The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tool has been selected by the Alabama Department of Mental Health, Division of Mental Health & Substance Use Services, to be used statewide for children and adolescents receiving services through the public mental health system and providers certified under Mental Illness Program standards. ADMH providers use the assessment tool as a treatment planning tool to guide the master treatment plan and plan of care. The CANS identifies areas of needs and strengths for youth as well as areas of needs and strengths for supporting caregivers. Information from the CANS is also used in the planning and evaluation of service systems and programs.
The CANS is a multi-purpose tool developed to support children’s service providers with decision making, including level of care and service planning, to facilitate quality improvement initiatives, and to allow for the monitoring of outcomes of services. The CANS is an open domain tool and is free for anyone to use. However, CANS users must be trained and certified annually. The training is available through the John Praed Foundation website on the schoox learning platform. There is an annual cost to access the training and certification tools on the website. John S. Lyons, Ph.D., currently with the University of Chicago, developed the initial CANS. Versions of the CANS are now currently used in all 50 states across child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, and early intervention applications.
