	Outpatient Mental Health Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-MH 2: Assessment

Individuals participate in an individualized, integrated, strengths-based, family-focused, culturally responsive assessment.

Note: Refer to the Assessment Matrix for additional assessment criteria. The elements of the matrix can be tailored according to the needs of specific individuals or service design.

PA-MH 2.01

The information gathered for assessments is strengths-based, comprehensive, directed at concerns identified in the initial screening, and limited to material pertinent for meeting service requests and objectives.

PA-MH 2.02

Each person receives an individualized, integrated assessment, including a summary of symptoms and a diagnosis based on a standardized diagnostic tool.

Interpretation: Standardized diagnostic tools may include the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), or another comparable standardized diagnostic tool. Assessments are completed within timeframes established by the agency and are updated periodically.

Research Note: Literature indicates that children in foster care have high rates of mental health conditions, which can often be difficult to detect. Due to the many life changes they experience, multiple, ongoing assessment may be necessary as they adjust to a new situation.

PA-MH 2.03

Individuals are assessed for the presence of co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions.

PA-MH 2.04

Assessments are conducted in a culturally responsive manner to identify resources that can increase service participation and support achievement of agreed upon goals.

Interpretation: Culturally responsive assessments can include attention to geographic location, language of choice, and the person’s religious, racial, ethnic, and cultural background. Other important factors that contribute to a responsive assessment include attention to age, sexual orientation, and developmental level.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals who receive Outpatient Mental Health Services that target goal-directed interventions for diagnosable conditions make gains in symptom reduction, improved self-management, and restored or enhanced daily functioning.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	OBJECTIVE A sub-goal stated in operational terms, i.e., a statement that makes clear what expected results are to be measured or assessed.


	DIAGNOSIS The process by which a social, physical, or mental health problem and its underlying cause are identified and a plan of action formulated toward resolution of the problem. The diagnostic process involves collection and analysis of relevant information. See also ASSESSMENT.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION