CANS: Overview and Preparation for Certification (Virtual Training)

Course Overview

This interactive and engaging two-day workshop prepares participants for the IP-CANS certification test and offers instruction on understanding the CANS and practice on completing the CANS in case and/or treatment planning.

Who should attend?

This is the only CANS training that prepares participants for the IP-CANS certification test. It is required for child welfare social workers and mental health plan clinicians who will be completing and using the CANS, and for child welfare supervisors who oversee case planning.

What will I learn in this training?

After attending this training, participants will be able to:

• Articulate the purpose of the CANS as a consensus-based communication tool.
• Describe how the CANS process is used to identify and highlight the strengths and needs of children and/or youth and their families or caregivers.
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the domains and its respective items in order to think holistically about children, youth or caregiver’s scores on the CANS tool.
• Explain how the CANS is collaboratively shared and discussed in Child and Family Team (CFT) meetings
• Integrate the six key principles of the CANS into the determination of action levels on needs and strengths items, including differentiating between rating needs and rating strengths.
• Critically think about presented behaviors and actions in order to accurately and appropriately rate the needs and strengths of the child, youth and/or caregiver.
• Differentiate between CANS items in order to accurately reflect a child, youth or caregiver's behaviors.
• Practice skills critical to consensus building in order to arrive at collective agreements regarding the ratings on the CANS.
• Determine what CANS domains and items are relevant to case examples and discussions within the training.
• Appropriately determine action levels on needs and strengths items.
• Apply knowledge gained in the training to successfully complete the CANS certification exam.
• Honor child and/or youth and family openness and self-advocacy within the collaborative process of the CANS.
• Understand the value of seeking information about the child and/or youth and family’s culture and ethnicity in the CANS and embedded in the CFT process and CFT meetings.
• Honor, appreciate, and explore a family’s experiences and how it informs the CANS assessment process.