Child-Maltreatment-Research-L (CMRL) List Serve

Message ID: 10578

Date: 2020-01-18

Author:Joshua P Mersky

Subject:Re: Child centered outcome measures

I agree with Joe. The CANS is used here in Wisconsin. While it has value as a practice tool, it remains unproven as a scientific assessment. Josh Joshua P. Mersky Professor, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare Co-Director, Institute for Child and Family Well-being http://uwm.edu/icfw/ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2400 E. Hartford Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211 ________________________________ From: bounce-124285394-6841007@list.cornell.edu on behalf of Joseph Ryan Sent: Friday, January 17, 2020 3:17:36 PM To: Child Maltreatment Researcher List (CMRL) Subject: Re: Child centered outcome measures Despite widespread use, I do not believe CANS was designed to measure change over time. Joe On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 9:51 AM Chen, Lijun > wrote: Hi Rich, I wonder whether you know the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tool developed by John Lyons. John used to work as a colleague at Chapin Hall, now with University of Kentucky. CANS has been used in some states as an assessment tool for children being investigated or to be placed in out of home care. It has modules for different domains of child well-being and for different age groups. You can contact John to learn more about CANS. I hope this is helpful for your efforts. Lijun Chen, Ph.D. Senior Researcher Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 1313 East 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637 Office Tel.: 773 2565140 www.chapinhall.org [Chapin Hall Logo for Signature] From: bounce-124262866-9885936@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-124262866-9885936@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Sent: Friday, January 10, 2020 1:33 PM To: child-maltreatment-research-l@list.cornell.edu Subject: Child centered outcome measures Greetings Everyone, We are starting a conversation in Minnesota about measuring outcomes at the child level. We have in mind to get baseline measures when children come into the system, using existing validated instruments, that would include an assessment of trauma, physical and mental development, and behavioral and mental health. The idea is that over time, if the system is doing its job well, all of these metrics will improve. We recognize this is not a small undertaking but we want to get started thinking about it. The hypothesis is that by rolling up these measures, de-identified of course, at the worker, supervisor, unit, County and state levels, it will become more clear how well children are doing. Also, following the principle that “what gets measured is what it’s done”, measuring child-centered outcomes would focus on child well-being in ways that add an important dimension to the current (though also important) process-oriented child welfare metrics such as timeliness of response, frequency of social worker visits, length of time in care etc. Is anyone aware of efforts underway to measure child-level outcomes in any counties or states? Thanks for whatever help you can provide. Rich Gehrman Executive Director Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota 651-303-3209 www.safepassagemn.org [cid:image001.jpg@01D30081.29BFC050] [http://safepassagemn.com/images/twitter.png] [cid:image002.gif@01D30081.29BFC050] -- Joseph P. Ryan, Ph.D. Professor Director Child and Adolescent Data Lab ssw-datalab.org

I agree with Joe. The CANS is used here in Wisconsin. While it has value as a practice tool, it remains unproven as a scientific assessment. Josh Joshua P. Mersky Professor, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare Co-Director, Institute for Child and Family Well-being http://uwm.edu/icfw/ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 2400 E. Hartford Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211 ________________________________ From: bounce-124285394-6841007list.cornell.edu on behalf of Joseph Ryan Sent: Friday, January 17, 2020 3:17:36 PM To: Child Maltreatment Researcher List (CMRL) Subject: Re: Child centered outcome measures Despite widespread use, I do not believe CANS was designed to measure change over time. Joe On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 9:51 AM Chen, Lijun > wrote: Hi Rich, I wonder whether you know the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tool developed by John Lyons. John used to work as a colleague at Chapin Hall, now with University of Kentucky. CANS has been used in some states as an assessment tool for children being investigated or to be placed in out of home care. It has modules for different domains of child well-being and for different age groups. You can contact John to learn more about CANS. I hope this is helpful for your efforts. Lijun Chen, Ph.D. Senior Researcher Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 1313 East 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637 Office Tel.: 773 2565140 www.chapinhall.org [Chapin Hall Logo for Signature] From: bounce-124262866-9885936list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-124262866-9885936list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Sent: Friday, January 10, 2020 1:33 PM To: child-maltreatment-research-llist.cornell.edu Subject: Child centered outcome measures Greetings Everyone, We are starting a conversation in Minnesota about measuring outcomes at the child level. We have in mind to get baseline measures when children come into the system, using existing validated instruments, that would include an assessment of trauma, physical and mental development, and behavioral and mental health. The idea is that over time, if the system is doing its job well, all of these metrics will improve. We recognize this is not a small undertaking but we want to get started thinking about it. The hypothesis is that by rolling up these measures, de-identified of course, at the worker, supervisor, unit, County and state levels, it will become more clear how well children are doing. Also, following the principle that “what gets measured is what it’s done”, measuring child-centered outcomes would focus on child well-being in ways that add an important dimension to the current (though also important) process-oriented child welfare metrics such as timeliness of response, frequency of social worker visits, length of time in care etc. Is anyone aware of efforts underway to measure child-level outcomes in any counties or states? Thanks for whatever help you can provide. Rich Gehrman Executive Director Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota 651-303-3209 www.safepassagemn.org [cid:image001.jpg01D30081.29BFC050] [http://safepassagemn.com/images/twitter.png] [cid:image002.gif01D30081.29BFC050] -- Joseph P. Ryan, Ph.D. Professor Director Child and Adolescent Data Lab ssw-datalab.org