J. Jean Rogers, the state official with daily oversight of W-2, said the agencies were good and getting better with experience and smaller caseloads.

With smaller caseloads now, Mr. Buschmann predicts the individual attention will increase.

According to the department's own guidelines, even with small caseloads and and enough money, it is unlikely that Mr. Smith's case would have received top priority.

I.S.P. officers, who are more a combination of cop and social worker than the typical parole officer, have small caseloads, usually not more than 20.

Her smaller caseload allows her to feel a sense of accomplishment, even when she fails, she said.

MST therapists like Towell have small caseloads - four to six families at a time.

However, it too has a small caseload, and adequate time was provided for training caseworkers who volunteered for the assignment and were carefully selected.

The jobs program needs similar small caseloads, and that means more workers.

As mentioned, MST therapists also carry a small caseload and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

They would be assigned to caseworkers with much smaller caseloads.