Getting Started with Granular Permissions: Setup Guide for Admins

Granular Permissions in Casebook offer greater control over who can view and edit records, separate from who is assigned to work on them. To take full advantage of this model in Engage, a few initial setup steps are recommended.

This guide walks System Admins and Team Leads through the key actions needed to successfully transition from the old "assignment = access" model to the new Access List model.

What’s Changing?

Granular Permissions change how visibility works. Being assigned to a case no longer means someone can automatically view it; you now control visibility separately through Access Lists.

To make this transition smooth, you’ll want to:

Adjust user roles
Set up Teams
Update access in bulk for existing records
Start using access lists when working in Engage

✅ Step 1: Make Sure Roles Are Set to “Limited Access”

To use access lists, users need to have the correct role setting.

What You Need to Do:

Go to Admin → Roles
Find the roles your caseworkers, supervisors, and other staff use
Change those roles to “Limited Access”
Decide if the role should include access to Person Profiles (optional)

🔒 Why this matters:
Roles set to “All” will ignore access lists. If you want users to only see what they’re assigned or allowed to see, their role must be Limited Access.

🧠 Example:

✅ Good: A Supervisor has the “Limited Access – Supervisor” role
❌ Not Ideal: A Supervisor has a role that includes “All Engage Records”—they’ll see every case, even if they’re not on the access list

👥 Step 2: Create Teams

Teams lets you grant access to a group of users all at once. You don’t need to add each person manually.

What You Need to Do:

Go to Admin → Users & Teams→ Teams
Click + Add a New Team
Give the team a clear name (like “Region 1 Caseworkers” or “Youth Program Supervisors”)
Add users to each team

📌 Note: Right now, teams only apply to Person Profiles. They’ll be available for Engage records in a future update.

🧠 Example Teams:

“Brooklyn Caseworkers”
“DV Program Supervisors”
“Westside Intake Team”

💡 Best Practice:

Set up teams based on how you assign work—by program, region, or department. This makes future access changes much easier.

📊 Step 3: Update Access Using Bulk Actions

Now that your teams and roles are ready, you’ll want to update access for existing records.

What You Need to Do:

Go to the Person Workload View
Use filters (like Program or Assigned Worker) to narrow your list
Select multiple profiles from the list
Click Bulk Actions → Modify Access
Add or remove users and/or teams

🚫 Important: Bulk changes only apply to records on the current page. If you're updating more than what’s shown, repeat for each page.

🧠 Example:

You’ve just created a “Region 1 Team.” Now you can select all Region 1 clients in the workload view and grant the team access to their profiles in one action.

📝 Step 4: Use Access Lists in Engage Going Forward

Once everything is set up, start using Access Lists when you create or edit Engage cases.

What You Need to Do:

When creating a case, set:
- The Assignee – who is responsible for the case
- The Access List – who should be able to view or edit the case
When managing cases in the Engage Workload View, use bulk tools to:
- Reassign cases
- Update access lists

👁️ Reminder: Assignment no longer equals visibility. You must add users or teams to the access list if they need access to the case.

📌 Setup Summary Checklist

Task	Done?
Update user roles to “Limited Access”	☐
Decide if Person Profile access should be included in roles	☐
Create and organize teams	☐
Use bulk actions to update access for existing records	☐
Use Access Lists when creating or editing Engage cases	☐

📞 Need Help?

If you're unsure how to update roles, build teams, or apply access changes, contact our Support Team. We're happy to help.