¹ Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1999, Office of the Surgeon General, www.sg.gov.

² For the purpose of this policy brief, "credentialed" refers to those whose licenses, degrees, and employment have been verified by a licensing or credentialing board. In Arizona, the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners provides certification for behavioral health care professionals, except for psychologists and physicians, who are licensed by their separate licensing boards. "Credentialed" may also refer to individuals who have been successfully credentialed by the respective credentialing boards and have subsequently been found competent to perform a scope of practice based on peer review, self-assessment, and supervisory assessment.

³ In Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA), both credentialing and privileging are used to judge professional competence as reported by Dr. Noel Gonzalez, Director of Performance Improvement and Quality Management, CPSA.

⁴ Self-reporting on developmental history is common in both mental health and substance services: Vermont’s Child Behavior Checklist is completed by the parent/caregiver; the BERS (Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale) includes a self-reporting section and is used by several states; and the Addiction Severity Index relies on self-reporting for assessment of addiction history and use.

⁵ The C-DISC (Computerized assessment procedure for intake and screening) study is a multi-year study funded by NIMH at the Columbia University Center for Social Work Practice, in collaboration with the New York Psychiatric Institute. An initial progress report is available through the Center at www.columbia.edu/cu/csswp.

⁶ Information obtained from Dr. Noel C. Gonzales, Director of Performance Improvement and Quality Management, Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, August 4, 2000.

⁷ Private health care plans routinely use standardized and electronically exchanged assessment information; progressive public behavioral health care plans have also begun to adopt these practices in Arizona and elsewhere.

⁸ Many companies promote their behavioral health assessment software, such as CMHC, CSM, Uni/Care, Cybertech, the Behavior Data System, etc.

⁹ Protocols: County Designated Mental Health Professionals, issued by the Department of Social and Health Services, Olympia, Washington, September 1, 1999.

¹⁰ Known as ALFA, the Arizona Levels-of-Care system was reviewed by the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. during its 1999 study of best practices, and is considered to be one of the best public behavioral health systems. See St. Luke’s Health Initiatives’ report, Into the Light, as well as the Mental Health Dissemination Network of Arizona’s website, www.azmentalhealth.org.

¹¹ The state stipulates that an initial assessment should be performed by someone who has a Master’s degree in a behavioral health discipline or in a related human service field, or is a behavioral health professional as defined in AAC Title 9, Chapter 20 who is trained, credentialed and privileged to perform the initial assessments.

¹² The Ohio Department of Mental Health Outcomes Project uses a specially designed Ohio screening tool for children and adolescents, and BRHS for adults.

¹³ The Missouri Department of Mental Health uses the Severity Index for initial assessment of consumers with addiction service needs.

¹⁴ Information about Iowa CACTs is available on the state website: www.dhs.state.ia.us.

¹⁵ Further information about Walker Tireschman Center can be obtained at Falwon@cwla.org; information about the Intensive Case Management training project can be obtained at the Hunter College School of Social Work, NYC, NY.

¹⁶ The Oregon Credentialing Board for Therapists can be reached at (503) 378-5499. Ohio has separate credentialing boards for mental health and addiction services. Ohio’s Credentialing Board for social workers and counselors can be reached at (614) 466-0912, and its Credentialing Board for Chemical Dependency Professionals can be reached at (614) 469-1110.