Using CANS Items to Define Child Well-Being and Study Child Welfare Outcomes

By: Dr. Amy Zimmerman, Casey Family Programs Casey Family Programs (Casey) believes that every child deserves a safe, supportive, and permanent family. Casey works urgently and relentlessly with our target service population of older youth to achieve permanency so that no child will age out of Casey foster care. We believe building, or rebuilding, family […]

Strategic Sustainability Learning Collaborative

The following blog post is written by our friends at Open Minds. Open Minds is a Behavioral Health Market Research and Management Consulting firm based out of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They specialize in the health and human service sector to serve individuals with the mission of providing providers and payer organizations the resources and knowledge to […]

How to do a Quality Assessment, TCOM Style

Presented and written by Lynda Killoran (Centerstone), Lynn Steiner (Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago), and Deborah Thomas (Centerstone) In our work as trainer, supervisor or clinician, we often hear a variation on THIS theme from assessors who were recently trained on a version of the CANS: “It’s SOOOO long and there are too […]

Family Matters

Family Matters: Why finding and engaging extended family and fictive kin is critical to positive outcomes for children in foster care

Continuous Quality Improvement-Moving beyond the data dashboard

“Getting beyond the data dashboard means continuously using rigorous data and evidence to answer the questions that will lead to the solutions that will positively impact the children, youth, and families served by our organizations.” -Yolanda Rogers, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

Partner Spotlight: The Institute for Innovation & Implementation

About the Institute: The Institute for Innovation and Implementation (The Institute) serves as a training, technical assistance, evaluation, policy, systems design, and finance center for the Maryland Children’s Cabinet and its member agencies, along with multiple other states, localities, and private organizations. The Institute supports state and local governments and organizations to implement effective systems […]

A Substantial Number of Youth Experiencing Homelessness are Pregnant or Parenting

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago is a research and policy center focused on a mission of improving the well-being of children and youth, families, and their communities. They combine rigorous research methods to generate evidence, while providing implementation support to apply that evidence in the field. In 2015, Chapin Hall launched the Voices of Youth […]

LGBTQ Young Adults Experience Homelessness at More than Twice the Rate of Peers

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago is a research and policy center focused on a mission of improving the well-being of children and youth, families, and their communities. They combine rigorous research methods to generate evidence, while providing implementation support to apply that evidence in the field. In 2015, Chapin Hall launched the Voices of Youth […]

Building a System of Addiction Treatment, One Addiction at a Time

By: Robert Shearer, MD Doctor, Middle Tennessee Addiction Center Incorporating TCOM into Addiction Treatment I discovered the work of Dr Lyons somewhat by accident when I began working with a case management group that belongs to the Tennessee HealthLink program. This program utilizes the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment. To best communicate with the case […]

The Start of SYNC

Get IN Chicago is a local organization founded in 2013. Their mission is to identify, fund, and rigorously evaluate evidence-based programs that will reduce violence for individuals and communities in Chicago. Their core programs focus on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mentoring, and Parent Engagement/Leadership. Last year, Get IN Chicago launched a new Strengthening Youth through […]

Safe Systems Improvement Tool

Safe Systems Improvement Tool Tennessee’s Communimetric Assessment for Understanding Critical Incidents The 1st annual Safety Culture Summit gave attendees and their larger audience a glimpse of the work being done around safety culture. Along with the tools shared during the poster session at the summit, Michael Cull, Policy Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University […]

TN Safety Culture Summit-2018

The first-ever Safety Culture Summit provided an unprecedented opportunity for child welfare leaders to present strategies, tools and tactics that promote safe, reliable and effective care. Held earlier this month in Nashville, TN, the summit also demonstrated what to expect from the growing partnership from Casey Family Programs, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, […]

CANS in NY-Establishing the Institute

CANS-NY Technical Assistance Institute: Providing training, coaching, and technical assistance in effective use of the CANS-NY New York State is using the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) as the primary eligibility tool for Children’s Health Home access and as an outcomes management tool within this system. In order to support effective use of the CANS-NY by care […]

Gender: A salient variable

by: Marrianne McMullen, Director of Communication and Dissemination Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Before last year’s women’s marches across the country, I felt like the country had turned its back on me and my experiences. Then I joined a 250,000-strong march where no back was turned. From the hundreds of blunt and funny […]

Chapin Hall at the 2018 Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Conference

By: Matt Brenner, Editor and Information Specialist Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago More than a dozen Chapin Hall staff members will contribute to presentations at the 2018 annual Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) conference. The conference, “Achieving Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Justice,” features more than 500 symposia, workshops, roundtables, and paper […]

Conference Collaboration

by: Evelyn Kintner and Max Kintner, Northern Rivers The October 2017 TCOM Conference provided an incredible opportunity for Max and I to present with Stephen Shimshock and Yvonne Humenay Roberts from Casey Family Programs. Although first intimidated by our illustrious co-presenters, it took all of 20 minutes over lunch before Max and I quickly formed […]

Project SAFESPACE, Part 2 of 2

Implementation and Goals This is Part 2 of the Project SAFESPACE post.    Project SAFESPACE has experienced many successes since its inception.  The child welfare and behavioral health community interact more frequently and acquired a better understanding of each other’s point of view about service provision.  Both communities have a more formal mechanism for communicating […]

Project SAFESPACE, Part 1 of 2

Background and Project Overview In 2013, The Children’s Bureau awarded Kentucky a grant to enhance access to behavioral health services for children in the custody of the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) and placed in out of home care (OOHC).  This grant is a five-year cooperative agreement between the University of Louisville (U of […]

Resilience Summit 2017

The National Resilience Institute (NRI) hosted its 4th annual international Resilience Summit at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago from October 16-18, 2017. Keynote speakers included Michelle Gay, Co-Founder of Safe and Sound Schools: A Sandy Hook Initiative; Steve Gross, Founder and Chief Playmaker of the LIfe is Good Kids Foundation; Janet Hilary, CEO of the Floreat […]

Aligning TCOM and Systems Theory

by: Ken McGill, LMFT In many ways the CANS, the FAST (the family version of the Communimetrics approach to measurement) and the ANSA align with the foundational definition of a system as outlined by Ludwig von Bertalanffy almost 40 years ago. A system must consist of four distinct components: Objects: the parts, elements or variables […]

WISe Symposium

In late July Nate and Danijela headed to Yakima, Washington for the Wrap with Intensive Services (WISe) Symposium.  The WISe Symposium:  Networking to Build Strenghts was hosted by the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services.  It was the state’s first coordinated event that brought together WISe stakeholders from across the state.  Over […]

Advocating for the Appropriate Level of Care

Parenting with hope through the hard places by Jennifer Griffis. Visit the homepage for the full series! — I drove 70 miles to attend this meeting in person. My husband adjusted his work schedule so he could call into the meeting, and my mother-in-law was in the waiting room of the office entertaining a couple […]

Moment of Crisis, Part 3/4

Parenting with hope through the hard places by Jennifer Griffis. Visit the homepage for the full series! — “I don’t think she can safely return home right now. Do you have any other options? Are there any family members who can take her?” My husband and I sat across from our daughter’s case manager as […]

Discharge Planning, Part 2/4

Parenting with hope through the hard places by Jennifer Griffis. Visit the homepage for the full series! — “Here’s the discharge summary. There’s a follow-up appointment for medication management in two weeks. She has an appointment for therapy next week. And here is all of the information on her medication. I just need you to […]

Entering the System, Part 1/4

Welcome to the first post of a 4 part series written by Jennifer Griffis. Visit the homepage for her series for a full look into their experiences. — “The treatment team is recommending long-term residential placement. Have you filled out an application for Children’s Mental Health services?” I was sitting on the floor of my […]

Remembering Trauma Part 2

Earlier this summer, Drs. Cassandra Kisiel and Tracy Fehrenbach, at the Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services and Interventions (CCTASI) at Northwestern University, a partner in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), launched a public awareness campaign and short film entitled “Remembering Trauma: Connecting the Dots Between Complex Trauma and Misdiagnosis in Youth.” This 16-minute film highlights […]

Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry: Evidence Part 4/4

Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry: Evidence Part 4/4 by Stephen Shimshock, PhD Director of Systems-Data and Reporting, Casey Family Programs — Evidence This post is the final part of a four-part series on Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry (FCI). In the previous post (From Stories to Hypotheses) we explored how to engage staff in unpacking the stories behind the data, […]

FCI: From Stories to Hypotheses Part 3/4

Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry: From Stories to Hypothesis Part 3/4 by Stephen Shimshock, PhD Director of Systems-Data and Reporting, Casey Family Programs — This post is part three of a four-part series on Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry (FCI). In the previous post (Using Data to Show Differences in Outcomes) we examined ways to identify subgroups of youth that may […]

FCI: Using Data to Show Differences in Outcomes Part 2/4

Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry: Using Data to Show Differences in Outcomes Part 2/4 by Stephen Shimshock, PhD Director of Systems-Data and Reporting, Casey Family Programs — This post is part 2 of a 4 part series on Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry (FCI). This post builds on the foundational material presented in the previous post . In this post we […]

Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry: Process Overview Part 1/4

Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry: Process Overview Part 1/4 by Stephen Shimshock, PhD Director of Systems-Data and Reporting, Casey Family Programs — Process Overview Facilitated Collaborative Inquiry (FCI) is a continuous quality-improvement (CQI) process that engages staff in every aspect of the inquiry process. The aim of FCI is to improve child welfare outcomes by building a culture […]

The Developing Communimetric Community

by Dan Warner Executive Director and Founder, Community Data Roundtable Originally posted June 19, 2017 on the CDR Blog. Click here to view more of their posts and follow their work. I first met John Lyons in 2011 when he was doing a training in Pennsylvania.  Instantly impressed by his vision for how to measure outcomes in […]

Effectiveness of Functional Family Therapy for Mandated Versus Non-Mandated Youth

Dr. Katarzyna Celinska recently shared her article with the TCOM team entitled “Effectiveness of Functional Family Therapy for Mandated Versus Non-Mandated Youth.”[1] This article was originally published in the Juvenile and Family Court Journal and provides an overview of her extensive study comparing outcomes of youth mandated to participate in therapy versus those whose participation […]

Evidence-Based Health Policy – Caught in the Crosshairs of Politics and Health Reform

Thank you Dr. Purva Rawal for your synopsis on your recent publication. The following discusses major themes in context of current debates surrounding healthcare reform and the Affordable Care Act. ————————————– By: Purva Rawal, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University Principal at CapView Strategies phrawal@gmail.com American healthcare is at a crossroads. The Affordable Care […]

Remembering Trauma

The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) held the 2017 National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) All Network conference on April 25-27 in Arlington, Virginia. This year’s theme was “Serving Children and Families Who Have Experience Trauma: Building  a Trauma-Informed Nation.” With a continued commitment to raising the standard of care and improving access to […]

Managing the Business of Helping: Overcoming the Myths of Outcomes Management

*5/3/2017 UPDATE:  Hope you enjoyed the Webinar! Click HERE to view slides used in today’s presentation. by Tristan Keelan, TenEleven Group TenEleven Group is pleased to sponsor a FREE webinar featuring Dr. John S. Lyons titled Managing the Business of Helping: Overcoming the Myths of Outcomes Management.  Dr. Lyons has 35 years of experience in the […]

Collaborating To Address Child Trauma

by:  Gene Griffin, J.D., Ph.D. Senior Fellow for Policy and Practice ChildTrauma Academy John Lyons, in his post of December 27, 2016, Complicated versus Complex: Implications for Collaboration, distinguished between a complicated system and a complex system. In a complicated system, all components and the result of their interactions are predictable. In a complex system, the final […]

Interactive Reports: A Feasible Goal for Any Organization

By Jesh Harbaugh, Assistant Director of Business Intelligence Development, Evaluation, and Strategic Initiatives (DESI) SENECA FAMILY OF AGENCIES This is the last post of a 3 part series In the previous posts of this series, Data is Only Useful When it’s Used and Increasing the Value of Your Data With Interactive Reports,  I’ve discussed the […]

Increasing the Value of Your Data with Interactive Reports

By Jesh Harbaugh, Assistant Director of Business Intelligence Development, Evaluation, and Strategic Initiatives (DESI) SENECA FAMILY OF AGENCIES
This post is Part 2 of 3! Stay tuned next week for more from Jesh and Seneca Family of Agencies

Data is Only Useful When it’s Used

By Jesh Harbaugh, Assistant Director of Business Intelligence Development, Evaluation, and Strategic Initiatives (DESI) SENECA FAMILY OF AGENCIES This is the first post of a 3 part series In the helping professions, few words elicit such strong and varied reactions as “data.”  In our culture of evidence-informed treatment, having strong outcome data to support your […]

The HEADS-ED: A Rapid Mental Health Screening Tool for Children and Youth

by: Mario Cappelli, PhD and Paula Cloutier, MA Affiliations:  1Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), 2CHEO Research Institute, 3University of Ottawa What is the HEADS-ED? The HEADS-ED is a brief mental health screening tool that helps physicians to obtain a psychosocial history to aid in making decisions regarding patient disposition (e.g., admission, discharge, or requesting […]

Adaptation of the CANS and ANSA in Russia

by: Svetlana G Klimanova, M.S. Contact Svetlana, svetlanagk@mail.ru *5/8/2017 Update* Following a great question from one of our followers, Svetlana provided the following articles as additional resources on adapting the CANS and ANSA for Russian implementation. The World’s Youth The Russian Education System Described and Compared with the Dutch System Alternative Education: Comparative Study of […]

Communimetrics Roundtable

By Dan Warner, Ph.D. Are you a Communimetrics data nerd? Do you worry about your CANS’ data integrity and database structure? Perhaps you find yourself drifting off into thoughts about data capture, storage, security, and analysis! (oy, the list goes on…). Or maybe you’re more on the statistical and display side: trying to identify norms […]

Helping Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC)

There is a growing awareness that the sex industry sometimes victimizes children.  The Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, along with reauthorizations in 2003, 2005, and 2008 describes a victim of human trafficking as a person induced to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion. Any person under […]

Lean Management and TCOM

We shared a video recently on our Facebook and Twitter from the New York Times called “We Trust You” from the series, The Art of Better. This video, created by Charles Duhigg, examines issues of innovation, motivation, and productivity through the lens of the automobile industry in the U.S. The parallels between how one factory […]

IMDS Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2016

TCOMHappy Holidays from New Jersey! written by: Kenneth McGill The ‘Holiday Season’ is well in progress and the wrap-up of 2016 is near!  Looking back…what are some of the highlights you want to remember…are there things you would like to soon forget…what do you have planned for the New Year? Well enough introspection. My hope and wishes […]

A Cost-effective, Evidence-based Intervention for Depressed Adolescents

December 14, 2016 Written by Paul Berger, Managing Director at SAAVSUS Inc Funded by a series of grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Adolescent Coping with Depression Course (CWD-A) is an evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescent depression. The course materials, Leaders Manual and Student Workbook, are available as a free download […]

CASELOAD VERSUS WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT

By: Dr. John S. Lyons               Have you ever had this situation? You have talented staff and ask them to take on the most challenging cases, but then they burn out and leave for a different job, and as a manager you are now left with the staff you’ve been working around when it comes […]

The Incredible Years

Thanks to Stephanie Romney, in collaboration with Carolyn Webster-Stratton and John Lyons, we have a great guide to the integration of the Incredible Years and the CANS 0-5. What is The Incredible Years (IY)? The Incredible Years is a training program that occurs as a series of complementary evidence-based programs that promote child social, emotional, and academic competence and […]