When a child is in residential care, does it artificially lower the CAFAS score?
No! If the CAFAS is done correctly, the score will indicate the child’s level dysfunction in the last three months. In some areas, such as substance abuse, you would expect the child’s score to go to zero. That is the true score. If you feel that a child’s score is lower because of the services being provided, this fact must be documented within the child’s records. These services can be considered mitigating circumstances for utilization management/utilization review purposes. It is also important to remember that children do act out while in residential placements. This dysfunction will be reflected on the next CAFAS Score. Please note: a child who is in residential treatment will NOT automatically get a 30 on the home subscale. The youth would only receive a 30 for the Home subscale if he/she was out of the home because of problematic behavior in the home and was still out of the home because of this behavior.
