Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Quality Improvement Services
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
Training
for Targeted Case Managers
Revised January 2011
Purpose of Child and
Adolescent Screening and
Assessment Tools
To guide and support clinical decision making on the
appropriate level and intensity of services and supports that a
child and family may need;
To support and inform the development of ISPs;
To monitor child/youth progress on identified functional and
strength areas overtime;
To guide and inform caseload and resource planning
activities;
To monitor effectiveness of planned interventions and guide
program and system planning activities
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)Characteristics
Developed to assess the degree of behavioral and functional
challenges in children /adolescents with Intellectual
Disabilities/Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Completed by Case Manager via interview with parent/care
giver most involved in the child/adolescents treatment planning.
The CHAT is easy to complete and can be administered with
minimal training.
Measures the level of functional challenges in three domains:
Behavioral, Social Skills and Life Skills
Items are rated using a 5-point scale from (0) never,
(1)occasionally, (2) sometimes, (3) most of the time and (4) all
of the time
Separate functional scales are obtained by summing the rating
on each individual domain
The Total Functional Score is also generated by summing total
scores on Behavioral, Social Skills and Life Skills.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT) Characteristics
Preliminary reliability demonstrated strong internal consistency
reliability for each scale and for the total scale(all items
together)
Inter–rater reliability assessed on a similar pilot instrument
demonstrated that two raters appropriately trained on the pilot
and with similar knowledge of the child generate consistent
ratings.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
Behavioral Assessment Scale
This section assesses the extent to which the child/adolescent
exhibits challenging behaviors in six behavioral areas.
Using the scale, rate the frequency to which the child exhibits
each of these six type of challenging behaviors(aggression, self
injurious, destruction, safety awareness, interfering behaviors,
and verbal abuse).
The ratings are based on observed behaviors over the
preceding 3 months.
Each behavior is rated on a five point scale (0) never (1)
occasionally, (2) sometimes, (3) most of the time and (4) all of
the time.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(Chat)
Behavioral Assessment Scale Definitions
Aggression: Physical contact with another person with the
intent to hurt (i.e., hitting, kicking, punching, slapping, biting,
throwing objects).
Self injurious Behavior: Non-accidental behavior towards self
that are potentially harmful or causes physical damage to the
body (i.e., biting, scratching, banging head, pinching, ingesting
harmful substances, attempted suicide).
Destruction of Property: Any purposeful behavior that
damages property (i.e., punch holes in wall and doors, fire
setting, breaking furniture, etc.).
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(Chat)
Behavioral Assessment Definitions
Safety Awareness: Any behaviors that jeopardizes safety ( i.e.,
bolting into the street, running away, tantrums, impulsive
behaviors, etc.).
Interfering Behaviors:Behaviors that significantly interfere with
normal daily activities (i.e., obsessions, compulsions, self
stimulation,or other bizarre behaviors).
Verbal Abuse: Speaking to others in an extremely malicious,
abusive, or intimidating manner (i.e., swearing, name calling,
screaming, threatening language etc.).
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
Social Skill Assessment Scale
This section assesses the child’s behavior across common
social situations, and is not designed to assess for
social/recreational need.
Using the scale, rate the frequency in which the child requires
external assistance and support to maintain behaviors
appropriate to the child ‘s age and developmental level in each
of the following settings: public, social, recreational and home.
The ratings are based on observed behaviors over the
preceding 3 months.
Each behavior is rated on a five point scale (0) never (1)
occasionally, (2) sometimes, (3) most of the time and (4) all of
the time.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool (CHAT)
Social Skills Assessment
Definitions
Public Settings: community settings where most of the people
are unknown to the child, (i.e., stores, walking down the street,
and other public settings).
Social Settings: Settings where the child interacts with others
(i.e., parties, social gatherings, activities with friend/peers etc.).
Recreational Settings: Settings where the child participates in
a recreational activity (i.e., sports program, camp, recreational
center, gym, etc.).
Home Setting: In the child’s /family members place of
residence.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
Life Skills Assessment Scale
The section assesses the extent to which the child/adolescent
requires support in five life skill areas.
Using the scale, rate the frequency to which the child requires
assistance and support (i.e., verbal cues or hand over hand
assistance) in the following life skills: toileting, dressing,
grooming, eating and independent living skills.
The ratings are based on observed life skills over the preceding
3 months.
Each life skill is rated on a five point scale (0) never (1)
occasionally, (2) sometimes, (3) most of the time and (4) all of
the time.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
Life Skills Assessment
Definitions
Toileting: All activities associated with using the toilet
(i.e.,sitting, flushing, wiping, use of toilet paper, etc.).
Dressing: All activities associated with dressing (i.e., use of
fasteners, dressing, keeping clothing on, choosing clothing for
weather, special occasions, etc).
Grooming: Activities associated with basic hygiene (i.e.
bathing, combing hair, shaving, brushing teeth, washing hair,
etc).
Eating : All activities associated with eating (i.e., use of utensils,
drinking, swallowing, chewing food, rate of food consumption,
table manners, etc.).
Independent Living skills: Activities of daily living (i.e.,
household chores, cooking, safety skills, community skills, self
help skills, etc.).
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
Life Skills Assessment Scale
The section assesses the extent to which the child/adolescent
requires support in five life skill areas.
Using the scale, rate the frequency to which the child requires
assistance and support (i.e., verbal cues or hand over hand
assistance) in the following life skills: toileting, dressing,
grooming, eating and independent living skills.
The ratings are based on observed life skills over the preceding
3 months.
Each behavior is rated on a five point scale (0) never (1)
occasionally, (2) sometimes, (3) most of the time and (4) all of
the time.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
How to complete the
Behavior Rating
The rater circles the appropriate scale number for each
behavior listed and then enters the score in the Behavioral
Rating column on the right hand side of page.
The individual behavioral ratings are summed to obtain a
Combined Behavior Total.
Only one answer per Behavior is acceptable.
The ratings are based on observed behaviors over the
preceding 3 month period.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool (CHAT)
How to complete the
Social Skills Rating
The rater circles the appropriate scale number for each Social
Skill listed and then enters the score in the Social Skills Rating
column on the right hand side of page.
The individual Social Skills ratings are summed to obtain a
Combined Social Skills Total Score.
Only one answer per Social Skill area is acceptable.
The ratings are based on observed social skills over the
preceding 3 month period.
Children’s Habilitation Assessment Tool
(CHAT)
How to complete the
Life Skills Rating
The rater circles the appropriate scale number for each life skill
listed and then enters the score in the Life Skills Rating column
on the right hand side of page.
The individual Life Skills ratings are summed to obtain a
Combined Life Skill Total.
Only one answer per Life Skill area is acceptable.
The ratings are based on observed life skills over the preceding
3 month period.
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