Casey Life Skills

PRACTITIONER’S
GUIDE

casey family programs 2021 edition

Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

Acknowledgments
The 2021 Casey Life Skills (CLS) Toolkit refresh project was informed by the input and
expertise of foster care alumni, resource parents, service providers, and child welfare
experts. This team was created to ensure that the needs of young people and the adults
who support them were central during this refresh project. The project team would like to
thank all the young people, resource parents, and service providers who contributed
through listening sessions.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the

Practitioner’s Guide and the Casey Life Skills Assessment.

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Contents
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................... 2
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
Origins of the Casey Life Skills Assessment .................................................................. 5
Revision of Casey Life Skills assessments .................................................................... 9
What is new in the 2021 CLS Toolkit? ........................................................................... 9
Description of the Casey Life Skills Assessment ......................................................... 11
How to score the Casey Life Skills Assessments ........................................................ 12
How to use the CLS Assessment to develop young people’s knowledge, skills, and
awareness of life skills ................................................................................................. 14
References ................................................................................................................... 18
Appendix A ................................................................................................................... 21
Appendix B ................................................................................................................... 31

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Introduction
Welcome to the Casey Life Skills Practitioner’s Guide! This guide gives Casey Life Skills
(CLS) Toolkit users a quick overview of the history and purpose of the CLS
assessments, how to score them, and insights to youth life skills development from
experts in the field. Our hope is that this practice guide can provide practical information
on how best to use the CLS assessments to empower youth to lead productive and
healthy lives.
The CLS standard, short-form and supplemental assessments are free youth-centered
self-reporting instruments that give youth and their supportive adults the opportunity to
assess youth’s strengths and areas for growth. While it originally was designed for use
with youth in foster care, these tools can be useful for youth in other settings such as
juvenile justice facilities, employment centers, and homeless shelters or with other social
service providers. The CLS assessments are not tests but are meant to be a
conversation starter to empower young people to set their own goals, identify resources
that will be helpful, and work collaboratively with supportive adults to develop and
strengthen their skills.
The 2021 CLS assessment tools have been developed in true partnership with foster
care alumni, resource parents, service providers, educators, and child welfare experts to
ensure that the content is applicable to the needs of young people and their supportive
adults. There are nine categories of skills that are assessed in the standard and short
form of the 2021 CLS assessment. These include daily living, self-care, housing and
money management, relationships and communication, work and study, career and
education planning, civic engagement, navigating the child welfare system, and looking
forward. We specifically added civic engagement and navigating the child welfare
system to the 2021 CLS assessment to ensure that young people are acquiring skills
that help them to be actively engaged in the community and are getting the support
needed to navigate the child welfare system as they graduate toward independent living.
Please note that the questions about navigating child welfare system are optional, as
many youth that take this assessment might not have interacted with the child welfare or
juvenile justice systems.
The 2021 CLS toolkit contains two assessments: (a) the standard form, which is a 126-
item assessment measuring the nine categories mentioned above, and (b) the short
form, which is a 20-item assessment to be used for brief screenings or when youth, staff,
or caregiver’s time is limited. The CLS assessment is appropriate for all youth ages 14 to
21 years old regardless of living circumstances (e.g., youth is living in foster care, with
biological parents, in a group home, or other places). We have also included a
supplemental assessment, Support Systems, that assesses young people’s access to
formal and informal support.
We thank you for the important work you are doing to support young people as they
navigate their transition to adulthood and independent living. If you have any questions
about the guide, please reach out to Research Services at Casey Family Programs
([email protected]).

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Origins of the Casey Life Skills Assessment

The first version of the Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment (ACLSA)
The Casey Life Skills (CLS) assessment has been one of the landmark tools used to
assess and build young people’s skills for independent living. First built in 1998, it was
called the Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment because it was made possible through a
partnership with Dottie Ansell, a noted independent living expert. The ACLSA was
piloted initially with about 200 forms completed, and it was intended to accomplish the
following:
 Produce data useful for practice.
 Produce data rigorous enough for outcomes research.
 Be as free as possible from gender, ethnic, and cultural biases.
 Have sound psychometric properties.
 Be appropriate for completion by youths between the ages of 8 and 19, and by
their primary caregivers.
 Be appropriate for youths regardless of their living circumstances (e.g., with birth
or adoptive families, in long- or short-term foster care, in residential treatment).
 Be user-friendly.
 Emphasize skill strengths and mastery rather than skill deficiencies.
 Be affordable. 1

An Independent Living Committee at Casey Family Programs generated initial sets of

items for the ACLSA, with feedback from self-sufficiency experts. Focus groups to
discuss item selection and instrument format were held with child welfare staff,
caregivers, and youths. A team of consultants helped ensure that items were
developmentally appropriate and sensitive to gender, culture, and ethnicity. Pilot testing
was then conducted with caregivers and youths in urban and rural locations, which
helped refine the field test version of the ACLSA.

The ACLSA forms required an average of 15 minutes for youths to complete, regardless
of level. People with difficulties took longer, but support in completing the form was
encouraged (e.g., an adult could read the questions aloud to the youth). The short form
was most appropriate for youth between 11-18 years and took approximately 5 minutes
to complete. The short form provided one global score and had sound psychometric
properties just like the longer forms. The longer forms, however, provided the greatest
amount of useful practice-based information. Usage of the ACLSA increased to 1,500
forms in 2000 – with two states officially adopting it as their life skills assessment for
child welfare.

1 Nollan, K. A., Pecora, P. J., Downs, A. C., Wolf, M., Horn, M., Martine, L., & Lamont, E. (1997b).
Assessing life skills of adolescents in out-of-home care. International Journal of Child & Family Welfare,
97(2), 113-126. Page 117.

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ACLSA 3.0 2
The ACLSA underwent further revisions to create version 3.0, which was released in the
fall of 2000. The revisions were conducted to improve its measurement qualities by
retaining life skills items that had improved psychometric qualities. More specifically, the
ACLSA 3.0 assessment form was developed to measure important aspects of life skill
and knowledge to help social workers capture a youth's strengths and individual
challenges. However, the reliability and validity of the ACLSA as an assessment tool had
not yet been empirically established, so a series of new studies were launched. Data for
the first major ACLSA validity study were collected using the paper and pencil version of
the ACLSA 2.0 level-II forms, but the actual data analyses were conducted based on
version 3.0 items and structure.

Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were found to be within acceptable ranges
for the three ACLSA levels and short forms. Four approaches to establishing validity
were examined: content, discriminant, criterion-related, and construct. Content validity
was established through the comprehensive item-development process. Positive
correlations among domains and overall scores also show the content of the ACLSA to
be consistent. The short form also revealed a high positive correlation to the overall
ACLSA, indicating parallel content to the full ACLSA forms.

Examination of discriminant validity suggests the ACLSA is sensitive enough to portray

differences in ability. In the growth and development of youth, it is expected that life skills
competency increases with age. Comparison of older and younger youth scores
revealed the ACLSA captures and discriminates differences in ability with age. The
criterion validity studies suggest good validity for the ACLSA. Agreement between
matched Daniel Memorial and ACLSA items was high – answering a Daniel Memorial
instrument item correctly meant a high probability of also having a mastery rating for a
similar ACLSA item. This indicated that life skill assessment provided by the ACLSA is
consistent with a criterion measurement provided by a similar life skills assessment tool.

2 Material from this section abstracted from the following sources:

 Nollan, K. A., Downs, A.C., Pecora, P. J., Ansell, D. A., Wolf, M., Lamont, E., Horn, M., & Martine, L.
(1997a). Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment Manual. Version 2.0 Seattle, WA: Casey Family
Programs.
 Nollan, K. A., Pecora, P. J., Downs, A. C., Wolf, M., Horn, M., Martine, L., & Lamont, E. (1997b).
Assessing life skills of adolescents in out-of-home care. International Journal of Child & Family
Welfare, 97(2), 113-126.
 Nollan, K. A., Horn, M., Downs, A. C., & Pecora, P. J. (2000). Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment
(ACLSA) and Life Skills Guidebook Manual. Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs.
 Horn, M., Nollan, K. A., Downs, A. C., Bressani, R., Williams, J. Jeffrey, M. & Pecora, P.J. (2001). An
Internet-Based Tool for Independent Living: What we know about Validity and Reliability of the
Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment. Seattle: Casey Family Programs.
 Nollan, K.A., Horn, M., A., Downs, A.C. & Pecora, P.J.(Eds.) (2002). Ansell-Casey Life Skills
Assessment (ACLSA) And Life Skills Guidebook Manual. Seattle: Casey Family Programs.

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Finally, construct validity was evaluated using structural equation modeling. A model
was tested that operationalized the relationships among measured variables and latent
constructs. Support was found for the internal consistency of the measurement tools,
that is, fit index showed the measurement model was supported by the observed data. A
conceptual model of relationships between Life Skills, Self-Efficacy, and Coping
Competence was operationalized. Confirmation of positive relationships among the
constructs provided support for the hypothesis that the ACLSA domains assess life
skills, as evidenced by predictable relationships to similar, interconnected constructs.
Confirmation of the model supports the validity of the ACLSA as a measure of life skills.

Use of the ACLSA grew in 2001 with adoption by 11 states (10,000 forms completed);
usage increased to 23 states in 2002 (with 35,000 forms completed in that year).
Adoption of the ACLSA steadily climbed, with about 26 states adopting the form in 2003,
(70,000 forms completed.) We found the observations from one of the lead developers
of the ACLSA to be as relevant today as they were in 2001:

“The parent-youth reporting balance issue is a practice, not an assessment or research

issue, in my opinion. The ACLSA is a practice tool and as such helps social workers lead
conversations with youths on practice and service goals for the upcoming months. When
both a parent and a youth take the ACLSA, they have an opportunity to explore the
differences in the ways they perceive the youth's skills and behaviors. I've had many
reports from social workers and parents that these conversations help get kids and
adults on the same page.

“The ACLSA is built on the notion that the true expert on a youth's life skills is the youth.
Many, many other instruments are built on the incorrect notion that the "expert" is a
foster parent, social worker, psychologist, or someone else. My team and I have always
argued that that is wrong. The ACLSA uses the youth's report as a measure of how they
see themselves. Frankly, if youths ‘do not give an accurate baseline’ of their skills and
behaviors, won't that become evident when they review their answers with their parent,
their social worker, or both?

“The ‘truth’ of the youth's reports is also enhanced by the new performance items for
ACLSA Levels II, III, and IV. We heard from youths and parents that simply knowing that
their actual knowledge in the ACLSA domains will be tested enhances their willingness
to be absolutely truthful in their self-reports of skills and behaviors.

“There are a growing number of agencies and end-users who are using the ACLSA for
short-term and adjudicated youths. In many of these instances, the ACLSA short form is
the most useful. But in one case of a prominent juvenile court judge, she will be
administering the ACLSA long-forms to every youth ages 8-18 who comes through her
court. And while there will be no parent to give a second ACLSA in most of those cases,
the youth's self-reports will still be useful as this judge works with them to shape life skills
goals over the subsequent 1-, 3-, and 6-month periods.”
Source: Personal communication, A. Chris Downs, October 31, 2001.

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Casey Life Skills

In 2011, the ACLSA was updated to its most recent form as the Casey Life Skills (CLS)
assessment. The CLS has helped youth and their caregivers and staff think about the
following major types of skills:
• Maintaining healthy relationships
• Work and study habits
• Using public transportation
• Cooking and cleaning
• Budgeting and paying bills
• Computers and the internet
Up until November 2021, the standard CLS assessment form had 113 items. There also
was an 18-item short version, but that tool was not widely circulated in recent years. Five
special versions of the CLS were featured on the CLS website and the current project
team is looking closely at each of them to see which tools should be refreshed:
1. Pregnant and parenting
2. Education
3. American Indian
4. LGBTQ and Homeless
5. Younger youth

Over the years, nine other optional supplements were developed. Note that in 2004
Casey had these forms and supplements. These are also being reviewed to see which
should continue to be made available:
Youth I Caregiver I American Indian Supplement-Youth
Youth II Caregiver II Pregnancy Supplement
Youth III Caregiver III Parenting Infants Supplement
Youth IV Caregiver IV Parenting Young Children Supplement
Youth Short Caregiver Short
form Form Youth Values Supplement

The CLS website also offered the Resources to Inspire Guide that helps one to use the
CLS results to create a learning plan that can help youth gain the skills they need. In
addition, it contained a CLS Practice Guide to help learn more about how to administer
the assessment. Both documents have been updated in this 2021 revision to the CLS
assessment toolkit.

While the CLS assessment continues to be used broadly by many jurisdictions across
the nation, there is a need to ensure that it closely aligns with the current values of the
field, as well as Casey Family Programs’ continued commitment to permanency,
upstream prevention and community support. That is why the revisions process was
launched.

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Revision of Casey Life Skills assessments

Originally created in 1996, the CLS assessments continue to be used by millions of
young people and their service providers nationally. Over the years, Casey Family
Programs has reflected on the changing landscape of skills required by young people to
successfully transition into adulthood. (See Appendix A for an essay about this need.)
Additionally, it has also recognized the importance of addressing systemic inequities that
challenge many youths that are attempting to live independent and holistic lives. This
has resulted in the revision of the CLS assessments, Resources to Inspire Guide and
Practitioner’s Guide. To ensure that the updated CLS assessments were developed
while centering Casey Family Programs’ commitment to youth and parent
empowerment, the CLS refresh project team consisted of foster care alumni, resource
parents, service providers, education experts, and child welfare researchers. The
revision of the work was informed by several theoretical perspectives: competence-
centered perspective, ecological theory, positive youth development, social learning
theory, and social support theory (See Appendix B). Additionally, it was also guided by
the following values:
• Use of human-centered approach 3 throughout the re-evaluation and
refreshment of the CLS assessment to ensure that all CLS project team members
were provided with a space to develop empathy, collaborate in an equitable
manner, and develop a product that contributes toward informing services to
empower transitioning youth.
• Ensuring shared power by promoting an inclusive process whereby all voices
were heard equitably, particularly those that are traditionally left out.
• Bridging the research and practice gap to make certain the assessment tools
were refined while keeping in mind the realities of the field, thus increasing the
CLS reach and utilization.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts and principles to guide the type of
questions and language used to ensure inclusivity and accessibility of the CLS
toolkit.

What is new in the 2021 CLS Toolkit?

Significant changes have been made to the CLS assessments, Resources to Inspire
Guide and Practitioner’s Guide in collaboration with focus group participants of young
people, resource parents, and service providers. They are:
• Addition of a demographic section to the CLS Standard and Short
Assessment. The questions have been developed to recognize the diverse youth
that interact with the child welfare system and ensure inclusivity in terms of
gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and religion.

3 Human Centered Design is a problem solving approach developed by Nobel Prize laureate Herbert Simon
that focuses on building deep empathy to understand the perspective of people experiencing the problem,
their needs, and whether the solutions are designed in a manner that address their reality. This framework
ensures the active and equitable participation of people with lived experiences throughout the solution
development process.

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• Addition of two new skill areas to the CLS Assessment, (1) Civic
engagement and (2) Navigating the child welfare system. The revised CLS
assessment has nine skill areas, which include daily living; self-care; relationship
and communication; housing, money management and transportation; work and
study; career and education planning; civic engagement; navigating the child
welfare system; and looking forward. The civic engagement skills acknowledge
young people as active members of the community who should be empowered to
create social change. Skills for navigating the child welfare system were added to
recognize the complex systems that young people must interact with as they
transition to independent living. Since many youths that are taking the CLS
assessment are interacting with the child welfare system, it was important to have
questions that highlight the skills required to navigate that system. However, it is
important to note that this section is optional and can be skipped if the youth has
not had interactions with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The 2021
CLS assessment, therefore, has 126 questions compared to 113 questions in the
previous version.
• Revamp of the CLS short assessment. The ACLSA had an 18-item short
assessment that could be used for brief screenings. To ensure that the CLS short
assessment can be widely used by youth and service providers, we revised the
question to align them with the nine skill categories of CLS assessments. The new
CLS short assessment has 20 questions that are representative of the essential
skills from the CLS standard assessment.
• Creation of a Supplement for Support Systems. The new CLS assessment
recognizes the importance of youth to have access to formal and informal support
to successfully navigate their transition to adulthood. A supplemental assessment
to gather information about social support was created to help youth and service
providers examine the resources required by youth to develop their life skills.
• Skill learning worksheet and resource checklist in the Resources to Inspire
Guide. The updated Resources to Inspire Guide includes a skill learning
worksheet that can be used by the youth and supportive adult to set goals and
develop skills. Additionally, resource checklists corresponding to each skill area
have been developed with the hope that they can be tools to help the youth think
through the essential items needed to develop certain skills.

We will be working on language translations of the toolkit to ensure its accessibility to

non-English speakers. We will also review the need for revisions of the five special
versions and supplemental assessments in the 2011 CLS. Lastly, we will conduct tests
to confirm the validity and fidelity of the new tools. The CLS refresh project team
recognizes that the needs of youth are ever-changing based on the social, political, and
economic environment in which we live. We are committed to keeping this tool aligned
with the realities of youth and their service providers.

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Description of the Casey Life Skills Assessment

2021 Casey Life Skills Assessments
The 2021 CLS Assessments are multiple-choice questionnaires that measure
independent living skills in several functional areas for youth. These assessments are
appropriate for all youth ages 14 to 21 years regardless of living circumstances (e.g.,
youth is living in foster care, with biological parents, in a group home or other places).
The CLS Standard Assessment (126 items) and the short assessment (20 items) both
assess nine functional areas. The standard assessment provides the greatest amount of
useful practice-based information. However, the short assessment can be used for brief
screenings, research purposes or when there are serious time limitations.

CLS functional areas

Number
Life skill of Items Competencies assessed
Daily living 18 Internet safety, healthy meal planning, and home
maintenance
Self-care 18 Healthy physical and emotional development such as
personal hygiene, mental health, access to healthcare,
and safe sex
Relationships and 14 Developing and sustaining healthy relationships with
communication self and other, and cultural humility
Housing, money 21 Banking and credit, finding safe and affordable
management and housing, budgeting, and access to reliable
transportation transportation
Work and study 19 Basics of employment, legal issues, study skills, and
time management
Career and 9 Planning for career and professional development
education planning
Civic engagement 10 Engagement in the community, and social and
political issues
Navigating the child 10 Permanency goals, and interaction with various child
welfare system welfare and juvenile justice systems
Looking forward 7 Self-confidence and internal feelings about their
current and future life

How to administer the assessment

Youth and service providers are encouraged to use the assessment as a conversation
starter rather than a test. The standard assessment takes about 30-40 minutes to
complete. Due to its length, youth can either complete one skill area at a time or finish
the whole assessment in 30-40 minutes. The short assessment can be completed in 5-
10 minutes.

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How to score the Casey Life Skills Assessments

Casey Life Skills standard assessment
The CLS assessment is available in Excel and PDF format. The assessment in the Excel
format can be scored automatically. We have also provided a PDF version in case you
would like to print the assessment and score it by hand. The instructions provided below
detail how to score the CLS standard assessments. There are nine skill and content
areas of the CLS standard assessment. They are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5
representing the most strength. The scale is:
 Yes = 5 points
 Mostly Yes = 4 points
 Somewhat = 3 points
 Mostly No = 2 points
 No = 1 point

Individual skill area calculation

The CLS standard assessment has 126 questions divided into nine individual skill areas.
Skill area Number of questions
Daily living 18
Self-care 18
Relationships and communication 14
Housing, money management and transportation 21
Work and study life 19
Career and education planning 9
Civic engagement 10
Navigating the child welfare system 10
Looking forward 7

Follow these steps to calculate the total score for each individual skill area:
1) Assign points to each question based on the responses by the youth. For
example, if the youth has checked “Mostly yes” next to the statement, “I know how
to create, save, and print documents on a computer,” you will assign 4 points to
the question.
2) Add all the points for each section or skill area. For example, there are 18
statements in daily living. The youth has responded to every statement, and the
total score achieved after adding all the points is 54.
3) Divide the total score in the section or skill area by the total number of questions
that that youth has responded to in that section. For example, if the youth
responded to all 18 questions in the daily living section and achieved a total score

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of 54, then divide 54 by 18 to get 2.8. This score is just below the midrange in
knowledge, skills, and ability.
Note: If the youth does not respond to all the statements, divide the total score by the
number of statements answered. For example, there are 18 statements in self-care. If
the youth only answered 15 statements and their total score was 75, then their average
score is 5 (75 divided by 15).

Overall score calculation

An overall average score can be calculated by adding the average scores of each skills
area and dividing by 9. Below is an example of the overall average score for a youth:
Skill Area Average Score
Daily living 3.9
Self-care 4.1
Relationships and communication 3.1
Housing, money management and transportation 2.6
Work and study life 2.9
Career and education planning 1.2
Civic engagement 3.6
Navigating the child welfare system 3.3
Looking forward 4.2
Overall average score 3.2

Note: If the youth has not interacted with the child welfare or juvenile justice system, the
questions in “Navigating the child welfare system” do not need to be completed. To
calculate the overall score without this skill area, add the average scores of each of the
eight skill areas and divide by 8.

Casey Life Skills short assessment

The CLS short assessment is available in Excel and PDF format. The assessment in the
Excel format can be scored automatically. We have also provided a PDF version in case
you would like to print the assessment and score it by hand. The instructions provided
below detail how to score the CLS short assessments. The CLS Support Systems
Supplement can be scored using the same instructions. The CLS short assessment
consists of 20 questions that represent the nine skills and content areas of the CLS
standard assessment. They are scored on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 representing the most
strength. The scale is:
 Yes = 5 points
 Mostly Yes = 4 points
 Somewhat = 3 points
 Mostly No = 2 points
 No = 1 point

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Overall score calculation

To calculate the overall average score, add the total score and divide it by the total
number of questions that have been answered.

How to use the CLS Assessment to develop young people’s

knowledge, skills, and awareness of life skills
The CLS assessments are a collaborative tool to be used by young people and
supportive adults to empower youth to live independent and holistic lives. Here are some
steps to guide you to develop young people’s knowledge, skills and awareness of life
skills. We encourage you to use the Resources to Inspire Guide for additional resources.

Step 1: Encourage youth to take the assessment

• First, clearly explain to the youth about the assessment and its purpose. Be
enthusiastic, positive, and listen to the youth about their questions, hopes, and
apprehensions about the assessment. Be aware that the youth may have already
taken many assessments that were used to evaluate them negatively. Make sure
that the youth knows that the CLS assessment is not a method of placing
judgment on them or their value as a person. It is a step toward learning the
knowledge and skills that they already have and what opportunities they further
need to thrive in life.

• Consider starting with an area of life skills in which you know youth are already
strong, so that they can build their confidence as they work through the CLS
assessment. Let them know that you and others will work with them to use the
information from the assessment to develop a plan to meet their wants and
needs. Arouse their curiosity about the results. Encourage active participation —
invite them to share what they hope to get out of completing the assessment. Let
them know this is an opportunity for them to make decisions about their future —
what they want to do tomorrow, next week, or next year.

• When possible and appropriate, give youth choices in how they take the
assessment. For example, youth can work at their own pace in one skill area at a
time or they can complete the entire assessment in about 30-40 minutes.
Additionally, the assessments are available in Excel format or printable PDFs.
Therefore, youth can either take the assessment on a computer or on a printable
form. You can also use the assessment in a conversation format, where you ask
the youth each question and have them elaborate on their responses.

• Engage youth’s curiosity about themselves and about life skills. Before youth
take the assessment, ask youth to share which life skills they feel they need. Ask
youth to predict how they think they will score in each area. Compare the results
with their predictions and discuss any differences.

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Step 2: Review and discuss the youth assessment results

• The score for the assessment will range from 1 to 5, with 5 indicating high skill
strength. After completing the assessment, practitioners can either hand score
the printed form, or enter the information in the Excel format to calculate the
scores. Review the scores of each skill area with the youth by discussing how
they felt answering the questions and their thoughts on areas in which they
scored higher and lower.

• Share a copy of the results with the youth for the conversation and let them tell
you about what the results mean and how they think and feel about them. Are
they surprised, pleased, disappointed, ambivalent, challenged, curious, etc.?
Start with the positive. Ask the youth to start by identifying their strengths —
those areas where their average scores are closer to a 5. Ask them about what
helped them become strong in those areas: what were the resources,
experiences, and opportunities that helped them learn and practice those skills?
Then move to looking at lower average scores. Ask the youth where they felt
unsure and where they think they need help. What is challenging for them right
now? Ask them what resources, experiences, and opportunities would help them
gain strength in those areas. Ask with whom, if anyone, they might like to work to
grow in those areas. Ask if there were any surprises for them in the results and, if
so, discuss why. Include questions about whether there were any areas of
strengths and needs that youth felt were not addressed in the assessment.

• Remember that the best expert on a youth’s knowledge and behavior is the youth
themselves. There will be exceptions where young people need support in being
self-reflective or in gaining self-perception because of psychological, physical, or
developmental challenges. Getting to know youth to find out what kinds of
additional support they need to grow in the areas of self-reflection and self-
perception will be helpful.

• It will be helpful to keep in mind that the cognitive development and life
experiences of youth ages 14 to17 years will be, most times, different than those
of their 18- to21-year-old peers. Practitioners can prepare younger youth to
expect some items in career and education planning, work skills, and housing
and money management to be out of their range of knowledge and experience.
Before reviewing the scores for these areas that are more relevant to those who
are 18 and older, remind younger youth that they simply haven’t had
opportunities to gain experience in these areas yet. Use the opportunity to have
them think about their future when work, housing, and money management will
play a substantive role in their lives for their safety and well-being. For example,
draw connections between their favorite school subjects or activities and how
they can begin thinking about related professional or vocational training and
education that will prepare them for careers that interest them.

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• If the youth has taken the assessment before, compare results to previous
assessment results. Again, start with the positive and first look for the areas of
most improvement and ask what helped youth to grow in those areas. It is
important to note that sometimes a youth’s scores may be lower than their first
assessment. They may have been overly confident in a particular skill, given
answers because they thought they were the expected answers, or simply
guessed. Discuss why the scores are the same or different. Ask the youth if they
feel more or less confident in particular areas.

Step 3: Support youth in developing learning plan goals and activities

• Once the youth has completed the assessment or sections of the assessment,
collaborate with them to develop a learning plan. It is important to let the youth
drive the conversation and determine which behaviors, knowledge, or skills are
most important to them and choose what learning goals they want to look at first.
You are encouraged to use the Skill Learning Worksheet in the Resources to
Inspire Guide to develop these goals.

• Include supportive adults in the planning process and encourage them to support
the youth in the goals that they have chosen. Make sure to remind the adult to
play a supportive role in the process rather than lead the planning.

• When considering which activities to include in the youth’s plan, engage them in
a conversation about what and how they would like to learn. Then, with the help
of their service provider and additional supportive adults, let the youth identify the
steps to learn or achieve something. Remember to ask the youth how they will
know they have achieved success or acquired the knowledge/particular skill and
include that measure in their plan.

• Use the Resources to Inspire Guide to map out skills, corresponding goals, and
resources that will be helpful for the youth. Almost all the resources that are listed
are free or very low cost. The resources can be used in group, individual or self-
instruction formats. For group learning, try an icebreaker activity that will assist
youth with learning about goals, practice setting simple goals, and inspire them to
identify areas of interest. Note that the resources offered are suggestions. We
encourage practitioners to use reliable online resources to identify organizations
and other tools in their geographic area or use resources specific to their child
welfare agency.

Step 4: Support youth to implement, monitor, and update their learning plan
• Ask youth to use and refer to their learning plan in your interactions and
communications with them. Ask about progress. Celebrate successes! If a youth
does not meet a planned goal, encourage them to reflect on obstacles and
challenges, and encourage them to identify ways to overcome them and try

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again. Encourage and model a growth mindset for youth. Ask what is working
and what is not, encourage honest and kind reflection, modify the plan and
activities, and support accordingly. It is critical that young people practice new
skills in real contexts on an ongoing basis; help provide these opportunities and
encourage youth’s other supporters to do the same.

• Use the CLS Assessment to chart progress and set new goals. Review the
learning plan at regular intervals and update it with new goals and activities.
Sections of the CLS Assessment can be used alone as a post-assessment if the
youth has focused on increasing skills in a particular area, or the entire
assessment can be retaken to assess total progress over a longer time interval.
Intervals between pre/post assessments can vary from monthly to quarterly to
annually. It depends on the youth’s needs, the service provider’s Individual
Learning program requirements, and a jurisdiction’s compliance requirement.

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

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Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development:
Research perspectives. Developmental psychology, 22(6), 723.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Child Development. Centers for
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Cicchetti, D. & Lynch, M. (1993). Toward an ecological/transactional model of
community violence and child maltreatment: Consequences for children’s
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Dion, M. Robin (2013). A framework for advancing the self-sufficiency and well-being of
at-risk youth (OPRE Report # 2012-14). Washington, DC: Office of Planning,
Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from
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final_03_27_13.pdf
Fraser, M. W., Kirby, L. D., & Smokowski, P. R. (2004). Risk and resilience in childhood.
Risk and resilience in childhood: An ecological perspective, 2, 13-66.
Fisher, P., Burraston, B., & Pears, K. (2005). The Early Intervention Foster Care
Program: Permanent Placement Outcomes from a Randomized Trial. Child
Maltreatment, 10, 61-71.
Fontes, L. A. (2005). Child abuse and culture: Working with diverse families. Guilford
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Garbarino, J., Dubrow,N., Kostelny, K., & Pardo, C. (1992). Children in danger: Coping
with the consequences of community violence. Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Garbarino, J. & Ganzel, B. (2000). The Human ecology of early risk. Handbook of early
childhood intervention, 2, 76-93. Lerner, R, M., Lerner, J.V., Almerigi, J.B. et al.
(2005). Positive Youth Development, Participation in Community Youth
Development Programs, and Community Contributions of Fifth-Grade
Adolescents: Findings from the first wave of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth
Development. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(1), 17-71.
Hodge, K., Danish, S. & Martin, J. (2012). Developing a Conceptual framework for life
skills interventions. The Counseling Psychologist, 41, pp. 1125 – 1152. Retrieved
from https://www.apa.org/education-career/ce/conceptual-framework.pdf
Horn, M., Nollan, K. A., Downs, A. C., Bressani, R., Williams, J. Jeffrey, M. & Pecora,
P.J. (2001). An Internet-Based Tool for Independent Living: What we know

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about Validity and Reliability of the Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment. Seattle:
Casey Family Programs.
Jenson, J. & Fraser, M. (Eds.) (2016). Social policy for children and families: A risk and
resilience perspective. (Third Edition) Newbury Park: Sage Press.
Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. (2011). The adolescent brain: New research and
its implications for young people transitioning from foster care. Baltimore:
www.jimcaseyyouth.org/new-adolescent-brain-study-full-report

Lerner, J.V., Phelps, E., Forman,Y. & Bowers, E.P. (2009). Positive Youth Development.
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Maluccio, A. N., & Sinanoglu, P. A. (1981). The Challenge of Partnership: Working with
Parents of Children in Foster Care. Child Welfare League of America, Inc., 67
Irving Place, New York, NY 10003
Maluccio, A., Pine, B., & Tracy, E. (2002). Social work practice with families and
children. Columbia University Press.
Newman, T.J., Anderson-Butcher, D., & Bostick, K. (2021). Psychological Processes
Involved in Life Skill Transfer: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Youth
Recognized as Being Socially Vulnerable, Child and Adolescent Social Work
Journal, 1-14} DOI:10.1007/S10560-021-00768-7
Rapp, C. A. (1998). The strengths model: Case management with people suffering from
severe and persistent mental illness. Oxford University Press.
Moen, P. E., Elder Jr, G. H., & Lüscher, K. E. (1995). Examining lives in context:
Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. xx-708). American
Psychological Association.
National Research Council 2015. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through
Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
https://doi.org/10.17226/19401.
Nollan, K. A., Horn, M., Downs, A.C., & Pecora, P. J. (Eds.) (2000). Ansell-Casey Life
Skills Assessment (ACLSA) and life skills guidebook manual, version 3.0.
Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs.
Nollan, K. A., Pecora, P. J., Downs, A. C., Wolf, M., Horn, M., Martine, L., & Lamont, E.
(1997). Assessing life skills of adolescents in out-of-home care. The International
Journal of Child and Family Welfare, 1 (1), 113-126.
Nollan, K. A., Downs, A.C., Pecora, P. J., Ansell, D. A., Wolf, M., Lamont, E., Horn, M., &
Martine, L. (1997a). Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment Manual. Version 2.0
Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs.
Nollan, k. A., Horn, M., Downs, A. C., & Pecora, P. J. (Eds.) (2000). Ansell-Casey life
skills assessment (ACLSA) and life skills guidebook manual, version 3.0. Seattle:
Casey Family Programs.

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Nollan, K. A., Pecora, P. J., Downs, A. C., Wolf, M., Horn, M., Martine, L., & Lamont, E.
(1997b). Assessing life skills of adolescents in out-of-home care. International
Journal of Child & Family Welfare, 97/2, 113-126.
Nollan, K. A., Horn, M., Downs, A. C., & Pecora, P. J. (2000). Ansell-Casey Life Skills
Assessment (ACLSA) and Life Skills Guidebook Manual. Seattle, WA: Casey
Family Programs.
Smith, W. B. (2001). Youth Leaving Foster Care: A Developmental, Relationship-Based
Approach to Practice. London: Oxford Scholarship.
Social Care Institute for Excellence, Leeds City Council & Shared Lives Plus (2018).
Strengths-based social care for children, young people and their families.
London: Authors. Retrieved from https://www.scie.org.uk/strengths-based-
approaches/young-people

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Appendix A
Young people as navigators of their safety, permanency, and well-being
By Connie K. Chung, Ed.D. (Foster America Fellow, San Mateo County Human Services
Agency)

Recently, I asked a young person to co-design a life skills workshop with me. When I
showed Teresa, my young co-facilitator, an online whiteboard and collaboration tool that
was new to her, she was excited and enthusiastic. "Can we share this website with the
others who come to the workshop?" she asked. "It's such a great resource; there are so
many ways to use it and I bet the young people who come would like to know about it!"

As we brainstormed a few ideas for the workshop, whose content about envisioning and
planning for one's future aligns with the "Looking Forward" subcategory within the
CLS assessment, I showed her the basic features of the collaboration tool. I pointed to
the opportunities for learning more about how to use the tool, explained that the ability to
use the tool is one that is valued by employers as more of our work has shifted
online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and asked Teresa to plan and lead the part of
the workshop that would use the resource. I have full confidence she will do a better job
than I would.

In working together to create the workshop, Teresa and I were practicing non-routine
interpersonal, analytical, and manual tasks. These required problem-solving, intuition,
persuasion, situational adaptability, visual and language recognition, in-person (though
in our case, during COVID-19 times, online) interaction, and creativity. 4 As an educator,
it was a deliberate choice on my part to engage my younger co-designer in meaningful,
consequential activities that build skills that have become more and more in demand in
workplaces and beyond. For example, researchers David Autor and Brendan Price
analyzed the changing task composition of the U.S. labor market from 1960 to 2010 and
found that while non-routine analytical and interpersonal tasks steadily rose in use, the
routine manual, cognitive, and non-routine manual tasks ─ those that can more easily be
automated by machines and/or computers ─ declined. 5 (See Figure 1)

4 Autor, David H. & Price, Brendan (2013). The changing task composition of the US labor market: An
update of Autor, Levy, and Murnane (2003). MIT Mimeograph, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
https://economics.mit.edu/files/9758
5 ibid.

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

Figure 1. Worker Tasks in the US. Economy: 1960-2009

Source: Autor, Price (2013). “The changing task composition of the US labor market: an Update of Autor,
Levy and Murnane (2003)”. MIT Mimeograph, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. https://economics.mit.edu/files/9758

Similarly, McKinsey, the global consulting company, modeled skill shifts going forward to
2030 in the United States and Europe and predicted that while the hours spent
exercising physical, manual, and basic cognitive skills will decrease, the hours spent
using higher cognitive skills, social and emotional skills, and technological skills will
accelerate. 6 (See Figure 2.)

6 Bughin, J., Hazan, E., Lund, S., Dahlstrom, P., Wiesinger, A. & Subramaniam, A. (2018, May 23). Skill
shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. Discussion Paper. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-
insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

Figure 2. Total Hours Worked in Europe and the United States - 2016 versus 2030
estimate (in billions)

Source: Bughin, J., Hazan, E., Lund, S., Dahlstrom, P., Wiesinger, A. & Subramaniam, A. (2018, May
23). Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. Discussion
Paper. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-
the-workforce

The report goes on to note: "The overall need for physical and manual skills in the sector
is decreasing at more than twice the rate of that for the whole economy. The need for
basic cognitive skills is also declining as office support functions are automated. ... A key
to companies’ future success will be in providing continuous learning options and
instilling a culture of lifelong learning throughout the organization." 7

As an educator and researcher, I have been working with practice, policy, and research
colleagues from all over the world to shift learning experiences to better align with the
practicalities and realities of a rapidly changing world. I often share this quote from New
York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman: In 2004, “Facebook didn’t even exist yet,
Twitter was still a sound, the cloud was still in the sky, 4G was a parking space,

7 ibid.

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

‘applications’ were what you sent to college, LinkedIn was barely known and most
people thought it was a prison, Big Data was a good name for a rap star, and Skype, for
most people, was a typographical error.” 8 To further underscore the speed of change, I
note that in 2021, several references in Friedman's statement from 2016 are already
outdated.

Indeed, while changes have been taking place even before people began keeping
records, the speed and scale of the changes we are experiencing now are
unprecedented. Even before a global, life-changing pandemic that upended our lives in a
matter of 24 hours in 2020, other changes that have demanded our attention and that of
our young people ─ the rapid development, spread, and dominance of technology;
deepening inequality; ethnic, class, race, political, and other tensions; environmental
challenges such as wildfires; and other local and global issues ─ have been
causing major shifts in thinking about how we can best prepare young people for such a
volatile and complex world.

In working with colleagues around the world, who collectively serve and work with
millions of young people, spanning the full gamut of backgrounds ─ from young
people first to go to school in their families and growing up with multiple adverse
childhood experiences to young people whose economies invest heavily in their
education systems ─ I noted and summarized some of the shifts we are making in
learning and teaching in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Shifts in Learning

Source: Adapted from the author’s original presentation, Chung, Connie K. (2018, June 20). Learning across
differences: Lessons in learning to build a better world together. 2nd Annual Oxford University Symposium
for Comparative and International Education, Oxford, U.K.

8 Friedman, Thomas L. (2016). Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of
Acceleration. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

My colleagues are making these shifts in learning and teaching because they are
needed. The world has collectively experienced in the past 20 months, for example, how
important it is to know how to care for one's mental and physical health, and how
critical it is to be creative, collaborative, empathetic, and adaptable as we responded to a
global pandemic. Many of us learned about the importance of continually learning ─
about epidemiology, about supply chains, about our interdependence on each other for
our health and well-being, and a host of other topics we probably had little prior
knowledge about before COVID-19. Many of us likely also realized that we learned these
kinds of life skills from a variety of venues and people, over the course of our lives, not
just in our formal schooling.

What are the implications for learning life skills in such a world?
In other words, we learned or re-learned that we are the navigators of our safety,
permanency, and well-being, with help from our broader community of friends, families,
scientists, artists, health care workers, and other community members. As we co-labor
with young people to learn life skills (particularly youth and young adults involved in the
child welfare system) we should also consider part of our work to be about encouraging
and empowering young people to be navigators of their own safety, permanency, and
well-being. This work should be about helping them build the kind of trustworthy and
supportive networks of relationships that enable all of us to have and make good
decisions.

The following are a few questions for beginning discussions in our respective
communities about how we might do this, using the CLS assessment as one of many
tools 9. The suggestions are framed deliberately as questions so that recommendations
and answers that are more appropriate to particular local contexts can be generated and
co-created in dialogue with young people and other stakeholders.

1. How can we use the CLS assessment to inform an explicitly strengths-based

approach to working with young people about learning life skills, and to connect
the presentation of new information to what young people already know about life
skills? 10

Very few young people are as familiar with complexity and volatility as our system-
involved young people, unfortunately. Yet for many, the challenges of having to navigate
a child welfare and/or juvenile justice system result in resilience, creativity, and
adaptability. Many of our young people are already well-versed in life skills. "I learned
how to self-advocate for my needs," one young person told me. Another observed,

9 Many thanks to the Foster America community and staff of San Mateo County Human Services Agency
Children & Families Services who influenced some of my thinking about these points.
10 How People Learn, a summary of the science behind learning put together by the National Research
Council, stresses the importance of connecting new knowledge with what young people already know.
National Research Council, Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning & Committee on
Learning Research and Educational Practice (2000). How people learn. National Academy Press.
https://www.nap.edu/read/9853/chapter/1

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

"Well, I guess I learned how to be resourceful and persistent." A social worker said to
me, "Many of the young people I work with are really good at finding resources."

One of the ways that the CLS assessment can be used is to help systematically
determine the breadth of strengths our young people already possess about life skills
and connect what they want to know with what they already know. Young people and
their supporters, for example, can look at the CLS assessment topics prior to use of the
tool to note areas of strengths before delving into examining areas in need of further
growth. Because the CLS assessment concretely names several skills in a particular
subcategory, it can also help young people and their supporters identify what they
already know even in areas identified as being in general need of further growth.

If we can begin with the mindset that every young person can thrive in life with proper
resources and support, regardless of background, and if we can encourage young
people to do the same, then we can reinforce that assessments ─ particularly self-
assessments ─ do not evaluate the potential or value of a person. Rather, they become
guides in helping us know where we are strong and where we need to focus our
energies to grow, instead of scattering our limited time and resources in all directions. 11

2. How can we use the CLS assessment to offer young people opportunities to
learn from each other and to equip them with the resources they need? How can
we use the CLS assessment to build on young people’s curiosity and desire to
continue to learn life skills over the course of their lives, through different venues
and with different communities?

Young people are eager to learn life skills. Young people can also be each other's best,
if not the most credible, sources of information. Especially with knowledge growing at an
exponential rate, and with so many online and other venues to learn, young people
might already know resources that they find appealing and helpful that supporters may
not. In addition to offering concrete resources and opportunities, we might do well to also
guide young people about how to discern trustworthy sources of information among
many offered to them, whether the sources are peers, adults, organizations, or online
resources.

Supporters can use the results of the CLS assessment to organize pairs or groups of
young people to learn life skills together and from each other; some young people might
be stronger in some areas of life skills than others, and they can offer their strengths to
each other and receive from each other in their areas of need. 12

11 For more on how development is an inherently relational process, where scaffolding and connecting to the
zone of proximal development are key, see Chapter 1 in Michael J. Nakkula and Eric Toshalis’ book,
Understanding Youth: Adolescent Development for Educators (2006). Harvard Education Press.
12 Developmental psychologists Nicole Jarrett and Richard M. Lerner, for example, include “connection” as
one of the “5 Cs” of positive youth development (the others are competence, confidence, character, and
caring/compassion) that lead to the 6th C, contribution (to self, family, community, civil society). For

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

No single workshop or workbook or group activity will be enough for young people to
learn all that they need to learn about life skills. Instead, these activities could help
underscore why it is important to learn a life skill like financial literacy, for example.
Hearing from peers about the varieties of resources and the supportive people who are
available to help may build on young people’s innate curiosity and desire to learn. 13
Asking young people what financial literacy skills they need to learn and following
through by connecting them with resources would be another important step. Supporters
can share their own journeys of learning life skills and invite young people to do the
same. With knowledge and resources continually evolving, an important place to begin
may be to underscore that learning life skills is a lifelong endeavor, and to help young
people understand how and why life skills are important to gain and build on throughout
their lives.

3. How can we integrate the CLS assessment into our overall strategy around
equipping and empowering young people to set their own goals and plan for their
long-term safety, permanency, and well-being?

It is likely that young people already are asked to make plans for their transitions and in
other areas of their lives. Having a tool with which to assess areas of strengths and
areas for growth in concrete ways gives young people agency.

It may be helpful to consider the CLS assessment as part of an ongoing discussion with
young people, to be integrated with other tools to help youth set goals and plan for their
own safety, permanency, and well-being. The CLS assessment, used together with the
CLS resource guide, can help young people not just during their skills development but
also in meaningful and tangible planning and goal setting.

One way to use the CLS assessment in setting goals and planning for long-term safety,
permanency, and well-being is to focus on the subcategories of the assessment and
outline an overall picture of young peoples’ areas of strengths and areas for further
growth. Then, as planning occurs every month, every three months, and/or every six
months, there could be a particular focus on a specific subcategory for a period, so that
achievable goals can be set within those subcategories and young people can feel a
sense of accomplishment. Using the goals and the CLS resource guide, young people
can make a plan, including identifying the supportive people and relationships and the
opportunities and resources they would like to have to reach their self-identified goals.

concrete suggestions on how to develop the 5 Cs, start with this handout from Health and Human
Services Administration for Children and Families’ Youth Services Bureau:
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fysb/whatispyd20120829.pdf
13 For more discussion about the benefits of connecting to the intrinsic motivation of young people,
particularly those with adverse childhood experiences, see Paul Tough’s book, Helping Children Succeed:
What Works and Why (2016). Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

4. How can we use the CLS assessment in ways that are sensitive to the range of
experiences that young people bring? How can we use the CLS assessment
to listen to young people and change our practice accordingly?

As many youth workers and educators already know, young people span a range of
needs and strengths and sensitivity to and recovery from trauma. 14 Some may be
hypersensitive and hypervigilant toward being "assessed," even if the assessment is a
self-assessment. Others may readily welcome the CLS assessment as an opportunity to
learn what kinds of life skills would benefit them. Others may see the CLS assessment
as another reminder of what they lack.

Discussing with young people the purpose and content of the CLS assessment will be
helpful; so, too, will be discussions with young people and the supporters who know
them well about how best to use the assessment in ways that would best benefit young
people and not further harm them. Self-awareness, meta-cognition, and
reflective practice are a few of the skills that educators often build in young people to be
aware of how they learn. Co-creating safe spaces in which young people can share what
enables them to learn well and adapting the administration of the CLS assessment
accordingly might be something to consider.

Discussing with young people areas and topics that they consider critical life skills that
the CLS assessment does not yet address – such as working on issues that they care
about, in racial or environmental justice, for example – might be a way to use the CLS
assessment. Another idea would be to let them know that the civic engagement and
navigating the child welfare system sections are new to the CLS assessment this year,
and asking what they think about gaining leadership skills that allow them to be part of
making positive differences in their communities. We might ask them what other
additional sections they might add under the umbrella of “life skills.”

As an example of changing practice to reflect the experiences and reflections of young

people, this redesign of the CLS assessment was created with critical and helpful input
from young people, who saw it as a useful tool to help them become navigators of their
own lives. It was also revised with input from social workers, CASAs, resource parents,
community partners, and education liaisons ─ some of the many people who spend time
and effort to support our young people. It may be helpful to consider the CLS
assessment as a dynamic, living tool to be refined over time in ways that best help
young people and those who support them.

5. How can we use the CLS assessment to create a sense of shared purpose and
align shared efforts among young people and their supporters?

14 See Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey’s book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma,
Resilience and Healing (2021). Flatiron Books, for example.

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

Life skills in a fast-changing world cover a breadth of topics that no one young person
can learn by his/her/themselves from any single source; learning life skills is an iterative,
community-embedded, life-long process. All of us, young or old, are still learning life
skills and are doing so with support from our friends, families, community members,
and a variety of opportunities such as volunteering, work, school, community or online
classes, books, podcasts, apps, or social media.

Teresa, the young person who is co-designing the life skills workshop with me, was
supported by many others even before she began to work with me:
 The social worker who did a warm handoff to a community partner,
who introduced her to a range of resources so that Teresa could choose how she
wanted to grow;
 The education and employment specialist who encouraged her to apply
to the innovative human services agency internship program for system-involved
young people so Teresa could have a broader menu of options to choose for
work;
 The manager, a former system-involved young person, who invited Teresa to co-
create an app for foster youth as part of that internship so Teresa could further
discover her talents and strengths;
 The former resource parents who noticed Teresa's love of the arts
and hired her to paint a mural on their property so she would have another
opportunity to showcase her work and grow in her skills.

These supporters did what research says is critical in making relationships powerful in
young peoples’ lives: they expressed care, provided support, shared power,
challenged growth, and expanded Teresa’s possibilities. 15 The web of warm and
encouraging relationships that surrounded her, and Teresa’s willingness to accept
their support, were critical for her to learn a breadth of life skills that are now helping her
to create opportunities for other young people to learn life skills.

Conclusions
Whether young or old, we need an intentional, supportive community to learn life
skills. The CLS assessment may be one of the most effective tools our community
partners can use to support our young people in being the navigators of their own safety,
permanency, and well-being.

15 The Search Institute (n.d.). The developmental relationships framework. https://www.search-

institute.org/developmental-relationships/developmental-relationships-framework/

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Casey Life Skills | Practitioner’s Guide

Additional resources
Books:
National Research Council, Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning &
Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice (2000). How people
learn. National Academy Press. https://www.nap.edu/read/9853/chapter/1
Nakkula, Michael J. & Toshalis, Eric (2006). Understanding youth: Adolescent
development for educators. Harvard Education Press.
Perry, Bruce D. & Winfrey, O. (2021). What happened to you? Conversations on trauma,
resilience, and healing. Flatiron Books.
Tough, Paul (2016). Helping children succeed: What works and why. Houghton Mifflin
and Company.
Websites and frameworks:
Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Framework for Authentically Partnering with Young
People:
https://www.aecf.org/resources/a-framework-for-effectively-partnering-with-
young-people
Family and Youth Services Bureau Guide on What is Positive Youth
Development?
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fysb/whatispyd20120
829.pdf
The Search Institute's The Developmental Relationships Framework.
https://www.search-institute.org/developmental-
relationships/developmental-relationships-framework/
Youth.gov’s Positive Youth Development:
https://youth.gov/youth-topics/positive-youth-development

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Appendix B
Theoretical perspectives that guided some of the Casey Life Skills
refinement

The CLS revisions work has been informed by several theoretical perspectives:
competence-centered perspective, ecological theory, positive youth development, social
learning theory and social support theory. These are described briefly below. 16

Competence-centered perspective
There is a growing consensus in the human services field, namely, a competence-
centered or strength-oriented approach to practice, that contrasts with the more
traditional pathology or deficit model (Fontes, 2005; Maluccio, 1999; Rapp, 1998; Social
Care Institute for Excellence et al., 2018). While the metaphor of ecology provides a way
of perceiving and understanding human beings and their functioning within the context of
their environment, knowledge about competence development offers specific guidelines
for professional practice and service delivery.

The competence perspective draws from ego psychology; psychodynamic psychology;

and learning, developmental, and family systems theories. In social work as in other
fields, competence is generally defined as the repertoire of skills that enable the person
to function effectively. However, a distinction should be made between the notion of
discrete competencies or skills and the broader, ecological, or transactional concept of
competence. The latter may be defined as the outcome of the interplay among:
• a person’s capacities, skills, potentialities, limitations, and other characteristics;
• a person’s motivation — that is, their interests, hopes, beliefs, and aspirations; and
• the qualities of the person’s impinging environment — such as social networks,
environmental demands, and opportunities (Maluccio & Sinanoglu 1981).

The ecological concept of competence leads to competence-centered social work

practice, a perspective that explicitly holds that the promotion of competence in human
beings is a central function of social work intervention (Maluccio, Pine & Tracy, 2002).
Competence-centered practice, as it is applied to youth life skills development,
embodies a set of attitudes, principles, and strategies designed to promote effective
functioning in human beings by focusing on their unique coping and adaptive patterns,
mobilizing their actual or potential strengths, emphasizing the role of natural helping
networks, building on their life experiences in a planned way, and using environmental
resources as major instruments of help.

16 This section is adapted and updated from Pecora, P.J., Whittaker, J.K., Maluccio, A.N.; Barth, R.P. &
DePanfilis, D. (2009). The child welfare challenge. (Third Edition.) Piscataway, NJ: Aldine-Transaction
Books, Chapter 3.

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Developmental perspective
By the developmental perspective, we mean a certain frame of reference for
understanding the growth and functioning of human beings in the context of their families
and their families’ transactions with their environments. The developmental perspective
is akin to the ecological perspective in that it views human behavior and social
functioning within an environmental context. It goes beyond ecology, however, by
bringing in other aspects such as the stages and tasks of the family’s life cycle; the bio-
psycho-social principles of individual growth and development; the goals and needs that
are common to all human beings and families; and the particular aspirations, needs, and
qualities of each person and each family in light of diversity in such areas as culture,
ethnicity, race, class, and sexual orientation.

This highlighting of developmental theory should not be construed as minimizing the

importance of attachment, trauma, social control, strain, and social learning theories.
This includes such prominent aspects as:
• the tasks and challenges associated with different individual and family
developmental cycles;
• the repetition of the family life cycle in blended families;
• the role of family routines and rituals;
• the significance of cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender relativity; and
• the ways in which family functioning (cohesion, adaptability, communication, and
role fulfillment) is in part dependent upon the developmental levels of individual
family members.

In applying a developmental perspective to assessing life skills, we are mindful that

children are moving their way through multiple developmental stages, and that they may
be at 15 years in chronological age but operating at an 8- or 10-year-old level
developmentally in certain areas. In addition, while some developmental tasks and skills
are not dependent on a previous stage being accomplished, other aspects of human
development may occur best when certain foundational developmental stages or
functioning has been achieved (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018;
National Research Council, 2015 chapter 3). This has profound implications for
assessing youth life skills in terms of tailoring and staging skills development.

Ecological developmental models

Within the child welfare context, child characteristics interact with the experience of
maltreatment (risk factor) and families or foster care families (protective factor) to
produce outcomes. These characteristics include genetic factors, risk factors such as
poverty, racism, and dangerous living environments, and family of origin characteristics
and functioning (Cicchetti & Lynch, 1993; Fraser et al., 2004; Garbarino & Ganzel, 2000;
Jenson & Fraser, 2016). In addition, family characteristics and functioning, child/family
supports, the quality and nature of services provided by various community agencies,
and other sociopolitical, economic, and cultural factors interact with the experiences of
child maltreatment to produce certain outcomes.

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According to an ecological perspective delineated by Cicchetti & Lynch (1993, pp. 102-
103), families (and foster families) can act as a powerful micro-system intervention that
can have important protective and ameliorative functions for the youth. In terms of
outcome areas, it is important to assess a range of domains, including mental and
physical health, adaptive functioning, cognitive functioning, and social functioning. The
ecological model espoused by Bronfenbrenner (2004) posits that individual development
occurs and can only be understood within a larger family and social-environmental
ecological context. In this model, the interplay of factors at the level of the individual, the
family and the environment are all necessary to understand what appear to be individual
behavior and individual outcomes.

The ecological perspective draws from such fields as ecology, systems theory,
anthropology, and organizational theory. In particular, it builds on ecology as a metaphor
and thus on the study of the interactions between living organisms and their
environments (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1986; Garbarino et al., 1992; Moen, Elder, &
Luscher, 1995). This perspective requires identifying and analyzing risk and protective
factors at the level of the child, the level of his or her family, and at the broader societal
level. Children’s development arises from the complex interplay of these interwoven
elements, and life skills development needs to strategically draw opportunities and
supports from multiple ecological levels to truly be successful.

Positive youth development

The positive youth development (PYD) framework is based on a body of research that
suggests that if youth are to reach their full potential, there is a need for certain
protective factors or positive influences to support young people as they overcome
challenges and barriers to achieve their optimal potential and well-being (Dion, 2013;
Lerner et al., 2009). The PYD framework is a prevention-based framework that focuses
on the role of family support and monitoring, caring adults, positive peer groups, strong
sense of self, and engagement in school and community to influence youth’s ability to
overcome adversity (Lerner et al., 2005; Lerner et al, 2009).

Studies have been conducted to examine the PYD approach. For example, an
evaluation over time of local 4-H participation was carried out to link PYD to youth
contributions and participation in the community. Youth consistently engaged in 4-H
were found to be at much lower risk of having personal, social, and behavioral problems
than other youth. They were also less likely to smoke and drink than their peers, had
better grades and were more likely to expect to attend college (Lerner, et al., 2005). The
practical application of PYD is illustrated by Dion (2013) in her report for OPRE in Figure
B.1 below. Note the strategies devoted to developing youth resilience, human capital
and protective factors.

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Figure B.1 Conceptual Framework for Advancing the Self-Sufficiency and Well-Being of At-
Risk Youth

Source: Dion, M. Robin (2013). A framework for advancing the self-sufficiency and well-being of at-risk
youth (OPRE Report # 2012-14). Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation,
Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Retrieved from
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/ydd_framework_brief_final_03_2
7_13.pdf, p. 2.

Social learning theory

Social learning theory emphasizes the complex nature of social situations and holds that
human behavior occurs within an interactive social context (Bandura, 1977). While the
theory has evolved over a period, it helps contextualize the active role of youth in their
development process. Bandura (1977) suggested that youth are able to think about
processes in learning, and they actively interact with their surroundings, which results in
learning.

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Fisher and colleagues (2005) have also shown that changing the social environment can
change physiological functioning. An evaluation of the Early Intervention Treatment
Foster Care Program (EIFC) for pre-K children showed marked improvements in the
regulation of stress and attentiveness, as indicated by marked normalization of cortisol
levels compared to children in a comparison group of children in conventional foster care
(see http://www.mtfc.com). Similarly, life skills development can be more successful
when we pay attention to how to model and best teach key life skills and recognize that
learning some life skills often takes place in everyday interactions.

Social support theory

Social support theory has been recognized as an important framework to emphasize the
value of friends and relationships with others, and the buffering effects of a positive
social support system (Maluccio, Pine, & Tracy, 2002). Such a perspective stresses the
importance of providing consistent supports to children, birth parents, and foster families.
Life skills development can be both accelerated and/or sustained by positive social
support networks (Hodge et al., 2012; Newman et al., 2021). That is why the new
version of the Casey Life Skills Assessment has a special supplemental assessment
scale with 17 items focused on supportive relationships.

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FUTURE
HOPE