Functional Assessment Rating Scales

The Functional Assessment Rating Scales - FARS for adult behavioral health functional assessment (John C.Ward, Jr., Ph.D. & Michael G. Dow, Ph.D., 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998) & CFARS for child or adolescent behavioral health functional assessment (J. Ward, M. Dow, T. Saunders, S. Halls, K. Musanta, K. Penner, R. Berry, & N. Sachs-Ericcsson, 1996, 1997, 1998) are ways of documenting and standardizing impressions from clinical evaluations or mental status exams that assess cognitive, social and role functioning. The FARS and CFARS (adapted from the Colorado Client Assessment Rating Scales - CCAR) were developed for use in Florida to evaluate the Department of Children and Families (DCF) behavioral health outcomes for children and adults receiving state supported services.

The FARS and CFARS links on the left side of this page take you to more information about these scales and free download of the FARS and CFARS user's manuals and forms. The manuals also include detailed instructions for registering and taking the free online training and certification programs for these instruments.

Contact information regarding the FARS and CFARS:

John C. Ward, Jr., Ph.D.
Associate Professor Emeritus
Department of Mental Health, Law and Policy
Louis De la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute

and

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College of Public Health

University of South Florida
13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33612-3807
email: ward@fmhi.usf.edu

Please direct web site comments to John C. Ward, Jr., Ph.D.:ward@fmhi.usf.edu