Empowering Better Adult Outcomes with ANSA + PlanStreet: A Smarter Approach to Whole-Person Care

Behavioral health and human services organizations need tools to identify adult clients' needs, strengths, and life circumstances to inform person-centered care planning. The Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA) answers this problem as a widely used, evidence-informed assessment tool designed under the Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) framework. Developed by the Praed Foundation. It has been utilized by government organizations like the County of Santa Cruz in the Santa Cruz Behavioral Health clinical treatment.

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While ANSA is a powerful tool on its own, integrating it within a dynamic case management platform like PlanStreet can significantly enhance its utility. PlanStreet helps providers turn assessment data into coordinated, effective service delivery for adult populations, including individuals with behavioral health concerns, substance use disorders, housing instability, or justice involvement.

In this blog, you'll learn how PlanStreet makes ANSA easier to administer, more actionable, and more impactful at both individual and population levels.

What Is the ANSA Tool?

The ANSA is a comprehensive, strengths-based assessment tool designed to support decision-making, treatment planning, and system-level outcomes tracking. It is appropriate for use with adults (typically 18+) in mental health, substance use, reentry, homelessness, and social services settings.

Created by Dr. John Lyons and the team at the Praed Foundation, the ANSA:

  • Focuses on actionable needs and strengths
  • Facilitates collaboration among providers, clients, and families
  • Captures functional, behavioral, and life domain data
  • Tracks progress over time to guide recovery and self-sufficiency

Like its counterpart for youth, the CANS tool, ANSA is part of the TCOM family, which aims to bring clarity, transparency, and shared understanding to human services delivery.

When Is ANSA Used?

The ANSA tool is used by clinicians, case managers, social workers, and care coordinators across a variety of settings, including:

  • Behavioral health programs: To support diagnosis, treatment planning, and recovery tracking
  • Supportive housing and homelessness services: To understand functional needs, risk factors, and housing readiness
  • Reentry programs: To address criminogenic needs, trauma history, and community integration
  • Substance use disorder (SUD) treatment: To align services with social determinants of health (e.g., employment, relationships, housing)
  • Aging and disability services: To support adults with complex medical or behavioral conditions

For example, a case manager working with a 45-year-old individual exiting a residential treatment center may use the ANSA to assess mental health stability, housing needs, support systems, daily functioning, and strengths that can support their recovery. Studies have shown that ANSA helps engage individuals and families with behavioral health disorders.

Challenges with Using ANSA Without a Digital Platform

Despite its value, organizations often face challenges when implementing ANSA manually or across fragmented systems:

  • Paper-based processes delay care planning and require double entry
  • Limited reporting makes it difficult to demonstrate progress or compliance
  • Disconnected data means assessments aren't always tied to case goals
  • Staff fatigue from repetitive documentation can reduce consistency
  • Lack of integration with client records makes holistic care coordination harder

That's where PlanStreet comes in.

How PlanStreet Enhances the Use of ANSA

PlanStreet is a flexible, cloud-based case management platform designed to improve client outcomes and simplify organizational workflows. PlanStreet supports the full lifecycle of the ANSA tool, from intake and scoring to care planning and outcome monitoring.

1. Built-In ANSA Assessment Templates

PlanStreet offers configurable ANSA templates that mirror the official assessment structure.

Organizations can quickly launch ANSA forms that:

  • Include domains like Life Functioning, Behavioral Health Needs, Risk Behaviors, Strengths, and Cultural Factors
  • Support easy rating using the 0–3 (Needs) and 0–3 (Strengths) scales
  • Automatically generate assessment summaries and scores

These digital forms eliminate the need for paper-based tools, speeding up data entry and reducing transcription errors.

2. Ties ANSA Directly to Individualized Service Planning

Once the ANSA is completed, PlanStreet enables you to link identified needs and strengths directly to goals, services, and activities in the client's care plan.

For example, if a client's ANSA identifies a 3 (actionable need) in "Housing Stability" and a 2 in "Community Involvement," the case manager can create specific housing and engagement goals within PlanStreet, assign tasks, and track progress over time.

This ensures that assessment data translates into action and progress is measurable.

3. User-Friendly Dashboards for Monitoring Progress

PlanStreet dashboards provide real-time views of:

  • Client-level ANSA ratings and trends
  • Open needs and strengths utilization
  • Goal achievement rates and activity completion

These dashboards help staff and supervisors understand whether clients are progressing and where supports should be adjusted.

Program managers can also aggregate this data across caseloads for reporting and quality improvement.

4. Role-Based Collaboration Across Teams

TCOM tools like ANSA are most effective when used collaboratively. PlanStreet allows for role-based access, enabling therapists, care managers, peer support specialists, and housing staff to work from a shared client record, each contributing to the service plan while protecting privacy.

Team notes, referrals, alerts, and reminders ensure that everyone is aligned on what matters most for the client.

5. Integrated Reporting and Audit Readiness

Because PlanStreet stores all assessment data and related case notes securely in the cloud, organizations can quickly generate:

  • Progress reports for funders or stakeholders
  • Outcome reports that compare pre-/post-ANSA scores
  • Audit documentation with time-stamped evidence of assessments, care plans, and follow-ups

This supports compliance with Medicaid billing, state grants, and other program requirements.

Illustrative Example: ANSA + PlanStreet in a Housing Program

Here's a fictional example of how a housing program could use ANSA in tandem with PlanStreet. Consider "Julia," a 38-year-old woman experiencing chronic homelessness and co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder. She's enrolled in a Housing First program that uses ANSA to drive service delivery.

Step 1: Intake & Assessment

Julia completes an ANSA assessment in PlanStreet during intake. High needs are flagged in Housing Stability, Depression, Substance Use, and Social Connectedness.

Step 2: Service Plan Development

The case manager uses PlanStreet to build a care plan that includes goals around:

  • Obtaining permanent supportive housing
  • Participating in peer-led support groups
  • Attending weekly therapy appointments
  • Rebuilding relationships with estranged family members

Step 3: Ongoing Monitoring

At each monthly check-in, Julia's ANSA is updated in PlanStreet. Her progress in certain domains (e.g., depression and housing) shows measurable improvement. Her goals and activities are adjusted accordingly.

Step 4: Outcome Reporting

At the six-month mark, PlanStreet generates an outcome report comparing Julia's baseline and current ANSA scores. Staff use this report to demonstrate program impact and share progress with Julia and her extended care team.

Who Benefits Most From Using ANSA with PlanStreet?

PlanStreet's integration with the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA) is particularly valuable for organizations serving adults with complex behavioral, physical, and social needs.

These include:

  • Behavioral health agencies utilizing the TCOM framework to drive individualized, data-informed care
  • Supportive housing providers working with adults experiencing homelessness, mental illness, or substance use disorders
  • Community reentry programs helping individuals transition from incarceration to stable, independent living
  • Integrated care networks coordinating medical, behavioral, and social services under one system of care
  • Medicaid-funded service providers required to meet strict documentation, billing, and audit-readiness standards

By embedding the ANSA tool within PlanStreet's case management platform, these organizations can ensure that assessment data flows directly into service planning and delivery. This real-time integration enhances team collaboration, increases accountability, and helps demonstrate client progress through measurable outcomes.

Whether you're supporting adults through recovery, reentry, housing stabilization, or ongoing behavioral health care, PlanStreet offers the tools to make ANSA implementation seamless, actionable, and impactful.

Real-World Applications of ANSA: Case Studies

Substance Use Treatment Among Young Adults

A study published by TCOM Conversations analyzed outcomes for 2,909 young adults aged 18–25 in publicly funded outpatient substance use programs. ANSA scores were used to identify needs influencing treatment completion. They found that:

  • Only 409 individuals completed their program, while 2,500 dropped out, highlighting the need for targeted interventions.
  • The ANSA tool includes 57 factors, with a specific focus on life functioning, social/emotional needs, risk behaviors, cultural factors, and caregiver resources, creating actionable items that improve treatment plans.
  • A takeaway was that assessments in six-month intervals provide deeper insights into treatment and care strategies.

The study emphasizes how using ANSA helps align care to individual needs, supporting better engagement and outcomes.

Senior Services Care Coordination Program in Michigan

Lakeshore Regional Entity implemented the ANSA tool to refocus their adult care system and find a tool that standardized their system. They chose to use ANSA because it captures risk behaviors like suicide and homicide, and can utilize risk modules to intervene before a crisis. Now, they have a strategy to measure future outcomes that's inclusive of treating the individual and family with actionable steps.

ANSA Use in Alameda County Behavioral Health

Alameda County in California integrated ANSA across its behavioral health system. They chose the system because it:

  • Provides multi-system partners with actionable details about a client's needs and strengths.
  • Supports care planning, level of care decision-making, and treatment recommendations
  • Enables stakeholders to monitor progress and outcomes effectively.
  • Connects the assessment process and service planning through applying evidence-based practices.

With structured scoring and collaborative documentation, ANSA has enabled care teams to deliver more consistent, equitable, and outcomes-driven services for diverse adult populations.

A Stronger Future with ANSA + PlanStreet

The ANSA tool plays a vital role in ensuring adults with complex needs receive personalized, strengths-based care. But when it's siloed from the rest of the case management system, its full potential is never realized.

PlanStreet bridges the gap between assessment and action, giving organizations the tools to implement ANSA more efficiently, collaborate across disciplines, and track client outcomes.

Our impact management platform connects the dots between administration and care for:

  • Behavioral health services
  • Housing stability programs
  • Reentry initiatives
  • Community corrections programs
  • Emergency departments

Unlock the power of ANSA and deliver care that truly transforms lives with PlanStreet.

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