FormA Casework Manager

What is the FAQ section used for?

	Who can start a new case?
	Cases can be started by users with Case Administration permission. This is often a SSAFA Divisional Secretary, a Legion County Welfare staff member, a RAFA Area Welfare Officer.
	What does case ownership mean?
	All cases in CMS are owned by an office or sub office of the caseworking organisation. The ownership is set when the case is first created. Cases are updated by all the organisations that are involved in that case, there is no need for an organisation/office/sub office to open their own new case if they can update the one that already exists. CMS records all the actions taken by every user on the case and this information is available to all those who are working on the case.
	How do I start a new case and how can I find out if the applicant has had a case before?
	You hover over the cases button at the top of the screen and choose Search/New. You will then be presented with the Case Search screen. It is good practice to check if this client has had a case in CMS before. You do this by entering the details of the client that you know, e.g. surname and town. Also choose to search other offices than your own. The result will be a list of people who may be the same applicant from a previous case. If the case was managed by another office you can click on the office or sub office name in the middle of the line to find out who to make contact with in that office or sub office. You can then telephone and/or send an email from CMS to this person. Emails from CMS will also send an email your own address to put you in direct contact with each other.
	What steps do I follow before assigning a caseworker and how can I provide useful information about the case to brief the caseworker?
	You choose new case and then follow the instructions on the case details screen to enter Personal Details, Referral Details, Start Date using History/Notes. If you want to give the caseworker more details you can add a manual note and you can add attachments at this stage. You can then assign a caseworker. Please note that Referral deatils are not mandatory but it is very useful to keep a record of how the client was referred and there is a report to provide that information on a historical basis. When you assign a caseworker a notification email is sent to the caseworker about the case.

	What does ‘Signed Off’ mean?
	A Form A is classified as ‘Signed Off’ when Section 13 is completed to confirm that the client has signed a paper copy of the Form A certifying that the contents are correct and that other agencies can be approached for assistance. CMS will not allow you to make assistance requests until you have completed Section 13.
	What does ‘Submitted’ mean?
	A Form A is classified as ‘Submitted’ when it has been despatched to one or more assistance providers, either electronically or by post. The case then stays ‘submitted’ until it is closed.
	What sections of the form A are mandatory?
	All sections of the Form A except section 14 should be completed and displaying a green tick. You cannot requst assistance unless all sections are completed, except for Section 14 which changes as you add assistance provideers to your case. In some cases the information isn't necessary or required (e.g. the client has no children) then the section should be marked as "not required". These sections will print "not required" in the section heading; therefore other people involved in the case (e.g. assistance providers) will see that the section has been addressd.
	How do I make changes to a completed Section (i.e. one that has a green tick against it)?
	You can make a change to any information in a Section marked as completed (ie has a green tick against it. However there may be more information that comes to light (e.g. changes in savings amount) after the Section has been marked complete and then the Section needs to be amended. If the Form A has been ‘submitted’ then a box will appear requiring you to identify the change. When you identify the change a case note with this detail will be added and an automatic email will be sent to the assistance providers to alert them of the change.
	How do I record more than one period of military service?
	Half way down Section 4 there is a ‘Save’ button which records the Service information completed in the first half of the page. Alongside that there is a button marked ‘Additional Service Record’. Use that as many times as is required to provide a full Service history.
	Why can I not click a line in the finance section (Section 7) to make it applicable?
	All the finance lines are pre-selected so that they appear on CMS in the same manner and order as on the pre-printed Form A. You can add lines to each part of section 7 if there are additional categories of income or expenditure to include in the case.
	Why when I include an amount in the finance section (Section 7) which is for a period longer than a week does it not convert it to a weekly figure?
	The financial details in the CMS application remain as you entered them, but are converted to a weekly amount when the Form A is shown in ‘Preview’ (by pressing ‘Preview Application’) and when it is printed. The running totals at the top of Section 7 are calculated as weekly amounts each time you press save.
	Why does the summary of weekly income and expenditure at the top of the finance section (Section 7) not change as I input financial details?
	The summary will change every time you ‘Save’ but not until then.
	Section 10 Liabilities and Debts - What do I enter if the applicant has a debt and isn't repaying any of it?
	You can enter a line into section 10 that says what the repayment period should be e.g. monthly and the repayment amount = £0.00. You can still enter all the details about the total contract amount, outstanding and arrears if these are available. The total weekly repayment amount (£0.00 included) and the arrears in section 10 get carried into the expenditure line in section 7 Income and Expenditure.
	What is the sequence of entering the sections and what choices does the user have?
	Completion of the Form A is by section and the CMS gives the user a number of ways to complete this task to suit their preferences and the situation with the case concerned. 1 Save - saves the data and leaves you on the current page to review it and add some more. 2 Save and proceed - saves the data on the current page and moves the user to the next section. 3 Tick to say complete - marks the section as compelte wihth a green tick and this gives the caseworker an easy reference to the statuis of their Form A completion. It also performs some final validation and completion checks and moves the user to the next section. 4 The blue dots show you what section you are working on at the moment. 5 You can always go to any section in the form A by clicking on the section name on the left hand side. You don't need to complete the Form A in strict sequence. 6 From the case details screen and case summary, you can go to any section by placing and clicking your cursor on the line in the summary.
	How does CMS hold telephone numbers? Sometimes clients have a mobile phone only and no land line.
	CMS will show land line numbers and mobile phone numbers when it prints out the Form A. If your client only has a mobile phone then enter this number in section 1 in the mobile phone field and CMS will print it correctly in the form A. If your client has both a land line and a mobile phone, then enter both of them and they will be printed alongside each other on the form A.
	How do I get the deceased spouse/partner's details to appear in section 4, 5 or 6?
	Enter the name and personal details of the spouse into section 2. Say 'deceased' for the reason that the spouse/partner is not living with the applicant. Then the spouse/partner details will come through as a choice with the applicant's details when completing sections 4, 5 ,6.
	What are mandatory, recommended and optional fields on the Form A?
	You should try to obtain all the information from the client and complete it all, however sometimes the informtion may be difficult to find out. Every field you enter on the Form A is mandatory, recommended or optional. Mandatory fields are shown with an * and you can't mark a section complete until you complete them. Recommended fields are important and it helps the case greatly if you can obtin the information (e.g. applicant's date of birth). When you say the section is complete and there is a recommended field that hasn't been completed, CMS will remind you of the fields that are recommended and give you the opportunity to complete them before marking the section complete. Optional fields are also helpful to the case but not regarded as important as recommended fields and the user does not receive a warning message when he completes sections with one or more optional fields empty.
	What does "not required" mean in a section of the Form A?
	Every section of the Form A is required to be completed by the caseworker. The exception is section 14 if the case is not going to be almonised. Every other section should be completed and the caseworker should ask the client about it. In some cases there is no information to enter into the section and the caseowrker will mark the section "not required". The interpretation of this by anyone reading the Form A should be that the caseworker has asked the question and there is no information to enter (e.g. no children, the partner didn't serve).
	Why do I get an error when I put today's date into the "to date" in Section 6 Employment History?
	Each line in Section 6 asks for a start date and an end date. The end date means "What date did the person leave the employment?" If you put in today's date CMS thinks it is an error because today isn't a historical date. If someone is still employed then you should tick partial date and put "current" or "present" in the field that is presented.
	How are addresses validated?
	The minimum set of information for an address is first line (e.g. 23 Albany Drive), Town, Post code (if United Kingdom, it can be completed or blank for other countries), country. If any part of an address is in error then you will see this message 'You must provide a complete address, including town, post code and country'. When you receive this error message please check all lines of the address, often it will be that the country says 'not specified' and you need to select 'United Kingdom' from the drop down list.
	How do I enter an address if my client has no fixed abode?
	CMS will always validate the post code if you put United Kingdom in the country of an address. Often the country defaults to United Kingdom. For someone of no fixed abode you can choose "provide other" against the country and type in "UK" in the box that appears. This way the post code will not be checked and you can write "no fixed abode" into the first line, town and post code.
	Do I need a £ sign when entering values?
	You never need to use a £ sign in a currency field such as section 7 or 10. If you enter a £ sign CMS will treat it as an error and will not save the value.
	In Section 7 expenditure, I can't enter a value in liabilities and debts. Why is this?
	The Liabilities and Debts figure is automatically carried back into Section 7 from the total entered into section 10. The value fields in Section 7 for this line are deliberately greyed out to prevent you typing into them. When you have added figures into Section 10 you will see the total of Section 10 is automatically put into the Liabilities and Debts line in Section 7.
	Section 4 and 5 eligibility - What do I do if the applicant has a medal that isn't in the table or served in an operational theatre that isn't in the table?
	For medals and operational theatres there are a number of entries in the drop down tables. In both cases there are more possible entries than we have put in the tables. You can add medals and operational theatres by typing the name and then a comma to separate them in the space below the drop down list.

	What conditions are required to be met before you can request assistance on a case?
	You need to have all the mandatory sections completed (currently sections 7, 8, 10 and 13 are mandatory) and to have the case at 'signed off' status which means that the client has signed the declaration in section 13 of the paper Form A. By signing the declaration the client agrees that the information in sections 1 to 12 is correct and that the caseworking office has permission to approach other organisation for assistance.
	How do I know which assistance providers can be approached electronically?
	In Section 14, when you select a line and press ‘Please Select’ you get a list of those who are live active users.
	Is it necessary to stipulate how much is needed from each assistance provider?
	The CMS will let you enter an amount on an assistance request or leave it blank. The guidelines to apply to the almonisation process are the responsibility of the organisation you are working for. As a general guide, often it can be better to leave the amount blank and let the providers decide how much they wish to contribute; they can use the CMS ‘notes’ feature to contact each other about the case. However, where a sum of money is required to top up an existing case or a rent/subsistence requirement then it is a good idea to state the amount required. The assistance providers can always make up their mind and change the amount they are prepared to offer even if you have put in an amount yourself.
	I have had an unsuccessful attempt to submit the Form A to assistance providers what have I done wrong?
	There are a number of things you can check. - Have you completed all the sections (ie showing green ticks)you wish to send including the mandatory ones (currently sections 7, 8, 10 and 13)? - Have you written a note in the ‘Cover note’ box? - Have you written too much in the ‘Cover Note’ box (note limit is 1000 characters – a note should have warned you)? If you do have a long cover note, remember that you can attach to the case an additional/supplementary cover note. - Have you selected (clicked) the boxes in the list for the assistance providers that you want to submit your application to?
	I have checked everything in the list to check and still the assistance request isn't being sent. What else might be the problem?
	If the spouse or partner didn't serve then Section 5 should be marked as "not required". Occasionally caseworkers just tick this section as complete and don't mark it as not required. This prevents the assistance request being sent. CMS will be amended to cope with this situation but until it is, then please check that section 5 is marked as "not required" if the spouse or partner didn't serve.
	How do I request assistance from a non CMS assistance provider (e.g. Civil Service Benevolent Fund)?
	CMS should be used to record all the assistance requests and the results on a case whether the assistance provider is a CMS user or not. When you enter the assistance provider in section 14 of the form A you should tick "provide other" and enter the name of the assistance provider in the space. Then you send it by requesting assistance in the normal way. However you will need to post the assistance request if the assistance provider isn't a CMS user. When you receive a grant, you can enter the offer on behalf on the non CMS assistance provider, mark it assistance received and enter a receipt of the grant in the same way as for a CMS user. Once you have all the assistance requests and the responses and receipts in the CMS case, you have a complete record and you can process the case fully in CMS letting the other organisations that are involved in the case know the whole story.
	I can't see the button to withdraw an assistance request that I sent out and no longer need the money to help my client.
	You can withdraw an assistance requests that you have sent out before the assistance provider has made a decision (status new or request received). Once the assistance provider has made a decision (usually assistance offered) then it is too late to withdraw the assistance request and the button will not show in more actions. The reason is that once an offer has been made, usually the grant follows very close behind so withdrawing is often too late. The first thing to do is to enter a case note explaining the reason for no longer needing the help and email the note using CMS to the assistance provider. The assistance provider may or may not have sent the payment. What the caseworking office should do depends on what happens with the payment. If the payment is on its way then received (e.g. BACS into the caseworking office's bank account) then you should mark the assistance as assistance received and enter a receipt into CMS for the money. Then you can enter a payment returning the grant to the assistance provider making the money net to zero. If the grant hasn't yet been paid then the assistance provider can stop the payment and inform the caseworking office again with a CMS case note emailed using CMS to the caseworking office. You can then mark the assistance request as "close no assistance received" with a note explaining why. The net effect on this is zero as well.

	Can I make a change to the details of Form A once it has been submitted?
	You can make a change to any information contained in a Form A after it has been ‘submitted’. A box will appear requiring you to identify the change so that assistance providers are made aware of the change. A note is then put on to the case to help everyone find the change that you have made. The more information you can provide the better.
	Having submitted a Form A to assistance providers, can I afterwards send it to other providers (say when seeking additional funds)?
	Yes there is no limit on the number of times one can submit an assistance request for one case. To do this; a convenient method is to press the ‘Request Assistance’ button. You can also send more than one request to the same assistance provider (e.g. a supplementary request to top up a grant or for an additional item).

	I want to record a receipt or payment, where do I find the action buttons?
	On the Case Details screen, click 'More Actions' (bottom left) and scroll down the list until you find 'add receipt' or 'add payment'.
	I want to record a grant paid into Caseworking Funds, where do I start?
	When you receive a case grant there are two ways to record receipts into caseworking funds. 1 When you receive a grant from an assistance provider who has offered assistance. You mark the assistance request as "assistance received" and say "yes" when you are asked if you want to enter a receipt. Remember only to say "yes" if the money is being paid into the caseworking offcie bank account. If the money is being paid to a third party, then say "no". 2 By choosing "add receipt" from the "more actions" menu. If you do it this way and there is an assistance request saying "assistance offered" you still need to mark the assistance request as "assistance received" and remember to say "no" to entering the receipt. This will avoid entering the receipt twice.
	Do I need to complete the "Description", "Reference" or "Comments" boxes?
	The "Description" and "Comments" boxes are optional for every organisation and we recommend that you use them – for example you could use "Description" to say where the grant is from or what item is being bought, "Comments" could be about a delivery date. The "Reference" can be used for cheque numbers, BACS references, paying in slip numbers for instance. The "Reference" is optional for all organisations except the Legion where is is mandatory; for the Legion there is a set format and content for the "Reference" depending on the purpose of the transaction.
	What can I do if I find I have made a mistake when entering a receipt or a payment? Can I cancel or amend a financial transaction?
	CMS financial transactions can only be cancelled, they can't be amended. You click the 'Cancel' button alongside the receipt or payment in the 'Transactions/assistance' screen and then add a reason for the cancellation. This will result in the old transaction being marked as cancelled and a new transaction will automatically be generated to negate the value. e.g. a payment of £340.00 will be cancelled and a new payment of -£340.00 will be generated making the net value = £0.00
	What is the difference between transactions "through caseworking funds" and "outside caseworking funds"?
	Every case is owned by a caseworking office and other organisations are requested to provide assistance, normally by a grant or sometimes by paying for goods and services directly like white goods or care home fees. When an assistance provider pays a grant it is usually paid to the caseworking office by cheque or BACS. This money is then paid out by the caseworking office to pay for goods and services to help the client. These transactions are "through caseworking funds" because the money comes into the caseworking office's bank account and gets paid out of it. When an assistance provider pays the supplier directly for the goods and services then no money passes through the bank account of the caseworking office. This type of transaction is "outside caseworking funds".
	What do I do in CMS if the assistance provider pays for goods and services directly?
	Assistance providers may pay the supplier directly for the goods and services. Some of them will record their payment using CMS, notably the Legion who regularly buy white goods for instance directly from their preferred supplier. If the assistance provider works this way then the caseworking office does not need to record a financial transaction, all they have to do is mark the assistance as assistance received and say no to entering a receipt. Some assistance providers will make their offer of assistance and say that they have paid the supplier directly not recording their payment in CMS. This can also apply to a civilian charity which isn't a CMS user. In this case the caseworking office should enter the payment and tick yes for "by a third party" in the payment transaction. This will record the payment and the benevolence to the client and not impact on the caseworking office bank account; the transaction will be recorded "outside of caseworking funds".
	What does "Spent on client's needs" mean?
	Money is spent in CMS for a number of purposes such as paying a case grant or buying goods and services to help the client. Some payments direclty contribute to the client's needs and some do so indirectly. Payments made to suppliers for goods and services such as rent or a washing machine are directly "spent on client's needs". Grant payments made to caseworking offices will not benefit the client until the caseworking offices spends the money on goods and services. CMS treats these grant payments as "not spent on client's needs". Another example is paying back part of a case grant not used. These payments are "not spent on client's needs". The transaction purpose that you choose when entering a payment or receipt into CMS automatically identifies whether a payment is "spent on client's needs" or "not spent on client's needs
	When an assistance provider makes a grant payment "not through caseworking funds" what do I do when my caseworking office receives the money?
	Assistance providers can make payments on cases to record the grants they have given. Usually these grants are paid to the caseworking office by cheque or BACS. The grant from the assistance provider will be shown in CMS as being "outside caseworking funds". The action to take from the caseworking office is to mark the assistance as "assistance received" and to record the receipt of the grant into caseworking funds. This is the exactly same action to take by the caseworking office if the assistance provider offers assistance and just sends the money without recording the payment in CMS.
	Sometimes the Royal British Legion will buy an item for my client and pay the supplier directly. How does this work and how do I record this event in CMS?
	An example of this situation is when the Legion buy a washing machine from their preferred provider (Comet). The Legion office will offer assistance and say in the note that they will buy the item directly. They will then raise an order in their purchasing system and a note will be added to the case with the order details. When the item has been delivered and the payment made by the Legion, a payment record "outside caseworking funds" will be made for the amount of the item, and the assistance category will be updated (e.g. white goods for the washing machine). If you are managing the case from the caseworking office, then you should mark the assistance as received but not enter a receipt. This is because the caseworking office will not receive the money, the payment is made directly to the supplier by the Legion. i.e. "outside caseworking funds".
	If the Legion buy an item for my client should I enter a payment?
	No, the payment will be entered automatically from the legion's purchasing system. When the Legion order an item for your client on your case then their purchase ordering system will take care of creating a payment record "not through caseworking funds". This payment make take a week or so after the item has been delivered
	The Royal British Legion have started paying case grants to caseworking offices by BACS. What help does CMS give me to let me know about these payments?
	When the Legion make an offer of a grant to be paid by BACS, they raise an order in their purchasing system. CMS is automatically updated with an automatic case note with the order number and amount. When the payment is made CMS is automatically updated with an automatic case note and with the payment transaction recorded as a case grant paid outside of caseworking funds. When the offer of assistance is made and when the payment is made in /CMS, a notification email is sent to the caseworking office and to the treasurer of the office that owns the case. This notification helps the caseworking office team recognise when offers and payment are made and the Treasurer can look for the payment in the bank statement. Receiving the assistance and adding the receipt is exactly the same as for any grant which is paid to the caseworking office.
	Legion only - What Reference do I use for entering receipts and payments?
	The Reference field is mandatory for Legion financial transactions and it depends on the type of transaction, receipt or payment, and the payment method, e.g. BACS or cheque. This Reference is used by the Financial system at month end to match up the CMS transactions. There is a table of References in Reference Information at the bottom of every CMS page and if you click on the little i on the receipt and payment screen, it will give you a copy of the table there too.
	When I add a receipt or payment, why do I get red exclamation marks at the bottom of the screen?
	The red exclamation marks are there to remind you to complete the assistsance breakdown for financial assistance on the payment or receipt. It isn't an error, it is there to highlight what needs attention. At one time this breakdown wasn't always completed and we made it mandatory and the red exclamation marks draw your attention to it.

	What are the conditions needed to close a case?
	A case can be closed at any time provided that the conditions below are met: 1. The Assistance Breakdown Complete box should be ticked. This tick indicates that we are not going to spend any more money on this case for this client. 2. There cannot be a surplus of money because this would mean we are holding on to someone else's money. 3. The assistance requests need to be 'closed off'. i.e. no assistance requests should still be saying not submitted, new, request received or assistance offered. All of these statuses indicate that the assistance request hasn't been completed yet. 4. The referral details are missing. This is the information about how the case was originally referred to your office. This is optional but it helps us understand about the origin of our cases and where to focus our attention in future.
	What are the checks on money received and spent on a case?
	Typically a case will be almonised to one or more other charities. Money will be spent on the client's needs and this could be entirely money from other charities or a mixture of money from the caseworking organisation and the other charities. When you come to close a case CMS will check the total received from other parties against the total spent on the case. If the receipts exceed the expenditure then you will be prevented from closing the case until you use up the surplus money. Using up surplus money can be done by returning it to the assistance provider, providing more help for the client, or moving the money into a case grant remainder account. In all cases, before making a decision, you should ask the assistance provider concerned what they would like doing with their money.
	What does 'closing off assistance requests' mean?
	Assistance requests go through a number of stages before being complete. Normally these stages are: New = first issue before the assistance provider has seen it. Received = the assistance provider has opened the request (like an email that has been marked as read by the recipient). Assistance offered = the assistance provider has made an offer. Assistance received = the money has been received by the caseworking office. If an assistance provider chooses not to pay towards the case then the status is shown as 'Assistance declined'. A case cannot be closed unless all assistance requests are completed. For manual assistance requests sent to organisations not using CMS, then the caseworking office user needs to complete the assistance request as if they are the assistance provider going through the steps above. Sometimes the assistance provider does not answer the request in which case the caseworking office needs to close the assistance request to say 'closed - no answer'. In addition assistance requests can be withdrawn by the caseworking office user if the help is no longer required. Finally some assistance requests are put in the queue (section 14 of the Form A) but never sent. These assistance requests need to be cancelled by unticking the line in Section 14. When you close a case CMS will make a check on every assistance request and highlight those outstanding that need closing off.
	What is the 'assistance breakdown' and how do I complete it?
	When you make a payment to help the client you will be asked by CMS to complete the categories of assistance and the amount spent on each one (e.g. £340 for a washing machine, category white goods). When you come to close a case you need to mark the assistance breakdown complete which is a box at the end of the transactions/assistance window. CMS will check that the total amount of of the assistance categories equals the total spent on the client for the case. This should normally be true and the record will be saved. If the values don't match then you need to update the amounts on the appropriate categories to make them match using the 'add assistance category' function.
	Can I close a case early?
	You can close a case at any time provided that the conditions needed are satisfied. If the client's circumstances change or the client isn't eligible for help then CMS will still check the conditions for closure. If there have been no assistance requests and no money spent for example, then all you need to do is to mark the assistance breakdown complete in the transactions/assistance window. If there are outstanding assistance requests then you will need to close them off, usually by withdrawing them.
	I am closing the case but CMS wants ‘Referral Details’, what are these?
	Referral details are used to say how the case was referred to your office (e.g. via another charity or Social Services) and this is a second opportunity to complete this information if you didn’t do it when you started the case.. The information is useful for statistical purposes and if you want to contact the person who referred the case to your office and let them know the outcome for instance.
	What should I look out for?
	The most common question we get is about whether there are any outstanding assistance requests. Sometimes there will be one or more still in Section 14 of the Form A that haven't been submitted. You will need to delete these requests by unticking the lines in Section 14 before you can close the case. Occasionally section 14 may have been ticked as not required when in fact there are unsubmitted requests. It's always a good idea to look for this if you are having trouble closing your case.
	Where do I find unsubmitted requests?
	Sometimes CMS will stop you closing a case because there are unsubmitted requests. You will find these requests in the submissions part of the case details screen along with all the other assistance requests. There is a delete button to delete these assistance requests if they are not required. This will clear the unsubmitted requests down and enable case closure to proceed.

	What are 'user permissions' and how do they affect the user?
	Every user has to be set up in the system with permissions. The permissions enable the user to carry out the activities that he/she will be doing when working on cases in the CMS. For example, some people have permission to manage all cases for their office, others have permission to enter case details only. It is important that people are enabled to do the right things in CMS according to how they manage cases for their organisation/office. These permissions are usually agreed at an organisation/office level when an organisation/office starts to use CMS. Some users work for more than one organisation (e.g. some caseworkers work for SSAFA and the Legion). In these cases the user will have a set of permissions for each organisation that they work for.
	What does 'Organisation administration' mean?
	There will be a few people in your office (e.g. SSAFA Branch, Legion County Office) who can perform some administration duties like setting up new users and changing passwords. Only a few people have these permissions and they manage who has what type of access to CMS for their own office.
	How do I change the personal details of a member of my office/branch?
	Click on ‘Admin’ then ‘Organisation Users’ select the individual and click on ‘Details’. Change the appropriate details and save.
	How do I change a member’s permissions?
	Click on ‘Admin’ then ‘Organisation Users’ select the individual and click on ‘Details’. Add or delete the appropriate permissions and save. The change is made effective immediately you save it.
	A member has forgotten his/her password, can I issue a new one?
	Yes. Click on ‘Admin’ then ‘Organisation Users’ select the individual and click on ‘Reset Password’. Give the member a new password remembering it must consist of at least 8 characters one of which has to be a numeral. Then ‘Save’. Tell the member the new password but warn them that they will have to change it to one of their own choice. Avoid using the numerals ‘01’ at the end of the name or word as this often causes the member to have to go through the initial procedure again as a new entrant.

	What types of notes are there and how do they work?
	There are three main types of notes: 1 Manual case notes - these are general notes about the whole case - use these notes from the case details menu. 2 Assistance Request notes - these are for caseworkers and assistance providers to communicate with each other about the particular request for assistance. When you complete one of these notes it notifies the other party immediately. These notes are located on each assistance request. 3 Automatic case notes - the system generates these notes automatically using status changes and main case events. There is more detail about the types of notes in separate questions.
	What are Manual Case Notes?
	Manual case notes are for all users for information that wouldn't go on the Form A itself. Notes can be reminders to do something, useful updates for others involved in the case, a record of a visit by a specialist or the caseworker to add 'to do' items. Sometimes it is a good idea to alert other people involved in the case when you add a note. For example if you think it will help the assistance providers to make a decision about their grant. To use manual case notes, go to the case details screen and choose 'add note'. type in your note, choose 'manual case note' as the type and decide if you want to email others involved in the case. A lot of notes don't really need to alert others and can be seen as 'clutter' by some recipients, they will read them in their own time. If the note is important in the sense that you think it will help others make decisions, then tick 'send email' and it will alert other offices involved in the case. Notes will only go to offices of organisations involved in the particular case retaining case confidentiality; notes will only be sent out to others if you have ticked the 'send email' button.
	What are Assistance Request Notes?
	When you send or receive an assistance request, you can add notes to the request at any time. For example, if the assistance provider requires more detail about the service record, then he can put an assistance request note in and it will alert the caseworking office who can reply directly. Assistance providers can use these notes to communicate directly between each other and agree an approach to the grant very quickly, keeping everyone informed because the notes are retained on the case for easy access. Just click 'add note' on the assistance request detail page and add your note. CMS will build up the notes about this assistance request as they are entered.
	What are Automatic Case Notes?
	The CMS keeps a comprehensive trail of the work that has gone into the case, who made what update and when. The automatic notes are generated by the CMS and you can see them in the History/Notes window with the manual case notes. Some notes generate alerts to other offices involved in the case (e.g. if there is a change to the savings figure on the Form A after an assistance request has been sent out). The decision of the assistance provider might change and consequently an automatic note will generate an email to alert the other offices involved in the case. As a user you don't need to do anything special to generate these notes, they happen automatically.
	How long can case notes be?
	The total number of characters is 1024 which is typically about 175 words. This is normally enough for most notes but if you want more words, then consider adding an attachment and referring to it from your note.
	Can I amend or delete a case note?
	Case notes cannot be amended or deleted. We need to maintain an audit trail of notes. You should add another note explaining why the previous note was in error.

	What is a Regular Financial Assistance Grant?
	There are some cases where a grant is awarded by an assistance provider for a period (e.g a year) to be paid out in installments. These are Regular Financial Assistance Grants and they are often renewed with the caseworking office being tasked with submitting the renewal request. CMS gives us the opportunty to create these renewal requests easily and quickly.
	How can CMS help?
	CMS provides two useful functions. 1 When you close a case you can set a reminder date with a reason. When the reminder date comes up the caseworking office will receive an email reminding it about the case. 2 You can copy the previous case. When you copy the previous case, all sections of the form A from section 1 to section 6 are copied from the previous case. You then assign a caseworker who visits the client to collect the financial information. This means that the caseworker ususally has very little change to report and most of the form is already completed from the previous case. CMS also creates a reference to the previous case in History/Notes. Once the Form A for this copied case is complete, then CMS can be used to request assistance in the normal way. The assistance providers who operate these annuity schemes are happy to take a Form A instead of their renewal forms.

	How should I indicate the method of payment of a grant?
	It would be very helpful to the caseworking offices if you put the method of paym,ent (e.g. BACS, cheque) into your comments when offering asssitance. The caseworking offices will then be more informed and it will help therm find your payment more quickly, especially BACS. Also, it would be useful if you can put the case reference and client surname into your BACS transfer.
	Can I assign a member of my team to deal with a request? What does "Contact Office" mean on assistance requests?
	When an assistance requests is sent to your office, you can choose to assign a member of your team as the assistance request manager. If you do that the person will be alerted by an email and his/her name will appear to the caseworking offices so that they can contact this individual. If you choose not to assign any particular person then the assistance request manager is shown as "Contact Office" which means that the caseworking office should call your general office number to talk about the case. You can therefore choose to operate in a way that suits your operation best.

How do I update my office details?

	Who can add attachments to a case and who can view the attachments?
	Attachments can be added by any user of CMS involved in a particular case (i.e. a user from the caseworking office or one of the assistance providers). Attachments will be visible to all users involved in a particular case, they will not be available to users who are not involved in the case.
	How do I add attachments to a case?
	Files that you want to attach to a case must already be held on your own computer or a file on your network in the same way as they need to be for email attachments. Once the attachment has been added to the case in CMS, it is secured in a separate location held with the CMS database, and you can delete it from your own computer or network if you wish. Once added, an attachment cannot be removed from CMS. To add an attachment you go to the 'Case Details' screen and choose the action 'Add attachment'. you will be presented with a screen that asks you to browse to the file you want to attach; search for this file as you would for an email attachment and once found go to the description field and type in a short meaningful description. Then press 'save' and the file will be attached.
	Are there restrictions on files attached to a case?
	The ideal type of file is one of pdf format (for Adobe readers) that has no protection on it. Remember that CMS is secure and that only users belonging to the offices that are involved in the case will see the attachments. There is a size restriction of 5MB for attachments. It is very rare that a pdf file will be anything like this size. Also, all unprotected pdf files can be printed together with the Form A which makes it easy for users to view attachments. Other files in other formats can be attached but you are then depending on the user accessing the file to have the same software to read it as you used to create it. Also some files when scanned are very large because of the format the scanner created (e.g. jpg files can be very large and can go over the 5MB limit). More recent scanners do scan at lower resolution and this is preferable because the files are generally text format and are smaller and perfectly legible. We ask people to avoid the less common software such as 'paintbox' because users will get frustrated If they can't read the file. Word files are OK but again the user needs to have Word or equivalent on his computer and these files have to be opened individually rather than together with the Form A. Files that need to be opened individually have a red cross against them in the Case Details screen.
	Can I delete attachments?
	It is very rare that an attachment needs to be deleted. It is possible to delete an attachment and when you do you will have to state why you are deleting the attachment. The deletion is recorded in the automatic case notes under your name with the date and time deleted and the reason. This is to give people the information about who to contact if they have any questions about deleted attachments. Deleted attachments cannot be retrieved.

	What is my user name?
	Your user name combined with your password gives you access to CMS. User names are usually of the format firstname.surname, all lower case. Some people will have a user name with a number if there is more than one person using CMS with the same name e.g. martin1.jones
	What is my password?
	Together with your user name your password gives you access to CMS. You have to change your password when you start to use the system and when you have it reset. You are responsible for keeping your password secure and not disclosing it to anyone. You will be asked to change your password every 90 days.
	What are the rules and best practice for passwords and when do they have to be changed?
	Passwords have to be a minimum of 8 characters containing at least one capital letter, one lower case letter and one number. Passwords have to be changed immediately you start to use CMS and then every 90 days. You will be reminded by CMS when your password expires. You will not be able to reuse your previous password when you set a new one. Please avoid using obvious passwords such as "Password1" or your previous password with 02 at the end etc. CMS is a secure system processing confidential information and it should be protected against unlawful access. It is therefore best practice to set a password that is difficult for other people to guess and to make sure that you don't divulge your password to anyone.
	What if I forget my password?
	You can request a password reset by clicking 'I have forgotten my password' on the log in screen. You will be asked your security question that you set when you started using CMS. If you get the answer right you will be sent a new password by email. You can also ask your local administrator to reset your password. When you are given a new password you will have to change it to a new one straight away when you next log in to CMS.
	When will I be locked out of CMS?
	CMS will lock you out if you enter your password incorrectly three times in a row. CMS thinks you are trying to break into the system by using someone else's user name. If you are locked out you can request a new password from the Log in page or ask your local administrator.

	When should I copy, reopen or transfer a case?
	Copying a case is when there is a new need for a previous client (e.g. renewing an annual regular payment, if the client moves to a new house and there are initial costs) Reopening a case is when the original need hasn't been fully satisfied (e.g. more money is needed to plumb in the new washing machine, more information has been received about the client's financial situation). Transferring a case is when the responsibility for completion of the case is passed to another office or organisation (e.g. when the Officers' association pick up the case, if the client moves but the need is still not satisfied).
	What happens when I copy a case?
	If necessary you should first obtain permission to copy the case if it was from another organisation or office that you don't have permission for. There is a space on the copy case screen to record this conversation. If the previous case was for your office then you don't need this permission. When you copy a case, a new case is created for your office. It retains all the previous case information up to section 6 and the previous case reference is recorded in History/Notes. You should then assign a caseworker to progress the case. The Form A will be easier because all the details from sections 1 to 6 will be there to be checked and changed if necessary. The caseworker can then focus on the financial information primarily from section 7 onwards.
	What happens when I reopen a case?
	When you reopen a case the old case is restored to its previous state before it was closed. If the case had been signed off and no further action had been taken, then the reopened case is restored to the signed off status. If the case had been almonised and goods and services provided, then the case would be restored to the submitted status. In all cases that have been reopened there will be an automatic case note generated about the original closure and the reopening.
	What happens when I transfer a case?
	A new case is set up to replace the original one and the original case is closed first. The new case will have a new reference number and the old number will be shown in History/notes. All the information from the old case will be transferred including attachments. You will need to assign a caseworker to the new transferred case and then work can continue with the client.

	How do I start a new case for a previous client?
	Hover over Cases, click on Search/New. In the search criteria search for closed cases. Click on Display of the Previous Client then click on Copy Case. CMS will automatically copy sections 1-6 and creates a new Case Reference Number.
	How do I progress a copied case?
	A copied case is the same as a new case except that sections 1 to 6 are already completed from the previous case. It is still necessary to allocate a caseworker who should check that sections 1 to 6 are still accurate and also complete sections 7 to 15 to progress the case. Some sections are mandatory before you can request assistance and it is important to complete them and especially to obtain the client's signature so that you can complete section 13.
	Can I copy a case to renew a Regular Financial Assistance Grant?
	Yes, the preferred method is by copying the previous case, please see the Regular Financial Assistance Grant renewal FAQ. CMS is designed to enable these renewals to be processed quickly and easily, saving the caseworker a lot of time by taking information from the previous case.
	What happens if our office has changed address since the original case was created?
	Section 15 of the Form A may keep the previous correspondence address. This depends on whether you use the office address or the caseworker's address for correspondence. This situation only occurs when copying a case to the same office or sub office as previously. Also remember that the online Flag book is always the best place to find the current address of any caseworking or assistance provider office.

	What is case transfer?
	A case transfer enables a new caseworking office from another organisation or the same organisation to take over the remaining activities and completion of the case. Sometimes a client may move to a different location or a different caseworking office may be better placed to deliver the services.
	When can cases be transferred?
	Cases can be transferred at any time in their life cycle. If a case is to be transferred it can be in any state; new, active, signed off or submitted. In order to transfer a case the current case must first be closed so that all outstanding assistance requests can be completed or withdrawn; also any money left in the case should be returned to the assistance provider if not used. This is to ensure that there are no loose ends on the current case before requesting the transfer. Once the current case has been closed then a transfer request can be raised. The receiving caseworking office can accept or reject the transfer. If they accept the transfer then a new case is created and there is a reference to the original case in History/Notes.
	What is the case transfer process?
	It is good practice to contact the receiving caseworking office prior to making the transfer request. It is also essential to inform the client of the transfer beforehand. The steps to follow are: 1) Close the previous case following the standard case closure process. You can record in the closure reason that this case is to be transferred. 2) Choose 'transfer case' from the case details screen 'more actions'. You will need to enter a reason for the transfer and to confirm that the client has been made aware of the transfer. 3) The receiving caseworking office will be notified by email which will link to the transfer acceptance screen. Pending transfers are also shown on the Home screen. 4) The receiving caseworking office can accept or reject the transfer, in both cases they must enter a reason and they can record optional comments. 5) If the transfer is accepted then the new caseworking office will need to assign a caseworker to the case. 6) Once accepted the original caseworking office will be informed by email. 7) The whole process will be recorded in automatic case notes.
	What information is transferred?
	The whole of the Form A information relating to the client is transferred. The information relating to the new caseworking office replaces the information from the old caseworking office, correspondence address, bank details, case manager and caseworker
	Is there a cross reference between the cases?
	The new case has a reference number and in the History/notes section there is a reference to the previous case. In the previous case there is a reference to the new case in the History/notes section.
	What visibility of the new case does the previous caseworking office have?
	It is important that the client can be helped as much as possible and this includes continued assistance from the previous caseworking office. The previous case manager and caseworker will be able to link to the new case using the reference held in History/notes of the old case. They will be able to see all the information and to add notes and attachments. They will not be able to alter any information on the Form A or enter financial transactions for the new case.

	What types of organisation are there?
	There are three types of organisation: caseworking organisations (e.g. SAAFA Forces Help, RAFA), assistance providers (e.g. ABF The Soldiers' Charity), caseworkers and assistance providers (e.g. The Royal British Legion).
	What are Offices and Sub Offices?
	Every organisation has at least one office (e.g. The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust operates from one office in Portsmouth). Some organisations have Area Welfare Offices such as the Legion and RAFA. Some organisations have area offices which are split into offices covering part of the area. These organisations have offices and sub offices (notably SSAFA which has Branches and Divisions). CMS works at the office/sub office level. Cases are owned by offices and sub offices. Assistance requests have to be addressed to offices or sub offices.

	What does the "More Actions" button do?
	"More actions" appears on the Case Details screen and it gives you access to more actions on the case. There is a little white arrow on the "More Actions" button, and if you click it, it will open up a list of actions that you can scroll through and choose the action you want.
	Why doesn't the action I want appear in "More Actions"
	CMS works on the case status and user permissions to determine what actions you can see. For example, if a case does not have section 13 ticked (client signature) then the case cannot be almonised and the "Request Assistance" action will be missing from the "More Actions" list. This is because the client signature is required before the caseworking office has permission to send the case to other organisations.
	Sometimes the actions under "More Actions" ghost over the tabs on the left hand side of the Case Details screen.
	This happens occasionally with Internet Explorer. If you look at "Tools" on the Internet Explorer Tool Bar, you will see "Compatibility View". This should be unticked. If you try unticking "Compatibility View" then the ghosting should stop happening.

	What precautions can I take with regard to security of information when using CMS?
	CMS is a secure system that holds confidential information about our clients and all users should ensure that the data is maintained securely. CMS will not put or leave any data about your cases on your computer. However there are precautions you should take and here are the recommendations from a data protection audit of CMS that was done by the information Commissioner's Office (ICO). 1 Always delete confidential information from your computer once it has been loaded on to the case in CMS. CMS is more secure than data held on a local computer. Local storage of data should only be used to enable you to attach documents to CMS. 2 Always password protect your computer if it is going to hold confidential information. 3 Avoid using a public computer in a library or cafe where others can see the confidential client information. 4 Always choose a password that others will find difficult to guess and make sure that you don't divulge your password to anyone. Avoid using obvious passwords such as "Password1" or your previous password with 02 at the end etc.
	What is a security breach?
	CMS is a secure system and it is protected against unauthorised access. However, no system is fully secure and there may be situations where users will view or alter data that they should not see. CMS does record every update made by every user and therefore there will be a record of every change made to the cases in the system, recording the user name and the date and time of the change.
	How can I report a suspected security breach?
	You may come across a situation where you suspect a security breach. If so, you should report it quickly to the system administrator. CMS provides every user with a way of reporting these possible breaches. You can report a suspected breach using the "support/contact us" menu at the foot of every page and choosing the section about security breaches. Once you have reported the breach the system administrator will be aware and will follow it up. Reporting suspected security breaches is confidential between you and the system administrator.

	How do I print the form A from CMS?
	The Form A is generated every time you request it using CMS and it always incorporates the latest changes to the case that users have made. You can print the form A by choosing "Preview Form A" from the Case Details menu. The Form A will open in a new window on your computer and it will be in pdf format. You can print the Form A by choosing file > print on your browser or by choosing the printer icon on the pdf display.
	How do I print attachments?
	You can print attachments with the Form A if you tick the box that is shown when you choose "Preview Form A" from the case details screen. This action will print the form A followed by all the attachments on a single pdf file. Alternatively you can go to the attachments tab on the case details screen and choose to print the attachments separately, or combine them by ticking the boxes shown alongside the attachment files.
	What does "Print this tab" mean?
	"Print this tab" appears at the bottom of the case details screen. If you choose to print this tab CMS will produce a pdf file of the tab you are working on that is highlighted in blue on the left hand side of the screen. For example, if you are in the History/Notes tab, this tab will be highlighted on the left hand side and "print this tab" will produce a pdf of the History/Notes tab.
	What does "Print selected tabs" mean?
	You can print any of tabs on the cas details screen by choosing "Print this tab" at the bottom of the screen. You can also print any combination of the case detail tabs plus the form A and attachments if you want to. Print selected tabs will present you with a tick list of tabs to print and you can also choose the attachments and the Form A as well. As with all case information prints, CMS will generate a pdf file that is shown in a new window when you choose "Print selected tabs".
	What does it mean when I try to print the Form A and I am asked about the client signature wording?
	If you print a partially completed Form A that has not been signed by the client, you are given two options for printing section 13 "already signed by client" or "to be signed by client". If you are going to present this printed Form A to your client to sign, then choose "to be signed by the client". This will print the full wording in section 13 so that the client can read the words and sign section 13. You will only be presented with this option if the case has not been signed off. If the case has been signed off then there is no need to print the full wording in section 13. You can tell if a case is signed off by its status. An "active" case means that the Form A is being completed but has not yet been signed off.
	Why don't "Print this tab" and "Print selected tabs" work for me?
	There are two common reasons why these functions will not workfor some users. The problem may be because of one or both of these reasons. 1 You need to allow pop ups. there will be a message saying that pop ups are blocked. You can choose to allow pop ups temporarily or permanently from this site. 2 The pdf display is not set up to "show pdf files in the browser". This situation occurs if your computer has been set not to display pdf files in the browser. To change this setting, find a pdf file on your computer and open it directly, not through CMS. You will then have an edit menu on the browser tool bar (usually at the top of the screen). Click edit and view preferences, then tick "display pdf files in the browser".
	Can I print a blank form A?
	You can print the Form A of the case you are working on at any time and CMS will generate the Form A each time using the most up to date information on the case. This means that you can print a copy before you go to see the client for the first time. This is an alternative to taking a blank pre-printed form A with you. the Form A fro mCMS will already have the case number, client name and address and the banking information in section 15 rather than blanks. if you want to you can also print a completely blank Form A with no client details on it. You choose "Print blank Form A" from the case search/new screen.
	Why are the date and time and the page numbers printed on the form A from CMS?
	The Form A has 7 or more pages and Section 13 - Client Declaration, is part of the Form A. The preprinted Form A that is available for your caseworking organisation is a joined up document where all pages form part of one piece of paper. When the client signs this document section 13 is definitely part of the whole because it is joined to all the other pages on the one piece of paper. If you print a docmuent from a computer then you can't join up the pages in the same way. Therefore CMS will generate an identifier on every page so all pages can be seen to form part of the same set. The date and time printed plus identifying which page out of how many pages there are (e.g. page 3 of 7) serves to uniqely identify the particular Form A and it would be obvious if the pages get mixed up or go missing. This printed date and time are required to be entered if the client signs a computer produced Form A from CMS; they are required if you use a blank preprinted Form A from stock.

Why do I get "web page expired" when I click the back botton on the top left of my screen?

	What does the little date symbol at the side of date fields do?
	You can set a date by clicking on the symbol and then you are shown a "date picker" to help you select a date. Using the date picker you can change the month and year using a drop down facility, then choose the day in the month. The default date shown in the date picker is always today's date and it is highlighted.
	What format do dates have to be?
	All dates are in the format dd/mm/yyyy and all characters have to be entered. For example 4 February 2013 should be entered as 04/02/2013. You can enter the date manually or use the date picker symbol next to the date field.
	What should I do if I don't know the full date?
	We always want to enter the most accurate information but sometimes the full date might not be available, e.g. when a client started work in a particular job. In these cases you can enter a partial date by ticking "partial date" next to the date field and typing in what you know. For example, if your client started a job in March 1998 but you don't know the exact date you can tick "partial date" and enter 03/1998 in the new field that is presented.
	Sometimes the help words overwrite the date symbol; how do I enter a date?
	You can move the date picker when it displayed by clicking your mouse in the area, holding and moving it away from the help text, then letting go when the date picker is all visible. You can then use the date picker as normal. Alternatively, you can type in the date directly into the field; please remember that you need the full format dd/mm/yyyy.

	What does "Refer for Review" do and who should use it?
	"Refer for Review" is intended primarily for caseworkers to inform the case manager that the Form A is complete. You can choose "Refer for Review" at any time from the case details screen or from the screens where you enter the Form A. When you choose Refer for Review, an email is sent to the case manager and the case owning office. When the person who actions the case has been alerted he/she can take off the Refer for Review marker. If you are a case manager you can search for cases that have been referred for review on the case search/new screen.
	I am a caseworker, should I always use "Refer for Review"?
	If you are a Legion caseworker, it is standard practice to mark a case "Refer for Review" when you have completed the Form A. This will alert your local office and they can take action on the case straightaway while your completed Form A is in the post. For other caseworking organisations (e.g. SSAFA) you can use Refer for Review as an option and your local office (e.g. Division) will set the standard.

Welcome, Please Log In.