Completing BEACON Narratives
A Narrative must be written any time that a case manager enters a case.
For all programs, it is important that any staff person, who subsequently works on or researches a case, understands the case history with minimal effort. Therefore, a detailed Narrative must be written following all case action and all client contact. The Narrative must describe the action that was taken, how the action impacted the case, and describe any follow-up that is needed as a result of the transaction or client contact.
As others rely on the Narratives to quickly asses the status of the case, use only Department approved abbreviations. A list of acceptable abbreviations can be found in the Narrative Guidelines Overview, along with a standardized template for BEACON Narratives.
| Example of an unacceptable Narrative: | Example of an acceptable Narrative: |
|---|---|
| “New employer. Wages entered.” | “In-person Queue. Case Maintenance action completed. Household of 1. Grantee reported that she is now employed at Jannell’s Jewelry as of 2/1/17. Paystubs dated 2/3/17, 2/10/17, 2/17/17, and 2/24/17 provided. Earned income updated in BEACON, and scanned to the Electronic Case Folder (ECF). Grantee also reported an increase in rent from $300/monthly to $500/monthly; she is still responsible for Heating/Cooling. Lease agreement provided; shelter expense amount updated in BEACON, verification scanned to the ECF. SNAP eligibility recalculated resulting in case closure due to countable earned income in excess of grant effective 3/14/17. No follow-up action required or outstanding case actions. |
Steps for Writing a Narrative (From the Action Details Page)
- after completing the Action, from the Action Details page, click the i icon located to the right of the Comments box to open the Action Notes popup page
- write a detailed Narrative
- click the Save icon in the upper left-hand corner. The Action Notes popup page will close and the typed comments will appear in the Comments box
- make sure that the Copy to ECF narrative checkbox is checked to ensure that the Action Note will be transferred to the Narrative tab in the ECF
- click the Save button
Note: While a Narrative can be written from the Narrative tab within the ECF, you must write a comment in order to exit a completed Action. Writing the Narrative as a comment on the Action Details page to be copied to the ECF Narrative tab, rather than within the ECF, saves time and spares you duplicative effort.
Steps for Writing a Narrative (From the Narrative Tab Within the ECF)
- in the Electronic Case Folder, click on the Narrative tab
- click New to open the Notepad popup page
- write a detailed Narrative
- click the Save icon located in the upper left-hand corner of the page
- the Notepad popup page will close and the Narrative will be saved to the Narrative tab in the Electronic Case Folder
Last Update: March 24, 2017