In many jails, there is no standardized file where information about person’s behavior is chronologically and categorically maintained while that person is in an institution. Most jails maintain a file for court and legal information and a medical file for medical and mental health information, but they do not maintain a file with a person’s social and behavioral information. Social and behavioral information can often be maintained in separate classification, housing, disciplinary, grievance, programs, and security files.

Correctional case management is an alternative to having an incarcerated person’s information spread among different offices in a jail. Correctional case management gives correctional staff the means to intervene on behalf of a person using a standard language, file structure, agency forms, documentation, and file maintenance. A case management file (also known as a classification or program file) is a social file that tells the story about a person’s stay.

Typically, when a person is admitted into a jail, there are a series of actions that the person must progress through, such as security and property checks, booking, a medical interview, orientation, and classification (security rating and housing assignment). There are also additional actions that a person may experience or progress through depending on the operational structure and programmatic offerings of a jail. Orientation, classification, and institutional behaviors are the focus of Correctional Case Management for Jails.

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