Hannah Karpman Creates Online CANS Training Program

There was nothing out there that met our criteria. We wanted to show in-home therapy with a diverse group of clients and a diverse workforce.

Assistant Professor Hannah Karpman has been working closely with the Shriver Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to improve the quality and consistency of treatment for children and their families who receive mental health services through Medicaid.

When a 2006 class-action lawsuit mandated changes to Medicaidfunded mental health services for children and adolescents, Karpman got involved early, helping with initial training on the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tool used by the state’s care providers and coordinators. She also conducted research on the outcomes of such services. Now that the services have been running for almost a decade, Karpman has been working with the Massachusetts Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) to improve them.

In order to develop a curriculum suitable for clinicians, care coordinators, therapeutic training and support staff, and supervisors, as well as graduate students, Karpman brought together a team of educators and social workers that included SSW Assistant Professor Maria Torres; Sarah Rigney, M.S.W. ’09; doctoral student Nichole Wofford; and former Bertha Capen Reynolds Fellow Rhoda Smith. The resulting online course focuses on assessment and clinical understanding throughout in-home therapy, intensive care coordination, and outpatient services.

Assessment is a crucial part of behavioral health treatment that can become rushed, Karpman has found. There is often a temptation “to shortcut through an assessment process and get right into the treatment, especially if the family is presenting us with a little bit of crisis and chaos,” she explains in one of the course components.

Improving knowledge and skills to perform a thorough assessment can lead to a stronger care plan that includes needed services from CBHI or other state agencies, providers or schools. It also can help a clinician engage youth and their families in a more collaborative approach, reducing the anxiety families feel and allowing youth to gain a sense of agency about their treatment.

When Karpman began the project, she sought out videos to use in the learning modules.

“There was nothing out there that met our criteria,” Karpman said. “We wanted to show in-home therapy with a diverse group of clients and a diverse workforce.”

To remedy this, Karpman’s team took on the task of producing short, unscripted videos featuring real families in scenarios similar to their own. By producing their own videos, the team also was able to ensure that they depicted realistic situations relevant to each course segment and allowed participants to use their own words to talk about their circumstances and concerns.

In addition to the custom-made videos and engaging course modules, the site offers a plethora of resources. It also provides assessment tools for both practice and programs.

The course is currently in its second round of testing with agencies and clinicians. Karpman expects the online CANS training to launch for wider use in the spring of 2019. Registered participants can access the site at canstraining.neindex.org. —Tynan Power