Give caseworkers a plain account of what the agent may now do with a case, tested on cases like theirs. Each 90-day recertification can change which letters it sends, which notes it drafts and when it escalates a vulnerable person. A one-page change note, a short practice session and a fortnight of sampled work keep caseworkers in charge of every decision that matters.
Why does the agent's 90-day cycle matter to a caseworker?
Casework in a council, a housing association or a social care team is mostly reading, writing and chasing. A governed agent helps by summarising a case history at depth 1, drafting letters, case notes and referral forms at depth 2, and booking appointments and sending routine reminders at depth 3 within the organisation's own limits. Any payment or award it prepares is a depth 4 action and held for a named person.
Eligibility decisions do not move to the agent at any depth. Nor does a judgement about safeguarding. Those stay with the caseworker because they require weighing a person's circumstances, and because public bodies carry extra duties of transparency and fairness in how decisions are reached.
The agent's certificate lapses after 90 days. Recertification replays it on the organisation's own cases, and the result can change the details caseworkers rely on: which letter types it may send without review, how it handles a case flagged as vulnerable, and which policy version it draws on. The policy library is a sealed source, so when policy changes the agent follows the new version only once it is in the library and the capability has been recertified. The general idea is covered in what recertification is.
Who should own caseworker readiness?
The team manager owns it. The person who builds and certifies the agent owns the recertification. A policy or quality lead should check the change note, because caseworkers will treat it as a description of how the service now runs.
How to run each cycle, step by step
- Person (team manager): set the date away from statutory deadlines and seasonal peaks.
- Agent, depth 1: report the cycle. Letters sent, drafts returned with edits, appointments booked, escalations and refusals, each with its deciding bound.
- Person (quality lead): read a sample of returned drafts. Patterns in caseworker edits show what the agent gets wrong.
- Person (builder): recertify using recent cases, including ones with vulnerability flags and policy changes.
- Person (team manager and builder): write the change note. Which letters it now sends or only drafts, any new escalation trigger, and which policy version it uses.
- Agent, depth 2: draft three practice cases reflecting the changes, anonymised and checked by the quality lead.
- Person (team manager): hold a 30-minute session. Caseworkers decide what to send, edit or escalate, and explain why.
- Person (quality lead): sample the first fortnight of letters sent under the new certificate.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case summary | Summarises history from the case system | 1 | Deciding what matters |
| Letters and notes | Drafts letters, notes and referrals | 2 | Editing and sending |
| Appointments and reminders | Books and sends within limits | 3 | Changing limits |
| Payments or awards | Prepares and holds | 4, held | Approving |
| Eligibility | Drafts a summary of evidence only | 2 | The decision |
| Vulnerability flag | Escalates to the named caseworker | escalation | Safeguarding judgement |
What to retrain: the three things that drift
Escalation. If the agent now escalates more cases, caseworkers must know why and respond in time. If it escalates fewer, someone must check that the threshold still catches what it should.
Letters that changed depth. A letter the agent used to send and now only drafts arrives in the caseworker's queue. A letter it now sends unreviewed needs a caseworker to know exactly what it says.
Provenance in summaries. A case summary mixes facts from the system of record with what the person told the caseworker, which is declared and unverified. Caseworkers should check which is which before relying on a summary in an assessment.
Controls and what they leave on file
- Change note checked by the quality lead. Evidence: the dated, signed note.
- Practice session with named attendance. Evidence: the attendance list and caseworker answers.
- Fortnight sample. Evidence: letters reviewed, with corrections.
- Award approvals by named, certified staff. Evidence: each approval in the append-only record.
- Practicum for new approvers. Evidence: the practicum log template for caseworkers.
How to tell whether caseworkers are ready
Watch three things. The edit rate on drafts in the first fortnight compared with the previous cycle. The time from an escalation to a caseworker's response. And complaints that mention a letter the agent sent. A rise in any of them after a cycle points to the change note or the session.
Ask caseworkers too. A team that can say in one sentence what changed this cycle is ready. A team that says "the agent was updated" is not.
Common ways it goes wrong
Caseworkers discover a change from a confused resident rather than from the note. That happens when the note is written for managers, not for the people doing the work.
The agent's summary becomes the assessment. It reads well, so it gets pasted in. Caseworkers remain answerable for what they rely on, as are caseworkers accountable for an AI agent's mistakes explains.
Cover is thin. If the agent's recertification clears no depth and it drops to depth 1, every letter returns to the team as a draft. Plan who absorbs that. Teams in compliance and underwriting face the same problem; compare keeping compliance officers ready.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy's Foundations track suits caseworkers new to agents; it takes about 4 hours and the badge is free. Caseworkers who approve awards or held actions can take the Operator track, with module tests set in their own industry and role and a two-week practicum of real review decisions. The guide to AI literacy and certification for people who work with agents covers the wider picture.
Questions people ask
Should residents be told when an agent drafted their letter?
Many public bodies choose to say so, and transparency duties point that way. Agree the wording once and apply it consistently.
What if policy changes in the middle of a cycle?
Update the policy library first. If the change affects what the agent may send, hold those letters for review until the capability is recertified.
Do part-time caseworkers need the same briefing?
Yes. Record the session or give them the practice cases to work through, and collect the same sign-off.