Since 2000, the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Screener (CS) has been widely used nationally, by states, and locally as a standardized and brief survey-based method to identify populations of children who experience chronic physical, mental, behavioral, or other conditions and who also require types and amounts of health and related services beyond those routinely used by children. Common questions about the CS include those related to its development and uses; its conceptual framework and potential for under- or overidentification; its ability to stratify CSHCN by complexity of service needs and daily life impacts; and its potential application in clinical settings and comparisons with other identification approaches.
