Our recommendations

We recommend that the Ministry of Social Development:

1. encourage the development of a cross-agency response to support working-age adults with the highest levels of complex needs into work, through its role on the Social Sector Chief Executives Forum;
2. develop an approach to assessing and supporting case manager performance that reflects the importance of soft skills, such as effective client engagement, as well as the technical skills that case managers need to have;
3. reduce the number of appointments that clients miss by:
   • improving how it communicates with clients about appointments;
   • encouraging other innovation to increase the percentage of appointments kept;
   • reviewing the ways in which clients can comply again after failing to attend an appointment; and
   • increasing management support and coaching for staff to help them manage clients who routinely miss appointments; and
4. include full and clear financial information in suitably worded letters to clients, including letters sent after a change in a client’s circumstances.