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Outside Manitoulin Community Withdrawal Management Services, a DTFP pilot agency. Top (l to r): Barbara Kosky, Barb A. Deschamps, Rob D.Wabegijig, Kristie Fabian, Bottom (l to r): Nancy Chau, Dr. Nooshin Rotondi, Bridget DouglasGAINing GROUND IN ONTARIOScreening and assessment tools help service providers determine the appropriate level and intensity ofcare for clients who are entering the substance use treatment system. The Screening, Assessment, andRecovery Monitoring (SARM) Project is drawing on the best available evidence as well as the feedbackof key stakeholders throughout the province to develop and pilot new screening and assessment toolsand procedures. The SARM Project is also piloting an evidence‐based protocol for recovery monitoringsince monitoring the outcome of clients is a crucial part of the process of measuring the performance ofthe system. The project team hopes to determine if it is feasibleto implement a recovery monitoring system for Ontario.For three months, the participating agencies have been pilotingthe SARM protocol in four agencies across the province. (A fifthsite will start recruiting clients in fall 2012.) As of the end ofSeptember, 212 clients have joined the study! These clientsreceive the standard assessment protocol: the Admission andDischarge Criteria and Assessment Tools (ADAT), which iscurrently in place for publicly funded Ontario substance useagencies. Clients also receive the newly developed screening and“We really want toacknowledge how muchthe sites have done forthe project. They’vebeen amazing.”—Dr. Nooshin Rotondi, SARMProject teamassessment protocol, and are monitored by agency staff during the course of their treatment. At severalpoints, clients participate in a follow‐up interview. Study recruitment extends through September of thisyear (November for the fifth pilot site). All interviews will wrap up by the end of February 2013.While the formal results from the SARM Project are not yet in, preliminary feedback from the pilot siteshas been positive, particularly related to the GAIN‐Q3 instrument. This widely used tool was selected forinclusion in the project based on its comprehensive assessment of several life areas, including mentalhealth, its high validity and reliability, its administration time, its relatively low cost, and its ability toautomatically generate treatment planning reports. The Ontario version of the tool reflects substantialinput from key stakeholders in the province’s addiction treatment system. (continued on next page.)4