Assessment Center Planning & Implementation Guide

A practical, community-focused guide to help teams plan, launch, and strengthen Assessment Centers—grounded in the NAC Framework and best practices.

The National Assessment Center Association (NAC) is thrilled to release an Assessment Center Planning & Implementation Guide that supports local communities in developing an Assessment Center responsive to local needs and processes. The guide promotes best-practice discussions, helps planning teams navigate essential decisions, anticipate implementation challenges, and identify key partners and stakeholders. It also supports defining target populations, establishing referral processes, and addressing critical operational considerations.

Across the U.S., Assessment Centers—also called resource, intervention, diversion, access, or connection centers—provide early intervention and a single point of access to community-based supports. They identify underlying needs with youth and families and connect them to individualized services, disrupting pathways into juvenile justice and child welfare through schools, at/after arrest, caregiver referrals, and partnerships with community stakeholders.

Whether you’re beginning to organize or are mid-implementation, this user-friendly guide offers tools, insights, and concrete steps to ensure success. For added support, NAC provides customized technical assistance.

What’s Inside

Underlying Assumptions
Build consensus on the need, resources, and shared understanding before planning.
Understanding Assessment Centers
Centers as a neutral hub that coordinate supports with families and community partners.
Cross-System Collaboration
Stakeholder engagement strategies to create a unified vision and aligned practices.
Diverse Planning Team
Define roles, clarify decision-making, and ensure broad representation.
Statement of Need
Articulate the local rationale to guide engagement and resource alignment.
Current Policies & Practices
Understand state/local policies to inform Center procedures and staffing.
Target Population & Referrals
Use Critical Intervention Mapping to design referral pathways and connections.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Set measurable goals to focus planning and track implementation progress.
Operations & CQI
Translate the NAC Framework into policies, staffing, and continuous improvement.
How to Use the Guide
To complete the text boxes, download the guide to your desktop and open it in Adobe Acrobat (or another PDF reader). The file is fillable, allowing your team to work directly in the document.
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Assessment Center Planning & Implementation Guide © 2024 by National Assessment Center Association is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.