Assessment Experience for Youth and Their Families

Sometimes it is challenging to know when treatment may be needed. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has some helpful tips for families on knowing when to seek out services.

After determining the need for treatment and selecting a provider, youth and families will go through an assessment phase to determine the most appropriate treatment needed. In an evidence-based environment, youth and their families should experience a strength-based assessment with valued input from youth, family members, teachers, and other child supports. Assumptions of strength-based assessment include the following (Harniss & Epstein 2005):

All children have strengths
Assessing a child's strengths, in addition to his or her deficits may result in enhanced motivation and improved performance for the child.
Deficits should be viewed as opportunities to learn rather than as fixed or stable.
Families and children are more likely to positively engage in treatment when service plans include a focus on strengths.

There are many standardized assessment instruments and protocols that practitioners use to assist in developing a treatment plan. Most likely, the assessment will involve a lengthy question and answer process to find out about the child/youth's history such as developmental milestones (i.e. walking, talking), school performance, social functioning, strengths, and reasons for referring the child to treatment. Throughout the assessment process, it is important for youth and families to ask questions about the process and to get an understanding of the next steps.

The section Questions to Ask Providers provides a list of helpful questions to offer youth and families guidance on gathering information about treatment and providing their input.

Helpful Links:

Bright Futures has created some helpful tools for youth and families to learn about the normal developmental process and knowing when youth's development is off. Please visit this link to download the appropriate PDFs for each particular age group,
To learn more about what a thorough psychiatric assessment may look like, visit the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry section on Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation.
Please visit the Pacer Center's website for support and informational materials regarding children's mental health. In particular, the section on Emotional or Behavioral Disorders has some great information about understanding and determining if your child has an emotional, social, or behavioral impairment.

References:

Harniss, M. K., & Epstein, M. H. (2005). Strength-based assessment in children's mental health. In M. H. Epstein, K. Kutash, & A. J. Duchnowski (Eds.), Outcomes for children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families: Programs and evaluation best practices (2 nd . Ed.)(pp. 125-141). Austin, Texas : Pro-Ed.