Outcome Measures

Implementation of outcome measures is overseen by the Quality Improvement & Quality Assurance department. Measures are completed at the beginning of treatment, every six-months following the first administration, and at the end of treatment.

Children's System of Care

Beginning October 1, 2018, Contra Costa Mental Health is part of a statewide implementation of a standardized functional assessment tools that will allow us to better meet the needs of children, youth and families through a strength-based needs-driven approach.

Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS)

The CANS is a multiple purpose information integration tool. The purpose of the CANS is to accurately represent the needs and strengths of children, youth and their families, as well as the shared vision of the children/youth serving system. The CANS is an open domain measure for use in service delivery systems that address the mental health of youth and their families. The Praed Foundation holds the copyright: praedfoundation.org. The CANS is completed through a collaborative process that includes young clients and their caregivers (at a minimum). This measure is required for children and youth from birth up to age 20.

Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-35)

The PSC-35 is a 35-item assessment of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems that reveals parent/caregiver reflections of their child's psychosocial functioning. The questionnaire is completed by caregivers who rate how well each item describes their child/youth using a 3-point scale. In addition to overall functioning, there are domain scores on attention, externalizing, and internalizing functioning. Higher scores indicate lower functioning. The PSC-35 is completed on behalf of youth ages 3 to 18 years old.

Adult System of Care

Beginning December 1, 2020, Contra Costa Mental Health will implement the below standardized functional assessment tool.

Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA)

The ANSA is a multiple purpose information integration tool developed to support decision-making, including treatment planning, facilitating quality improvement initiatives, and monitoring the outcomes of services. The ANSA is an open domain measure for use in service delivery systems that address the needs of individuals and their families. The Praed Foundation holds the copyright: praedfoundation.org. The ANSA is completed through a collaborative process with the client. There are two versions of the ANSA: the ANSA Brief and the ANSA Full. This measure is required for clients ages 21 and older. (The CANS is completed for clients ages 18-20.)

Resources

Contact

If you do not already have a promo code, CCBHS only provides CANS promo codes for staff who work for an agency we contract with so please indicate your name and the name of the agency or clinic you work at in the body of your email inquiry for a faster response. Please make sure to use your work email to authenticate that your request is coming from your agency as oppose to a personal email address. General solicitors/solicitations will not be provided this information.