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Many argue that assessment actually starts the minute the consumer comes into contact with the service system. ![]() |
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Where does screening of consumers end and assessment begin? This issue is frequently a topic of debate in the professional literature. Many argue that assessment actually starts the minute the consumer comes into contact with the service system. But as a practical matter, screening, initial assessment and ongoing assessment serve different as well as similar purposes, and also have different components. They are all similar in that:
One confusion about the terms of screening, initial assessment and ongoing assessment lies in their relationships to other terms such as intake, referral and triage. Screening and assessment are also easily conflated because both tend to be performed during consumers’ initial access to the service system. In this issue brief, intake and referral are not considered a behavioral health screening, but are viewed as an administrative gathering of data about the appropriateness for a behavioral health referral. What follows is a sample list of components for each of the three terms, and for each term, a suggested application of credentials. Screening Screening is intended to gather basic identifying data for an in-depth evaluation. Its components may include some of the following:
It would appear that these activities can be easily performed by Bachelor’s-level personnel with appropriate training, provided that there are standardized and validated protocols for assessing risk factors and determining levels of care. Initial Assessment Initial assessment is intended to provide a comprehensive evaluation of functioning to assist service planning and intervention, including a comprehensive assessment of functioning status, such as:
Using an example from the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona that is based on state rules, an initial assessment includes:6
Good professional judgment about the consumer’s functioning is called for during initial assessment, and this should require the participation of credentialed professionals. However, should assessment tools be standardized – even computerized – the workload of credentialed professionals can be lessened. In fact, it is not unreasonable to argue that the gathering of information needed for initial assessment can be performed by personnel with adequate in-service training and supervision by credentialed professionals, even though those personnel might not have behavioral health credentials themselves. Ongoing Assessment Ongoing assessment beyond initial assessment is intended to assist the treatment process and determine service outcomes. Its components may minimally include the following:
It is clear that at the stage when consumers are involved in treatment, more than one discipline is needed to review treatment progress and determine treatment outcomes. Here, credentialed professionals work in unison with other professionals, as well as consumers and families, toward achieving the goals of recovery and rehabilitation. To summarize up to this point:
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In fact, it is not unreasonable to argue that the gathering of information needed for initial assessment can be performed by personnel with adequate in-service training and supervision by credentialed professionals, even though those personnel might not have behavioral health credentials themselves. |
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Here credentialed professionals work in unison with other professionals, as well as consumers and families, toward achieving the goals of recovery and rehabilitation. |
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