The Ohio Department of Medicaid, in partnership with state child-serving agencies and the Praed Foundation, created an Ohio-specific Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tool and Decision Support Model that all Ohio CANS assessors will be expected to utilize.
As you know, the CANS is a support tool in the clinical decision-making process to determine eligibility into OhioRISE and level of care and service planning. The Ohio CANS assessment tool has been developed for broad application across multiple systems, including youth involved in child protection, developmental disability, department of youth services, and mental health and addiction.
For individuals that have not been trained to administer the CANS, a TCOM (Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management) and Ohio Children’s Initiative CANS Comprehensive training will be required for certification to conduct CANS assessments. If you are due for recertification, you will need to take the full certification (TCOM and CANS) on the new model upon your recertification date.
For individuals that have previously been trained to administer the CANS and possess an active CANS certification, a 2.5-hour virtual booster training has been developed by the Praed Foundation to provide guidance on the model that has been updated to be specific to Ohio. All actively certified CANS assessors are required to take the booster training on the new model, ensuring standardization of the tool until all assessors are fully trained.
Attached are training dates for September, a registration guide, and an enrollment guide. Additional training dates will be announced prior to each month before the start date of OhioRISE in January.