Got Strengths?
Using Strengths?
Utilizing CANS for Strength Based Service
Planning and Evaluation
“Independent of the severity of symptoms, if the
child has strengths – for example, a musical
talent or a loving family – the higher his or her
functioning remains and the less likely he of she
is to engage in high-risk behavior. This suggests
that both needs and strengths are important.
The sole reliance on one or the other limits
one’s possibilities for a successful intervention”
-Lyons, John S. (2004) Redressing the Emperor –
Improving Our Children’s Public Mental Health
System
Do you know what your strengths are?
Do you know how to use your strengths?
Do you value your strengths?
Are you using your strengths every day?
How many of us really use our strengths every
day?
Less than two in ten people actually use their
strengths every day!
Are the youth, families and caregivers part of the
less than 20% of people using their strengths
every day?
Are you using your strengths?
Is your team, your manager, your company?
“When you talk to your manager about performance –
what do you spend the most time talking about?”
• We talk about my strengths
24%
• We talk about my weaknesses
36%
• We don’t talk about that stuff at all 40%
How would the youth, families or caregivers answer a
similar question?
When you sit down with your team for a meeting
what do you talk about?
• We talk about my strengths
• We talk about my needs
• We don’t talk about any of that stuff
How Would you Answer This Question?
“Your child comes home with the following
grades:
English
A
Social Studies
B
Biology
C
Algebra
F
Which grades deserve the most attention”
77% will focus on the F
If you discussed the same grades in a team
meeting – what would you focus on?
Ask yourself:
If less than two in ten people use their strengths every
day, are the families and children we work with using
their strengths?
Then ask:
Are we helping youth identify and use their strengths?
Are we focusing so much on their needs that we ignore
their strengths?
CANS Strengths Items
• Family
• Interpersonal
• Relationship
Permanence
• Vocational
• Educational
• Identity
• Optimism
• Spiritual/Religious
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Talents/Interest
Resiliency
Resiliency-Crisis
Community Life
Natural Supports
Adaptability
Psychological
CANS Strengths Action Levels
“For Strengths items the following action levels
are used:
0 indicates a domain where strengths exist that
can be used as a centerpiece for a strengthbased plan
1 indicates a domain where strengths exist but
require some strength building efforts in
order for them to serve as a focus of a
strength-based plan”
-CANS –MH Manual, Copyright, 1999
Talents/Interests
“This rating should be based on any talent, creative or artistic
skill a child or adolescent may have including art, theater,
music, athletics, etc.”
0 This level indicates a child with significant creative/artistic
strengths. A child/youth who receives a significant amount
of personal benefit from activities surrounding a talent
would be rated here”
1 This level indicates a child with a notable talent. For
example, a youth who is involved in athletics or plays a
musical instrument, etc. would be rated here”
-CANS –MH Manual, Copyright, 1999
How many Centerpiece Strengths did youth have on their initial
CANS?
30.0%
25.0%
Percentage of Youth
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Number of Centerpiece Strengths - Initial CANS
16
18
N = 431
Centerpiece Strengths on initial CANS
• 51% of the youth had one or two Centerpiece
Strengths
• 31% of the youth had three to seven
Centerpiece Strengths
• 8% of youth had no Centerpiece Strengths
How many Centerpiece Strengths did youth have on their most
recent CANS?
12.0%
Percentage of Youth
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Number of Strengths - Most Recent CANS
N = 320
18
Centerpiece Strengths on Most Recent CANS
• 23% of the youth had three to seven Centerpiece
Strengths
• 59% had ten or more centerpiece strengths
• Less than one percent (0.3%) of youth had no
Centerpiece Strengths
Centerpiece Strengths
30.0%
25.0%
Percentage of Youth
20.0%
15.0%
Intial CANS
Most Recent CANS
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
0
2
4
6
8
10
Number of Strengths
12
14
16
18
Centerpiece Strengths
• On initial CANS youth had a median frequency of two
Centerpiece Strengths
• At their most recent CANS assessment youth had a
median frequency of nine Centerpiece Strengths
• Overall, from the initial CANS to the most recent
CANS, 63.1% of youth developed at least one new
Centerpiece Strengths
Final Thoughts
•
•
•
•
There is a strengths movement occurring in
business, management and leadership so this is
a great time to really look at strengths in youth
mental health
The CANS provides us with a measureable, valid
and reliable tool to identify and increase
strengths – thus addressing needs
When you get home look at the data you have
on the CANS – especially strengths data
How does you organization look
• “
Thank You!!
Contact Information
Julie Reynolds
jreynolds@choicesteam.org
(317) 205-8285
Shannon Van Deman
svandeman@choicesteam.org
www.ChoicesTeam.org
www.NeedsArentServices.org
Resources/References
Lyons, John S. (2004) Redressing the Emperor – Improving Our Children’s
Public Mental Health System
Buckingham, Marcus & Coffman, Curt (1999) First, Break All The Rules
Buckingham, Marcus & Clifton, Donald O. (2001) Now, Discover Your Strengths
Buckingham, Marcus (2007) Go Put Your Strengths to Work
Buckingham, Marcus (Video( Trombone Player Wanted