The need for an assessment tool such as the CDAS was first expressed by practitioners and managers at the Centre Jeunesse Montréal – Institut universitaire, who were looking for a tool they could use to assess compromised development in children and to guide intervention plans depending on observed difficulties.
To meet this need, the research team of the Laboratoire d’Étude du Nourrisson (LEN) at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and the Université de Montréal (UdeM) undertook research in the spring of 1998. The members of the team were Andrée Pomerleau, Nathalie Vézina, Jacques Moreau, Gérard Malcuit, and Renée Séguin.
Their first step was to verify the existence of a tool that would meet the following criteria:
- Easy to administer
- Easy to interpret
- Quickly administered to children
- Accessible to professionals who work with young children
- Inexpensive
- Sound, thanks to good psychometric properties
When the search for such a tool proved unsuccessful, the researchers decided to create a new tool that would meet the needs identified by practitioners.
Development of the tool was completed seven years later, in 2005. At this time, the researchers presented the Centre de liaison sur l’intervention et la prévention psychosociales (CLIPP) with a box containing all of the materials needed to administer the assessment, along with the literature on its scientific validation. This box would become the kit that is offered today, thanks to the collaboration of the CLIPP, which oversaw the standardization of the CDAS and the graphic design for various items such as the user guide and vignette booklet. Today, the CLIPP is responsible for distributing the CDAS and ensuring its continued validity. It also provides support to practitioners who use the tool, both in terms of administering the assessment and analyzing its results.
The CDAS is currently in use in Canada and in Europe. The English version of the tool has been available since March 2014.
A word about the CLIPP
a knowledge transfer and mobilization organization
The CLIPP works in collaboration with practitioners and researchers in order to allow other user communities to benefit from novel practices or research findings.
Its mission is to make available the knowledge originating from research and practice communities in order to increase the utilization of such knowledge, to improve decision-making and practices, and to foster social innovation initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life of individuals and communities.
For more information, visit www.clipp.ca or Facebook!