Developing a Clinical Assessment Tool for Counselling Services of the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare

This publication reflects on the process of developing a clinical assessment tool to measure counseling services with a focus to improve the quality of the services provided by the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare (MSEW). This is a continuation of a process the Foundation initiated in 2005 with its non-governmental partners. The same effort was put forward to promote effective monitoring of counseling services by supporting the counselors of the MSEW through developing a clinical assessment tool. This publication aims to record the process of developing assessment tools for the Ministry as a resource for organizational history and to act as a reference document for future mental health and psychosocial interventions. The publication comprises the following sections: introduction, brief history of the relationship between the Foundation and the MSEW, the rationale and need for the clinical assessment tool, the approach and process employed in the development of the tool, introducing the tool and its salient features; and finally outlines the sustainability and potential of the clinical assessment tool to strengthen the counseling services of the MSEW.