken out of context — especially notes taken from phone calls with the constituent and agency involved
Where possible, taken the next step needed in the case to buy some time in the transition
Flagged for the agency involved that the case will be transferred to a new office
Best practices for talking to constituents about case transitions
For constituents not following the news closely, hearing that your boss is leaving office may come as a surprise. The first step is notifying your constituents that the office is closing, and being ready to explain what comes next. This will depend on how your office has decided to approach a transfer, and their case status.
Understanding that this may be worrying for some constituents, a personal phone call may be very welcome; we also recommend following up with an email or letter with additional information for the constituent so that they have instructions in writing as well (we have a quick guide to using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with first drafts of these emails!).
Some constituents may ask for a contact in the incoming office — obviously, depending on the circumstances of the transition, this may be difficult to obtain. If possible, it can be helpful to reach out to the designated staffer for the incoming Member to see if they are comfortable with that information being shared; if not, you can explain to constituents how best to contact the new office after January 3.
In particular, your team may want to take special care with constituents under difficult circumstances, or with particularly unusual casework. These may include:
Cases where the constituent has experienced significant trauma
Urgent or expedited cases
Cases where the Member or caseworker has special expertise (for example, caseworkers handling casework related to the Afghanistan withdrawal)
For these sensitive cases, it may be helpful to explore whether your counterpart office in the other chamber would be able to take the case on directly to ensure that the constituent does not experience a gap in service and has the best chance of working with an experienced caseworker right away. Communicating with the other office early to see if they have bandwidth and are willing to take on the case is vital here.
Messaging the Transition
Lastly, while the most important part of communicating the transition is directly with constituents with open casework, you can reinforce that message and ensure that constituents know where to turn for help with some tactical messaging in your district or state.
Reach out to closed cases
As most caseworkers have seen firsthand many times, casework spreads in districts through word-of-mouth and personal networks — including stray business cards passed on in unlikely places. While there is no way to completely ensure that you’ve reached everyone who may have your contact information, it can be helpful to consider drafting a quick heads-up email to constituents whose cases you have previously closed to let them know that your team is leaving office. Discuss with your comms team: this may already be covered in a planned end-of-term blast email; if not, work with your CRM provider to build a list of closed cases.
Give local/agency contacts a heads up (and thanks!)
Most of your stakeholders should have a good sense that your team is leaving, but it is still good practice to reach out to anyone who may refer cases to you to make sure that they know your team will be leaving. This is also a great opportunity to say thank you to the standout local resources and agency staff who have helped your work — consider batching some thank-you notes or certificates of commendation from the Member where appropriate:
State and local elected officials
Federal agency casework staff
Veterans Service Officers
Senior centers or Councils on Aging
Local health clinics
Immigrant support agencies
Police departments
Homeless shelters
Church programs
Charitable organizations
Low-income tax clinics
Social media PSAs
Finally, your comms team likely has a plan in place to wrap up their efforts and do any final messaging about the Member’s impact. Talk to them early to make sure they can work in some PSAs about the change in casework services, reiterating the information that you have provided 1:1 to constituents with active and closed cases.
A Quick Note to Say Thanks
As we said earlier, we know that, like any big life transition, let alone the result of an election, this is an emotional time. You’re figuring out your own career path while also continuing to do great casework and get your cases prepared for leaving office, which is its own additional challenge.
In the midst of all of this, we wanted to take a second to say thank you for your work.
We know firsthand that it can be hard to explain the challenging nature of your role – bridging the gap between government and citizens, Executive and Legislative branches, DC and home — and that bridging role means that your work often flies under both radars. You translate policy into real-world impact, directly touching the lives of countless Americans.
Whether helping a veteran access benefits, guiding a family through immigration processes, or assisting small businesses navigate federal programs (or honestly, even just having a conversation with someone who was lonely and wanted to be heard), your expertise and dedication make a profound difference.
We hope that, as you get ready for handoff, you take a moment to look back at the great work you’ve been able to accomplish. Win or lose, you were there for people when they needed you, and your work will have ripple effects that last well beyond your time in this office.
Hang in there, and we are in your corner cheering no matter what comes next.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
