TCOM CONVERSATIONS

Tag: TCOM

TCOM Training Session | Workshop Event

people having business meeting together

The Praed Foundation will be hosting 2 virtual workshops. The first workshop, the 2-Day TCOM Orientation, will focus on the Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) philosophy, and the TCOM Tools (CANS, ANSA, FAST). The 2nd workshop hosted in July 2022 is a Certified Trainer Training, which will focus on creating training materials that represent the core concepts of communimetrics and the TCOM framework.

2022 TCOM Conference: Call for Proposals

We invite those interested in presenting to submit their proposal to present at the 18th Annual TCOM Conference. The theme of the 2022 TCOM Conference is “Managing Change and All That Jazz”. The Call for Proposals will remain open until February 28, 2022. You may submit your proposal using our Call for Proposal form. 

Getting A Leg Up On TCOM

What are the steps needed to begin the process of getting a leg up? So getting a leg up on TCOM focuses on the goal of CANS to ‘name-it’ or – what is going on in the lives of those we serve. How can someone obtain-it if they do not first name-it or what is being identified as needs and/or strengths. The plans of care than are constructed to outline the transformation goals or the ‘gain-it.’ These become the skills, functional strengths being developed as part of care planning process. It will be the child/youth & family team that will ‘sustain-it’ developing/utilizing family & community supports. It is only with a shared vision that a child/youth, adult & their family will remain focused on reaching their own aspirational goals throughout life.

Deadline Approaching – Call for Proposals

*Please note that at the time this was written, our Call for Proposals deadline was March 15, 2021. We have now extended our deadline to March 31, 2021.*
The deadline for the 17th Annual TCOM Conference Call for Proposals is two weeks away on March 15, 2021. We invite you to submit a proposal if you are interested in presenting at this year’s TCOM Conference.

Keeping it Fresh: Updating Your Reference Guide

Image is of 3 pages from the updated TCOM Reference guides as an example with dark olive green background

In recent months, we have updated our Standard Comprehensive versions of the CANS, ANSA and FAST (with the Early Childhood and CAT versions not far behind). Keep reading to learn about general and tool-specific updates and how you can access these new versions.

Curiosity: What Does Culture Have to Do with It?

By: Cynthia Schelmety, Training Manager, CCF, CANS-NY Technical Assistance Institute & Cassandra Cooper, MA, LCPC, Senior Policy Analyst, University of Kentucky “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”-Aristotle Culture comes from the Latin word cultura, which basically means to build on, to cultivate, and to foster. Sometimes the term Culture is solely meant to […]

Beyond Compliance

By: Mark Lardner, LCSW, Center for Innovation in Population Health When a system is looking for an assessment process to help improve their work with individuals, they often explore the TCOM approach. A simplified description of an initial implementation of TCOM tools would include the following activities. First, local versions of the tools are designed with […]

Introducing the TCOM 2020 Conference Chair

The Praed Foundation is delighted to introduce Barbara Dunn as our new Conference Chair for the 16th annual TCOM Conference! Read her letter below! Dear TCOM Collaborative, I am excited about being asked to serve as the Conference Program Chair in 2020! Last year I served on the program committee and thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the […]

Connecting Through Communication-The Human Experience

By Ken McGill, EdS, LMFT, Rutgers University What is more basic to our understanding than how we develop and use language? Language is used to communicate who we are as individuals. It can be used to describe how we are ‘feeling inside’ to others. It is through this sharing or using words to connect feelings […]

Transformation: Shared Knowledge & Skills Building

By: Ken McGill Senior Training and Consultation Specialist Connecting It All Together… The work within the field of ‘human services’ can often become quite complicated, especially from the perspective of those we serve…the children/youth & families. I have often wondered, “Why do we make things so complicated?” I thought with all of the advances of […]

16th Annual TCOM Conference-Call for Papers!

We are happy to announce the 16th Annual TCOM Conference this year in beautiful and vibrant New Orleans. To highlight our host city, the theme of this year’s conference is “Collaboration and All that Jazz”.  We invite all members of the international TCOM collaborative to submit proposals to present your work. The content of presentations can be varied or broad, but each presentation […]

Changing Student Outcomes with Restorative Practices, Part 2

By: Amber Joiner-Hill, MSSW Associate Policy Analyst, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago In Part One of this piece, I outlined some of the impacts that the criminalization of students has on youth outcomes—lower high school graduation rates, higher chances of getting arrested, and increased likelihood of entering the adult criminal justice system. Here I’d like to offer restorative […]

Changing Student Outcomes with Restorative Practices, Part 1

By: Amber Joiner-Hill, MSSW Associate Policy Analyst, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago I started developing a vocabulary around the criminalization of students—particularly those in elementary and middle school—about four years ago when I participated in my city’s “Citizen’s Academy”. The program exposed residents to various government services, functions, and challenges. The intent was […]

Sandtrays, Fables, and Expressive Arts: Story-telling Adventures with the CANS

By: Ritchie Rubio, PhD We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Rubio present at the 15th Annual TCOM Conference earlier this month. In his post below he shares more on using the CANS and story-telling to promote client wellness. Listening to, reading, or sharing a good story is something most if not all of us […]

What Will it Take to Reverse the Youth E-Cigarette Epidemic?

By: Melinda J. Ickes, PhD Associate Professor, Health Promotion; Faculty Associate, Center for Innovation and Population Health, University of Kentucky When we send young people to school, we think about what they are learning, how they are being prepared for a future career path, if they are building friendships, and hope they engage in positive […]

TCOM Conference: Presentation Spotlight

With the 15th Annual TCOM Conference around the corner, we wanted to give you a sneak peek look at some of this year’s presentations! Casey Family Programs took time to answer some questions about their upcoming presentation, Engaging Staff in Improving and Advancing the CANS in Practice: Integrating TCOM Principles into Casey’s Continuous Quality Improvement. […]

TCOM Conference: Presentation Sneak Peek!

With the 15th Annual TCOM Conference around the corner, we wanted to give you a sneak peek look at some of this year’s presentations! Conference presenters Celeste Seibel and Danielle Phillips took some time to answer some questions about their upcoming presentation, Utilizing CANS Within the Wraparound Process. Q: What should individuals look forward to […]

TCOM Conference: Data Sharing Workshop

The 15th Annual TCOM Conference is around the corner, and we have some exciting news! For the first time ever, our Pre-Conference Day will feature a series of round tables and master lectures covering a wide range of topics. Attendees will be given the chance to have more in-depth discussions with presenters and each other […]

Transformative Culture: The Call for Psychological Safety

By: Tiffany Lindsey, EdD, LPC-MHSP Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Have you ever made a mistake at work—maybe even one that could have affected you, your teammate, or a client’s safety? If you’re a human who helps other humans for a living, the answer is a prevailing yes. None of us do the […]

Registration is Open! #TCOM2019

We are so excited to announce registration for our 15th Annual TCOM Conference in Palm Springs is now open! Culture and Community: Sharing Stories from the Collaborative Every year the TCOM Conference provides an opportunity to collaborate with and learn from leaders and innovators in behavioral health, child welfare, education, juvenile justice, and more. While […]

TCOM and Systems Safety: My Journey

By: Tiffany Lindsey, Policy Analyst Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago My journey towards Safety Culture began in a group home. I was 24-years-old and had just started a new job as program manager—my first supervisory role. I was the only clinician on-site. All but one of my staff were older than I was, […]

TA Network Webinar: Effectively Integrating the CANS into the Wraparound Process

Date/Time: April 30, 2019, 11am – 12:30pm PT / 2pm – 3:30pm ET The Wraparound process is the most common care coordination model for youth with complex needs and their families. Meanwhile, the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) is now the most widely used assessment tool in public child-serving systems. While some states, […]

A community gathers to learn how to prevent the trauma of high homicide rates

By: Marrianne McMullen, Director of Communication and Dissemination Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Audrey Wright, a senior at North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago, described the unthinkable to an auditorium packed with 1,500 people. She lost her mother and brother to gun violence within three days. The following year, she lost […]

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 […]

TCOM Tools (CANS/ANSA) Certified Trainer

The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) is a tool that is collaboratively completed to measure a child and family’s strengths and needs. Along with the other TCOM Tools (ANSA, FAST, SSIT, and more), they are evidence-based assessments to support decision-making, including level of care and intervention planning, facilitate quality improvement initiatives, and allows […]

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 Value of Vignettes

Mention a case vignette to anyone who has gone through the certification process for the CANS, ANSA, CAT/CSPI or FAST and you will likely hear groans, and see eye rolls. Very few people are big fans of testing and vignettes are never as clear or easy as a trainee wishes. So, if test vignettes bring […]

Submit NOW to Present at TCOM2018

Planning for the 14th Annual TCOM Conference is underway! Hosted by The Praed Foundation and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, we invite you to share your work this October in Chicago, IL.

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 […]

TCOM Conference Day 1-The First Workshop!

The first day of the conference is exactly one week from today! Here is everything you need to know when you get there: Registration begins at 10am at the Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village. If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, do so ASAP so we can get you signed up for each topical […]

Equality vs. Equity

By: Dr. John S. Lyons   There are two basic doctrines that have been used to define fairness—equality and equity.   Equality approaches attempt to achieve fairness by treating everyone exactly the same.   In equality doctrine fairness is defined as giving everyone identical opportunities.   Equality doctrine underlies the core constructs of a democratic society.   The Declaration […]

Guiding Values and Core Principles

Below you will see TCOM’s Guiding Values and Core Principles. This information below was updated March 2, 2022. GUIDING VALUES Human serving systems and enterprises have a primary mandate of facilitating and supporting personal change (transformation). Human serving systems and enterprises are inherently complex as a result of the number of humans involved. This diversity […]

12th Annual TCOM Conference

The 12th Annual TCOM Conference is coming up soon Register now  and join the TCOM Team at Princeton, New Jersey! For questions in registering for the event, contact: Adriel Jones, MA, CMP Event Planner 530-237-4350 (voicemail) events@adrieljonesllc.com View/Download our Conference Agenda: tcom_2016-agenda

Defining a NEED and a STRENGTH

Anyone who is certified in the CANS, ANSA, FAST, or any of the Communimetric tools has taken the time to become certified. Those of you who certify online at TCOMTraining.com have probably received an email from one of us stating something along the lines of… “Unfortunately you have not yet received sufficient reliability. Your most […]

Welcome to TCOM Conversations

Welcome to the TCOM Conversations blog.  The purpose of this blog is to create an open forum for us all to share our experiences with the TCOM approach and…converse! With this, we can share in our goals and provide guidance to others J So, lets start with a simple WHO, WHAT, WHY, AND HOW WHO: […]

Communimetrics

Communimetrics – A Communication Theory of Measurement in Human Service Settings. This is the theory behind TCOM (Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management), developed by Dr. John Lyons.