A screening tool originally created to help criminal justice practitioners identify drunk drivers with psychiatric co-morbidity has been modified to serve as a screen tool that can be used in the broader, general population
The “Computerized Assessment and Referral System” (CARS) was created in 2017 by the Cambridge Health Alliance at Harvard Medical School with sponsorship by Responsibility.org, The upgraded CARS Mental Health Screener will be useful for physicians, mental health professionals, first responders, and veteran service organizations. It includes DSM-5 criteria and instantly generates personalized diagnostic reports that are easy to understand along with a ZIP code locator that provides users with local mental health and treatment resources in a user-friendly report.
The critical new updates were announced during a webinar entitled, “Alcohol Use Disorders Among U.S. Veterans—How to Provide Improved Identification and Treatment” today.
“According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 17 million adults had a substance use disorder and a mental health illness and nearly 15% needed substance use treatment,” said Chris Swonger, president/CEO, Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) and Responsibility.org. “Mental health problems that extend beyond substance use disorders are common among people with addiction and can affect treatment outcomes. CARS can facilitate identifying mental health needs and facilitate treatment referral in less than 40 minutes.”
The new screener can be administered or used as a self-screener to evaluate for potential disorders and identify mental health areas that warrant additional attention and includes the following components:
· The assessment consists of different modules
· The report generator includes personalized information about the mental health disorders for which a client qualifies or is at risk, condensing the information into a streamlined, reader-friendly format.
· The referral generator compiles a list of resources dependent on the issues and location of the client.
“The approach to the tool is user friendly and identifies substance use disorders and an array of mental health issues. It is easily used by our clinicians and staff members and allows us to populate the tool with our community resources,” said Judge Robert Anchondo, El Paso County Criminal Court. “The screening determines if the participant is at high risk for recidivism and needs treatment. This is vitally essential since we, as a treatment court, need to commence these services immediately or determine if residential placement should be the first step.”