Youth and caregivers complete the ACLSA. Caregivers
may include foster or bio parents, social workers, teachers, judicial staff, or
anyone interested in the youth's well-being. The ACLSA is appropriate for youth
regardless of their living circumstances (e.g., living with birth or adoptive
parent(s), in foster care, in residential treatment). For youth it is a
self-assessment. The caregiver completes the assessment about the youth.
The following assessments are available in youth
and caregiver formats:
ACLSA-I: ages 8-9
ACLSA-II: ages 10-12
ACLSA-III: ages 13-15
ACLSA Short Assessment: ages 11-18
ACLSA-IV: Young adult ages 16+ (Youth version only.)
Special Note: Please have the youth take the
assessment that best matches his/her developmental level. For example, if a 12
year-old youth is at an advanced developmental level, she may want to take the
ACLSA-III instead of the ACLSA-II.
Using the ACLSA
Practitioners or educators may use the ACLSA to
learn more about a youth. Or, if a practitioner provides life skills training,
the ACLSA can be used to evaluate training effectiveness.
Full-length assessments (ACLSA-I, ACLSA-II,
ACLSA-III, ACLSA-IV) provide an overview of youth life skill abilities. They
are useful for goal setting, program planning, and for measuring progress on
life skill acquisition.
Short assessment provides a brief summary of
youth abilities. It is useful for evaluating programs and for getting a quick
assessment of ability.
Customize the Assessments
Additional Questions Section: Field Offices
can conduct their own mini-assessment using the twenty response spaces (items
A1-A20) provided at the end of each full-length assessment. These questions can
be tailored to gather additional evaluation data on their program outcomes or
on information important to the field office or social worker.
The social worker will need to give the additional
questions to the person completing the ACLSA, along with instructions on how to
respond (i.e., the response options such as A, B, C, etc). These responses will
be listed in the Score Report as A, B, C, D, or E, but will not be scored.
When to Use
The
specific requirements, as outlined in the Casey Practice Standards are as
follows:
IntakeConduct Ansell-Casey
Life Skills Assessment (ACLSA) within 30 days of enrollment for youth age 11
and older[1]
Evaluate and Reevaluate
oACLSA is administered at enrollment1
oACLSA is recommended annually
thereafter for youth age 11 and older
oACLSA is REQUIRED annually for youth
age 16 and older
Case Closure
ACLSA required at Case Closure for youth in
oTransition-Youth-Care Coordination
oPermanency-Youth-Comprehensive Care1
Important Note1 (Unusual Circumstances)
oIf a young person has been
administered the ACLSA from another organization or in another Casey service package
within the last year, staff are not required to have the youth take another
ACLSA within that year. Staff should obtain the score report from the
agency, and document the circumstances and results in the case record.
oIf the young person abruptly leaves
or is terminated from the program, it is understood that the requirement for
administration of the annual assessment could not be met due to the young
person's absence. These circumstances must be documented in the case
record.
oThe Ansell-Casey
must be administered at Closure if the young person has been enrolled for six
months or longer in Permanency Youth Comprehensive Care of Transition Care
Coordination.
oThe Casey Life Skills Assessment
Supplements may not be used as a replacement assessment for the ACLSA
The ACLSA can also be used as a pre/post test
measure to evaluate a program or project.
How to Administer
Youth assessments - Can be administered
individually or with a group, at home, in school or at the field office. Youth
and caregivers can complete it together. The questions can also be read to the
youth in an interview format.
Caregiver assessments - The caregiver(s)
most familiar with the youth should complete the caregiver assessment about the
same time the youth completes the youth form. Multiple caregivers (i.e.,
treatment team in a residential setting, both parents, or several teachers of
one youth) may collaborate on the caregiver assessment if appropriate.
The most useful information will emerge if both
youth and caregiver forms are administered, and when youth and caregivers have
completed it independently (e.g., where the youth and caregiver complete their
respective assessments without discussing their responses).
Login Information
Casey-affiliated youth and caregivers must enter a
Youth ID and an Organization ID on the Login Information page.
Organization ID - This ID was assigned to
each Field Office. If you don't know your Field Office's Organization ID,
please E-mail us at ACLSA@casey.org
Youth ID - This is the youth's Harmony Case Number.
Score Report
The Score Report is a summary of the youth and/or
caregiver responses to the ACLSA. It includes both the scores and a summary of
the responses.
The Score Report is scored electronically and will
"pop-up" on your screen within seconds of clicking on the "I'm Finished" button
at the end of the assessment. You may also choose to have the assessment sent
to up to three e-mail addresses.
Matching Score Report: This is a score
report with the youth scores, and up to three caregiver scores, on the same
report. In order to receive a matching score report, the same Youth ID and
e-mail address must be used by the youth and caregiver(s) on the Login
Information page. This matching score report will be sent via e-mail. The
assessments must be completed within 42 days of one another for the scores to
be on the matching score report.
Types of Scores: The Score Report provides
percentage of mastery scores, total mastery score, raw scores, total raw score,
and performance question score.
Percentage of Mastery Score: This is the
percentage of the self-assessment questions within each domain answered "very
much like me" (youth assessments), or "very much like the youth" (caregiver
assessments). At least 75 percent of the questions in each domain must be
answered to get a percentage of mastery score. An insufficient number of
answered questions is denoted with a "--" on the Score Report.
Total Mastery Score: This is the percentage
of all the self-assessment questions answered "very much like me" (youth
assessments), or "very much like the youth" (caregiver assessments). At least
75 percent of all the self-assessment questions must be answered to get a total
mastery score. An insufficient number of answered questions is denoted with a
"--".
Raw Score: This is the sum of all the
self-assessment answers in each life skills domain. Points are assigned as
follows: 1 point - Not Like Me | 2 points - Somewhat Like Me | 3 points - Very
Much Like Me. If one or more questions are unanswered, a score is not
calculated and will be denoted with a "--".
Total Raw Score: This is the sum of all the
self-assessment questions in each of the domains. Points are assigned as
follows: 1 point - Not Like Me | 2 points - Somewhat Like Me | 3 points - Very
Much Like Me. If one or more questions are unanswered, a score is not
calculated and will be denoted with a "--".
Performance Questions Score: This is the
percentage of the multiple choice questions (also known as performance
questions) answered correctly. Note that these questions are asked only on the
Youth-II, Youth-III, and Youth-IV assessments.
If you have questions concerning the above information, please e-mail us at
ACLSA@casey.org
