Form Follows Function: Adapting the Strength Model to Facilitate Implementation and Sustainability

Abstract

Case management is a common social service intervention that has been applied across a range of disciplines, populations, and types of organizations. Despite its widespread use, the activities constituting case management are often poorly specified (Lukersmith, Millington, & Salvador-Carulla, 2016). The Strengths Model is an important exception—not only does it offer a structured approach to service delivery, but it provides enough flexibility to facilitate implementation and support sustainability. The goal of this chapter is to help practitioners think creatively about implementation, so they can meet the needs of their organization while remaining true to the core components of the Strengths Model. In the first part of this chapter, we discuss the delicate balance between implementing a model to fidelity and mak- ing adaptations to address organizational barriers and constraints, highlighting some of the prior modifications made to the Strengths Model to ease implementation. In the second part of the chapter, we describe one agency’s approach to implementa- tion, the structural adaptations staff made to the Strengths Model, and the benefits and challenges associated with their approach.