To maximize successful outcomes, case plans should include several components.

Case planning can be synonyms with a supervision plan, treatment plan, and/or behavior contract. In some places, offenders receive two or three plans to define the rules and requirements of supervision and/or treatment. Imagine the confusion of an offender - trying to remember which plan is the most important. Case plans now should encompass facets from the supervision and treatment plans, as well as a behavioral contract. The contract is designed to hold offenders accountable for their actions and their responsibilities by articulating all of the requirements for supervision and treatment. Combining these three documents into one cohesive case plan can help in increasing the effectiveness of the plan and the chances of offender success. Case plans need to contain information from the supervision plan (i.e. offender/agent information, special conditions, offender typology), the treatment plan (i.e. type of treatment requirements), and the behavioral contract (i.e. dates of responsibilities and signatures) in order to be effective.