Staged Screening and Assessment (SS&A)
About
Staged Screening and Assessment (SS&A) was a provincially mandated process used from 2015 to 2024 in all publicly funded addictions service providers in Ontario. It was designed to support a consistent approach to identifying people’s needs and helping match them to the most appropriate level of care, with a focus on concurrent mental health and substance use issues.
The SS&A process aimed to improve the quality and consistency of assessment and treatment planning across the addictions sector using a staged process of validated tools:
Stage 1: Global Appraisal of Individual Needs – Short Screener (GAIN-SS)
Stage 2: Modified Mini Screener (MMS) for adults, or Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teens (POSIT) for those 17 and under.
Stage 3: The Global Appraisal of Individual Need Quick3 Motivational Interviewing Ontario (GAIN Q3 MI ONT)
The SS&A process was decommissioned in 2024-2025 following sector feedback and evolving system priorities, including a shift toward more flexible, equitable, and coordinated approaches to screening and assessment.
SS&A Newsletters
For archiving purposes, past SS&A newsletters can be found here.
Contact
For more information, please contact us through the Staged Screening & Assessment email: ssa@camh.ca.