Giving Youth a Voice: A Preliminary Study of the Reliability and Validity of a Brief Outcome Measure for Children, Adolescents, and Caretakers*

Policy makers and payers are insisting that to be paid, therapists must “deliver the goods.” Concurrently, there is a worldwide movement to involve consumers in their care. Consequently, the measurement of change, from the client’s perspective, has become an important topic. Unfortunately, no self-report outcome measure has been available for children under 13. This article describes the development, validation, and psychometric properties of a brief outcome measure, the Child Outcome Rating Scale (CORS), for use with children 6-12 and their caretakers as well as the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), for youth 13 and above and their caretakers. Results indicate that the CORS/ORS represent a balanced trade-off between the reliability and validity of longer measures, and the feasibility of these brief scales, and that youth do indeed deserve a voice in the delivery of services. We argue that outcome management is a pivotal part of delivering consumer-driven services, the therapeutic relationship, and change itself.