March 16, 2010

Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS):Comprehensive Assessment for Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Manual

The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS):Comprehensive Assessment for Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Manual created by John S. Lyons, Tim Gawron, and Melanie Buddin Lyons, is a information integration tool designed to support individual case planning and the planning and evaluation of service systems. The CANS-Comprehensive tool is used in service delivery systems that address the mental health of children, adolescents and their families. There are many alternative versions of the CANS, and all are free to use. The tool measures items such as traumatic experiences, traumatic stress symptoms, child strengths, life domain functioning, acculturation, child behavioral and emotional needs, child risk behaviors, and caregiver needs and strengths. All items are measures on a scale of 1 (no evidence or no reason to believe that the rated item requires any action) to 3 (a need for immediate or intensive action. This level indicates an immediate safety concern or a priority for intervention.