By Journal Staff

MARQUETTE — To help strengthen access to behavioral health services for Michigan children and youth, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has implemented the use of the new Michigan Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths tool.

MichiCANS is an information integration tool designed to explore and communicate the behavioral health needs of youth and their families. This approach will allow staff to listen to youths’ experiences, prioritize action steps and track changes.

The tool also helps determine where intensive or immediate action is most needed and where a youth has strengths that can become part of the treatment or service plan.

MichiCANS replaces the Preschool and Early Childhood Functional Assessment Scale and the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale.

“The MichiCANS tool prioritizes collaboration to identify and communicate the individual needs and strengths of Michigan youth and families in need of behavioral health services,” said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. “This new approach will ensure the stories of youth and families are heard and valued throughout the assessment and care planning process. It also helps promote quality screening and assessment standards across the state to ensure exceptional behavioral health services can be delivered equitably to those in need.”

According to MDHHS, some benefits of MichiCANS include:

≤ Can be used with children with serious emotional disturbances and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities. Previous assessment tools were only used with children with serious emotional disturbances.

≤ Is a strengths-based tool focusing on strengths and needs rather than needs alone.

≤ Supports linkage between needs and strengths identified through the tool and action planning as part of developing the plan of service.

≤ Designed to support information sharing and coordination of services across multiple child-serving systems.

All prepaid inpatient health plans, community mental health service providers and certified community behavioral health clinics in Michigan have incorporated MichiCANS into their access, intake and service planning processes for youth and their families or caregivers. MichiCANS is required to be used for all infants, toddlers, youth and young adults through 20 years old.

The MichiCANS tool consists of two parts: the MichiCANS Screener and the MichiCANS Comprehensive. The Screener is completed at the youth’s point of access to the service and the Comprehensive is completed at intake to guide initial assessments, eligibility determinations and treatment planning needs. The information collected through the Screener transfers to the Comprehensive to avoid making families share their experiences multiple times.

Questions should be directed to MDHHS-michiCANS@michigan.gov.