About the Foundation      The Buddin Praed Foundation (pronounced 'bud den prayed') was formed in 1999 as a United States Charitable Organization. The vision and mission statements provide a guide to the objectives of Buddin Praed.   Vision      The Buddin Praed Foundation is a public charitable foundation committed to improving the well being of children and families.   Mission      Through research and development of decision support and outcomes management tools and methods, our mission is to improve the quality of publicly funded social services for children and families.     Activities of the Foundation   The Buddin Praed Foundation has three primary activities: charitable giving consistent with the Foundation mission,   management of needs-based planning research activities in the public interest, and   support and distribution of outcomes management/decision support tools developed to improve the quality of child serving programs, agencies and systems.    In the past year charitable giving has focused on non-traditional programs designed to involve children and their families. Families Together for New York, the Federation of Families affiliate in New York State was supported by Buddin Praed to participate in a statewide study of the children's mental health service system. Teen-line, a Los Angeles-based program, teaches teens to help other teens in crisis. Talks Mentoring, a novel mentoring program that integrates mentoring to children at all levels of functioning, is located in Champaign County, Illinois. Talks Mentoring was provided support for an evaluation of its innovative approach to mentoring.      The Foundation has managed needs-based planning studies in three states-New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In New York, the foundation has managed a project that has mapped the entire children's mental health service system. Through more than 100 site visits around the state, John S. Lyons, Ph.D. and his staff was supported through the foundation to identify the needs and strengths of children in the existing service system. This project was funded by the New York Office of Mental Health and has been used to target new investments in services and other service system reforms. The project has been so successful in re-oriented the debate about system evolution to the needs of children and families, the OMH has extended the project to additional children's programs and the adult system of care. Buddin Praed also managed a project through New York City's Administration of Children's Services (ACS). ACS was interested in estimating the level of mental health need throughout the city's child welfare system in order to reform its Medicaid per diem rates.      In New Jersey, the foundation has managed a series of projects funded by the Department of Human Services. Imbedded in the state's Children's Initiative these projects have identified the levels and types of needs and strengths of children in the state's system of care. In addition, John S. Lyons, Ph.D, is working with stakeholders to design the information management aspects of the Initiative.      In Pennsylvania, the Foundation managed a project that designed a family-friendly interview consistent with the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths tool. In this work, John S. Lyons, Ph.D. and a team of consultants were able to design a system where trained parent advocates were able to complete the CANS as a part of a new family's entry into the service system. This project has had a very positive effect on helping families feel as if the system is responding to their needs.      The third activity of the Foundation is to support the dissemination of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tools. CANS decision support/outcomes management tools have been designed for use in mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, developmental disability/mental retardation, early intervention, and programs for sexually aggressive youth. The CANS approach is intended to develop a common language of assessment for all child serving agencies and approaches. These versions share common items but expand their focus depending on the specific application. Currently versions of the CANS are being used in at least 12 states. Included among these states are Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas Buddin Praed holds the copyright to all of the CANS tools and provides these tools at no cost to interested parties.       Home About Buddin Praed Foundation | About the CANS | CANS Form Questions or Comments | News | Links | Make a Donation