Assessment of the needs of youth in residential care: Development and validation of an instrument

This article presents the development of a Residential Care Youth Needs Assessment (RCYNA) instrument. In two studies, initial evidence regarding the RCYNA psychometric properties was obtained using a sample of youth in residential care. Results show adequate levels of content and face validity, reliability and concurrent validity.

Research highlights
► We present the initial psychometric properties of a needs assessment instrument.
► Instrument comprises five dimensions of needs assessment of youth in residential care.
► Instrument's content validity was assessed using youth experts.
► Dimensions show good internal reliability.
► Instrument shows concurrent validity regarding the frequency of use of care services.