Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation into daily casework in case management systems

Even though Monitoring and Evaluation or MEAL might sound like a task that is separate from the case management daily operations, more related to donors’ requirements or reporting, it is in fact an integrated process, organically connected to case management. When you track the progress of your cases, identifying gaps and supporting the rights holders, you are already performing Monitoring and Evaluation.

Whether you're working in protection, health, livelihoods, or social services, your case management system can help you monitor service delivery, evaluate outcomes, and adapt your program based on evidence.

The role of M&E in case management and daily casework

At the case level, Monitoring and Evaluation starts when you collect, organize, analyze and use data related to the following questions, that help you improve your work:

• What services did the client receive?
• Were they timely and appropriate?
• What changed after the support was provided?
• How many clients are reaching positive outcomes?

When you integrate M&E in your daily workflow you can improve various aspects of your case management processes. First of all, you intentionally check and ensure that there is no data duplication. Reporting becomes easier as you implement a standard system that helps you track what you need. As a result, you get better visibility to the outcomes of your work over time and because you can identify what works and what doesn’t work, you end up with a stronger process supporting referrals and follow-ups.

Examples of M&E embedded in a case management system:

Key steps to make M&E part of the case management workflow

In the existing case management workflow find ways to incorporate the following:

1. Define key indicators early on

Work with the M&E team to define what success looks like in your work and what the project goals and results framework indicate. Create SMART indicators for that and examine how these can be built into your existing case forms. In ActivityInfo, you can leverage calculated fields, reference forms and other relevant features to create an integrated solution. Examples of indicators could be:

• % of referred cases receiving services within 7 days
• % of clients with improved well-being after 3 months
• number of closed cases with a positive outcome

2. Collect both service and outcome data in your forms

Design your forms in a way that allows you to capture not only what has been done but also what has changed. This means that you should include fields in your design:

1. to support the various steps the case goes through
2. to help your MEAL team run reports afterwards

In ActivityInfo, you can leverage reference forms to link forms together and create the structure that best suits your requirements.

3. Integrate a Feedback Complaint and Response Mechanism to the system

The Feedback Complaint and Response Mechanism (FCRM), also known as Feedback and Complaints Mechanism or Feedback Mechanism is a tool that allows organizations to capture internal and external feedback. You can incorporate this in your case management system as a means to monitor the performance of your activities and the satisfaction of the service users.

Learn more about the FCRM in our Webinar “How the Feedback, Complaint and Response Mechanism contributes to strengthening accountability”.

4. Start with simple and specific outcome tracking

You don’t need to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your case management process to get insights and start seeing patterns in your cases. Use questions with scaling, single select fields with yes/no options, dropdowns with a list of specific outcome options that the case workers can select from. Make sure to design forms that will allow you to work with disaggregated data too (e.g., age, gender, vulnerability, etc.)

Example: Beneficiary employment status 6 months after support:

• Unemployed
• Informal work
• Part-time
• Full-time

5. Create dashboards for you and your team and incorporate data interpretation into meetings

Dashboards allow you to collect meaningful data in one place. You can use them to share important insights and key data with case workers and supervisors. When case management teams can see data on the impact of their work in real time, Monitoring and Evaluation becomes a useful tool instead of a requirement. You can for example track active versus closed cases, time to service delivery, outcome trends by location, and many more.

By incorporating data interpretation into existing coordination meetings or into dedicated reflection meetings you can go a step further. Examples of questions you can ask during such meetings are:

• What does this data mean? What trends can be seen?
• What could the data possibly be telling us about our programme/services/outreach? What doesn’t it tell us?
• How does this data compare to last month, last year? How is this quarter different from last quarter?
• How can this information be used for: our programme design, our prevention programming, our information dissemination/awareness raising, our advocacy efforts?
• Who else needs to know about this? How do we safely share our findings?

6. Connect the M&E data to learning opportunities for case management

Encourage case management teams to use the data during reflection sessions and to turn insights gained into conversations that can help improve their workflows and processes. Think of questions such as:

• What are we learning from our cases?
• Where are clients/beneficiaries getting stuck?
• What outcomes are most common?

7. Avoid common pitfalls

As in every information system, when you design a case management system and you are working on its Monitoring and Evaluation or MEAL aspect, you should avoid:

• Collecting too much data that won’t be used can lead to information overload without added insight.
• Vague or inconsistent definitions of success as it makes it hard to measure progress meaningfully
• Manual tracking of indicators outside the system, which increases the risk of errors and inefficiencies
• Lack of data validation and cleaning processes that can result in unreliable data and weak conclusions

All in all, by designing smarter systems that integrate Monitoring and Evaluation in your case management processes and the daily routine of the case management teams, you end up with a more robust and guided approach to your work which can in turn improve the impact of your case management activities.

Are you wondering how including the M&E component into your case management system would look like? Contact us for a personalized demonstration.