Congress Must Address Constituent Service Vulnerabilities
Through constituent service, Members of Congress build public trust and create tangible improvements for constituents — but these interactions must be handled with great care, given the sensitive nature of information disclosed.
Unpacking the SSI/SSDI Hearing for Caseworkers
One of the most frustrating parts of casework is seeing the same cases come up over and over again. But the recent House Ways and Means Committee Subcommittee on Social Security focused on some of the most sticky, intractable problems of the SSI and SSDI programs.
Casework is Ready for Innovation
Congressional tech modernizers, innovators, and legislative nerds gathered for the 5th Congressional Hackathon. Hosted by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and the House Chief Administrative Office, the event focused on ideas and works-in-progress for how tech can streamline Congressional operations and make Congress a safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable place to work.
Preparing for Casework in a Government Shutdown
Lapses in government funding have happened with enough regularity that it is good practice for Congressional offices to have a plan in place for navigating the challenges of continuing their own operations and serving constituent needs. This guide is a quick starting point for offices to plan ahead.
Casework in the International Context: Notes from Sunny Yerevan
Katherine Long, POPVOX Foundation’s Casework Programs Senior Fellow, was invited to participate as a delegate of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Technical Assistance Consultancy with the National Assembly of Armenia as part of the the House Democracy Partnership.
Sharing Constituent Stories While Respecting Privacy
How can caseworkers elevate constituents’ stories and issues while respecting and protecting their privacy and confidentiality? This is a vital question for casework teams to consider in concert with their colleagues on the communications team.
Ensuring Caseworker Expertise is Considered in Discussions of How Agencies Will Use AI
How can the federal government effectively and responsibly leverage AI to improve federal services and missions? These questions touch on the work that caseworkers do every day at the front lines of how constituents interact with government and the issues or difficulties they experience.
Involving Interns and Fellows in Casework
Interns are invaluable for handling typical tasks like answering phones, opening mail, and staffing the front desk, but it can be hard to find appropriate tasks for interns in a casework program.
Canaries in the Coal Mine: Casework Lessons from the 2008 Crisis
New and experienced casework teams consistently bring up questions about handling the non-stop pace beginning in March of 2020 with the repatriation of American citizens at the start of the pandemic, and continuing through stimulus payments, pandemic relief, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the current passport backlog crisis (and lots in between).
Casework: What We Do and Don’t Know
For the true nerds interested in diving into casework studies (a political science specialization that we fervently hope will exist one day), we present an unsolicited wish list of questions we wish scholars would help answer on casework in a US context, and a short reading list of existing scholarship.
20 ModCom Recommendations to Strengthen Casework
One group that received unaccustomed attention from the Select Committee is Congressional caseworkers — those professional staff, mostly in district offices, who do some of the most direct, accountable work in Congress to solve constituent problems with the federal bureaucracy.