Introduction to the Child & Adolescent Needs
and Strengths Assessment (CANS)
Our Community. Our Kids.
Dr. Gary Buff, Ed.D.
President and COO
Webinar Overview
Light Housekeeping
• Questions will be fielded through the “chat”
feature online. Send your question when you have
them and we will address during them the last
half hour of this presentation.
• We are recording this event.
• A link to this Power Point presentation will be on
the OCOK website in a couple of days for your staff
who are not able to attend today’s event.
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What is the context for this conversation?
Why are we talking about CANS?
What is CANS purpose?
Why Communication Theory?
Preparation for the CANS online training.
Why are we talking about CANS?
• CANS is now used in 37 states
in some part of their child
serving system
• In Foster Care Redesign a
standard assessment tool is
required for Region 3b.
• OCOK is committed to utilizing
a common assessment tool
that will offer a
comprehensive view of the
child that will support decision
making when planning
services.
• CANS data will contribute to:
1. Assign children to the
appropriate levels.
2. Monitoring the progress
of an individual child and
program services
outcomes.
3. Quality improvement
efforts both within
programs and throughout
the network.
• CANS results in Illinois:
– Accuracy of hospital placements increased
– Inappropriate placements of African-American
and Hispanic children dropped 15-20%
– Reduction by 1/3 of children and youth placed in
residential treatment in child welfare
CANS Communication Objectives
What is CANS Purpose?
1. Communication top
priority.
2. Easy to use and results
are actionable
3. Facilitate effective
communication and
shared vision for
everyone serving the
child.
4. Provide information
regarding the child and
family's service needs
for use during system
planning and/or quality
assurance monitoring.
1. To provide detail for service
planning
2. Ratings translate immediately
into action levels
3. It is about the child not about
the service
4. Considers culture and
development
5. Primarily a descriptive tool—it
is about the ‘what’ not about
the ‘why’
6. The 30-day window is to keep
assessments relevant and
“fresh”.
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Training Requirements
Professional knowledge in the field required; at least
a Bachelor’s degree.
Completion of online course may take up to 8 hours.
Must successfully complete test vignette to become
certified.
Raters maintain the reliability of their ratings by
annually completing vignettes provided by the
author.
Where Do We Go From Here?
1. Every contracted Network Provider with OCOK will receive an
email with a list of training coupons that have been assigned
to their agency.
2. Instructions for how to log into the Praed Foundation
website utilizing training coupon is included in this webinar.
3. Each Network Provider is asked to have their staff complete
the CANS certification online training prior to September 15,
2014.
4. Network Providers are to keep a copy of their staff’s CANS
certification in their employee file.
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To Register for the CANS online training:
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Click on My Content
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Go to : https://canstraining.com/login.
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Click on Get Access
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Enter the following:
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On Access Page Enter:
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Your First and Last name
Agency Address
Enter Coupon Code
Click Apply Code
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Create a username
Enter First and Last name
Enter your email
Create a password
Repeat password created
You will be prompted to enter Jurisdiction and
Agency:
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Jurisdiction – Texas
Agency – Your Agency
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Click Register
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Do not be alarmed by the $10 charge, click
next and the next screen will allow you to enter
your coupon code.
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Complete Transaction
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Click on Start Learning!
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Select CANS and start the training.
Helpful Hints
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The training can take up to 8 hours to complete.
Print out the manual and write any key phrases or words that help with
the concepts.
The training concepts demand your undivided attention. This is not the
type of online training you can work on your computer and casually
listen to.
When taking pre-tests and the final think like the presenter and focus on
the concepts presented and not what is logical to you.
Take notes.
Take breaks.
Ask questions if you do not understand… there is a link at the bottom of
page where you can ask questions to the presenter during the course.
How CANS is Administered
Method of administration: Instrument is rated by the child’s provider based on
information collected during the assessment process, collateral contacts, family
member contact, foster parent observations and youth face to face interactions.
Frequency of administration: After the comprehensive assessment is
completed an update of the CANS will be done prior to completing service plans.
The CANS can also be completed if new information prompts a level change.
Time required: It takes about 15 minutes to complete 45 items on the CANS
answer form. Network Providers may complete the CANS assessment in OC-OK's
Evolv software, or they may upload the CANS data from an internal software
system via the Provider Information Exchange (PIX).
Questions
• We will now answer questions you have been
sending in throughout this presentation.
• You may continue to send questions in via
chat for up to 30 minutes after the completion
of this webinar.
Additional Resources
Once you log in and create a user account you
can access additional information about CANS
at:
Praed Foundation at www.praedfoundation.org
Thank You
• This is designed to be a brief introduction to the
CANS and preparation for accessing and completing
the online training certification.
• Please feel free to contact your care coordinator at
OCOK if you have any questions.
• The link to this Power Point presentation can be
accessed at the OCOK website in a couple of days.