The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 6 letter word SOCIAL WORKER
S
O
C
I
A
L
W
O
R
K
E
R
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "handler/of/cases for those struggling" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case handler/of/cases for those struggling = social worker.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.