Kentucky Adolescent Treatment Outcome Study
About the Study
The youth version of the Kentucky Substance Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (Adolescent KTOS) is a means of uniformly collecting and analyzing annual outcomes information from federal and state funded treatment programs for clients who are 12-17 years old. Using items adapted from the Teen Addiction Severity Index and the GAIN (Global Appraisal of Individual Needs), a survey developed for Kentucky adolescents (the Adolescent KTOS) was implemented statewide in 2004. This study uses a pre-test/post-test design modeled after several large federally funded research projects examining treatment outcomes among individuals with substance use and co-occurring disorders. Baseline data are collected by community mental health center staff as clients enter treatment (including outpatient, outpatient intensive, and inpatient). Clients who agree to participate in the follow-up interview are contacted by UK CDAR staff 12 months later to complete a follow-up interview by telephone. Collecting client-level data at baseline and follow-up allows for examination of change in substance use, mental health problems, academic performance, employment, justice system involvement, and recovery supports.
Follow-up interviews are conducted by the UK CDAR BHOS research team and are independent of the treatment agency in order to confidentially examine client progress in treatment. Given this sub-study focuses exclusively on adolescents, unique procedures and challenges are addressed to ensure the highest quality data as well as confidentiality of information at both the baseline and the follow-up data collection points.
About the Client Information System (CIS)
What is the CIS?
The Client Information System (CIS) is a secure website that was developed and tailored for each project to provide users with easier and intuitive access to the baseline or intake data collection system, secure data entry, and data management display features.
What can I do with the CIS?
The CIS has several important functions. Users can:
- Enter intake information for each client. Users can manage their intake or baselines through the CIS by first entering information about active clients. The CIS allows users to organize the client lists by status such as those needing baselines and those who have been discharged. Users can also search the client list. Users can track how many clients they did intake or baseline assessments on and, for some users, how many were discharged from the program within a user selected timeframe. After entering information for a client, users can then enter intake or baseline information through the CIS.
- Download a client narrative. After completing an intake interview, users can download a client narrative which summarizes, in narrative form, responses from the client. This narrative can be placed in the client’s file for future reference. Some of these narratives contain more clinical information as well. For example, some narratives also include the ASAM level of care recommendations consistent with the American Association of Addiction Medicine Patient Placement Criteria (PPC2-R), but also accommodate the more psychosocially-oriented models of care used by the CMHCs. Some narratives are tailored by site.
- Mid-level Reporting. Users can request a mid-level report which shows how many intakes have been submitted. Some of the mid-level reports display how many clients have entered the user’s facility and how many discharges have been made within a user selected timeframe.
For more information on the features and capabilities of the CIS, please click here.
What happens to the data after I enter the intake information online?
After intake or baseline and follow-up interviews are completed for a fiscal year, the data is analyzed by UK CDAR BHOS and the results are described in an annual report. Although the annual reports vary from year to year, there are five main risk factors that are examined for change over time: (1) substance use and abuse, (2) mental health status, (3) criminal justice system involvement, (4) employment, and (5) recovery supports. Some reports highlight additional risk factors. Many of the reports also describe the cost and cost-benefit of the services.
To view the latest annual reports for this project, please visit the links on the right side of this page.
What else can I look at to assess the success of our program?
Based on the results in the annual reports, several other shorter and more user friendly reports are created including a one page fact sheet, a Findings-at-a-Glance report, and an In Focus report.