| Course | PS450 Case Management in Clinical Settings |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 10 |
| Paper type | Discharge plan |
| Length | About 970 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Psychology |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PS450 Unit 10
After the Court Steps Away: A PS450 Unit 10 Discharge Plan for a Treatment Court Graduate
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
PS450: Case Management in Clinical Settings
Unit 10 Discharge Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The client, her family and the program are composite; the reviews and studies cited are real.
Summary of Services
Brandi turned 35 this spring, a month before her graduation date. She entered our outpatient recovery program and the county's family treatment court thirteen months ago, after child protective services removed her children, Tyler, now 16, and Kaylee, now 7. She received individual and group counseling, trauma treatment using Seeking Safety, buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, treatment that cured her hepatitis C, peer recovery coaching and case management. She graduates from the court next month. The judge returned custody of both children two months ago, and the family's child welfare case will close at graduation.
Goals Met
Brandi's three goals at intake were her children home, her own place and a job where she is not scared every day. All three have been met. Her children live with her in a two-bedroom apartment in the transitional housing program, where she has signed a lease for a permanent unit starting next month. She has worked thirty hours a week at a grocery store for eight months and was promoted to a shift supervisor role in September. Her last positive drug screen came nine months ago, during the hardest weeks of her trauma treatment, and every screen since has been negative.
The court's structure helped Brandi build a life; the discharge plan has to protect that life once the structure is gone.
Needs That Remain
Several needs continue after discharge. Brandi still has nightmares about once a week and avoids parts of town where her former partner lives. Her protective order expires in eight months. She depends on buprenorphine, which she and her prescriber plan to continue indefinitely. Money is tight, and the end of the court program means the end of some transportation help. Tyler continues in the teen program after school, and Kaylee has occasional trouble sleeping when her mother is late coming home.
Why Continuing Care Matters
McKay (2009) reviewed research on continuing care after an initial episode of substance use treatment. He found that continuing care generally improved outcomes, that longer periods of continuing care tended to work better than short ones, and that active efforts to keep people engaged, including phone-based support, were more effective than leaving it to clients to return. Dennis and Scott (2007) argued that addiction should be managed like other chronic conditions, with ongoing monitoring and early reintervention, and described recovery management checkups, regular check-ins that help people return to treatment quickly when they start to struggle. They reported that people who received checkups returned to treatment sooner after relapse than those who did not.
Medication continuity is also central. A meta-analysis of cohort studies found much lower death rates among people while they remained on opioid agonist treatment than after they stopped, with the period just after stopping particularly risky (Sordo et al., 2017). Brandi's plan treats her buprenorphine as ongoing care, not a phase to finish.
Relapse Prevention Plan
Brandi wrote her relapse prevention plan with her counselor and me in her own words. Her warning signs are nightmares more than twice a week, skipping her Thursday group, isolating from her mother and sister, and thinking about the old neighborhood. Her high-risk situations are contact with her former partner, the anniversary of the removal in February, money running out before payday and exhaustion from overtime.
For each warning sign she listed an action. If nightmares increase, she will call her counselor for an extra session. If she skips group, her peer coach will call her the next day; she has given permission. If she thinks about using, she will call Crystal, her peer coach, or her sponsor before doing anything else. If she uses, she will tell her prescriber and her counselor within twenty-four hours, which she agreed is safer than hiding it, and will return to the program's intensive schedule.
Continuing Supports
The following supports continue after discharge. Brandi will keep her buprenorphine prescription with the same nurse practitioner, with visits every four weeks. She will attend weekly aftercare group at our program for six months. Her peer coach will continue to meet her twice a month. She will continue Seeking Safety sessions every other week until her counselor and she agree to stop. Tyler remains in the teen program, and the program will offer a family session each quarter. Her church has added her to a mentoring group for mothers, and her pastor's offer of rides continues.
Follow-Up
I will call Brandi at thirty, sixty and ninety days after discharge, and after that once a quarter until a full year has passed, using a short checkup modeled on recovery management checkups: how she is sleeping, whether she has used, whether she is in contact with her supports and whether anything has changed at home or work. If she reports use or a warning sign, I will help her return to services that week. Brandi has the program's number, her counselor's number, her peer coach's number and the 988 crisis line in her phone, and she gave permission for her mother to call the program if she is worried.
Conclusion
Brandi leaves the court with her children home, a job and a lease, and with needs that the court did not resolve. The plan keeps her medication, counselor, peer coach and group in place, puts her warning signs and actions in writing, and schedules checkups so that a stumble leads back to help quickly. Research on continuing care and on addiction as a chronic condition supports that design, and Brandi's own words make it hers.
References
Dennis, M., & Scott, C. K. (2007). Managing addiction as a chronic condition. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 4(1), 45-55. https://doi.org/10.1151/ascp074145
McKay, J. R. (2009). Continuing care research: What we have learned and where we are going. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 36(2), 131-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2008.10.004
Sordo, L., Barrio, G., Bravo, M. J., Indave, B. I., Degenhardt, L., Wiessing, L., Ferri, M., & Pastor-Barriuso, R. (2017). Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. BMJ, 357, Article j1550. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j1550
PS450 Unit 10 instructions, in plain terms
The final PS450 assessment asks you to write a discharge plan that prepares a client for life after services end. Summarize the services provided and the goals met. Identify needs that remain. Use research on continuing care or chronic disease management to justify what continues after discharge. Write a relapse prevention plan with the client's warning signs, high-risk situations and matching actions. List continuing supports with frequency and contacts, and set a follow-up schedule. Include crisis contacts and family involvement where appropriate. Use APA style with outcome research. Plans of four to six pages, written with the client's words where possible, are typical. Keep all details composite and respectful.
How this PS450 Unit 10 example is built
The plan opens with a summary of thirteen months of services and the return of custody two months before graduation. A goals section shows each of Brandi's three goals met, and a highlighted line says the plan exists to protect the life the court helped build. A needs section lists nightmares, avoidance, an expiring protective order, medication, money and her children's needs. A research section summarizes continuing care, recovery checkups and medication continuity. A relapse prevention section pairs each warning sign with an action in her words. Continuing supports and a follow-up schedule complete the plan, with crisis numbers in her phone and her mother allowed to call. It ends on her own words.
Where the points sit in the PS450 Unit 10 rubric
Graders look for a discharge plan that treats recovery as ongoing, with supports that continue after services end. Goals met should be documented concretely, and remaining needs stated honestly. Research on continuing care earns credit when it shapes specific features, such as follow-up calls or medication continuity. The relapse prevention plan is often weighted heavily: warning signs, high-risk situations and actions should be specific and in the client's language. Follow-up schedules and crisis contacts show practical readiness. Family and children's needs should be included. APA citations for continuing care research are expected, with composite details throughout. Plans that name who calls whom, and when, usually earn the top band.
PS450 Unit 10 help from the desk
Discharge plans often read like a certificate of completion, listing achievements without addressing what happens next. Others end all contact at graduation, ignoring evidence for continuing care. Relapse prevention sections may list general triggers such as stress without actions. Medication is sometimes treated as something to taper at discharge without evidence. Family members are frequently left out. As a last pass, confirm that each remaining need has a support assigned, that each warning sign has an action and a person to call, that a follow-up schedule extends at least several months, and that the plan cites research for what continues. Then confirm the client would recognize the plan. Keep it in her voice.
Get a PS450 Unit 10 example written to your instructions
Share the case, earlier work and the instructions with the rubric. A custom discharge plan covers supports, relapse prevention and follow-up. The first is free, back within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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PS450 Unit 10 questions, answered
When does discharge planning start?
Ideally at intake, so that services build toward independence.
What belongs in a discharge plan?
Goals met, remaining needs, community supports, a relapse prevention plan and follow-up contacts.
What happens if a client relapses after discharge?
A good plan names whom to call and how to return to services quickly.
Where can I find a free PS450 Unit 10 sample paper?
This page holds the complete PS450 Unit 10 discharge plan for a composite mother graduating from a family treatment court with her children home.
What continues after discharge in the PS450 Unit 10 sample?
Her buprenorphine, aftercare group, peer coach, trauma sessions and scheduled checkup calls from her case manager.