	Youth Independent Living Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-YIL 4: Assessment

Youth participate in a comprehensive, individualized, strengths based, culturally responsive assessment.

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

PA-YIL 4.01

Information gathered for assessments is comprehensive, directed at concerns identified in initial screenings, and pertinent for providing requested services.

PA-YIL 4.02

Personnel who screen youth for services and conduct assessments are qualified by training, skill and experience, and can recognize individuals with special needs.

PA-YIL 4.03

Assessments are completed within timeframes established by the agency.

PA-YIL 4.04

Assessments are strengths based, conducted in a culturally responsive manner, and identify resources that can increase service participation and success for youth from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

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.

PA-YIL 4.05

Standardized assessment tools are used, and youth perspectives are obtained, to:

identify strengths, needs, and protective factors;
assess for the presence of factors associated with poor outcomes; and
provide information for ongoing evaluation of progress.

Interpretation: The assessment should include availability and use of informal supports. The assessment of a youth's development should consider his or her strengths, challenges, functional status, and social competence. Informed clinical opinion can be used when standardized measures do not fully reflect a child’s developmental status.

Although specific desired outcomes will be individualized, a comparable degree of “success,” or expectation for number and kind of positive outcomes, should be comparable for all youth irrespective of differences in background and prior experience.

Research Note: While a variety of tools used to determine pre- and post- program adjustment are to be found in youth development, mental health, and child welfare literature, systematic skills assessment has been identified as having multiple benefits including helping programs meet the 1999 Foster Care Independence Act requirements. One study of factors associated with community adjustment of young adults with serious emotional disturbance noted that studies are limited when measures omit strengths and the youth’s perception of aspiration or a desired outcome.

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	PURPOSE: Young adults who receive Independent Living Services obtain safe and stable housing, develop life skills and competencies including work readiness, achieve educational and financial growth goals, and establish healthy, supportive adult and peer relationships.

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.


	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.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	SCREEN A preliminary test administered to a client to determine whether he/she meets eligibility criteria for the services offered by an organization.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.


	CLINICAL The study, assessment, and diagnosis of the client situation followed by direct treatment to help the client achieve prescribed goals.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.