Free instruments
Tier 2 measures ask for a reported change. Each instrument below has a form you can link to and a license sentence quoted from its publisher. Check the quote before you rely on it.
- Public domain 9. The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
- Federal work 3. A U.S. federal government work; no copyright is claimed on the instrument itself.
- Free, with conditions 20. Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
- Screening only 10. Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
- Funder reporting item 2. A question the funder itself asks on its form, not a validated scale.
No cleared instrument: housing stability
No cleared, validated, free outcome instrument exists for housing stability. The funder's own item (SAMHSA SUPRT-C client form, item A2d), an HMIS exit destination, or a partner record is the substitute.
- SUPRT-C annual client form, item A2d (perceived housing stability), a funder reporting item rather than a validated scale
- HMIS exit destination and later recorded returns, from your own project or a partner under a data-sharing agreement
- Partner records: see the HMIS routes on the data-routes page
SourceNo cleared instrument: victim safety
No cleared, validated, free outcome instrument exists for victim safety. HARK is a screen for identifying partner violence, not a measure of change, and the other candidates need permission that was not confirmed. The funder's own item or a partner record is the substitute.
- HARK (4 items) as a screen only, with no verified threshold for program-related improvement
- CASR-SF (15 abuse items) needs the author's permission before use
- The funder's own reporting item, or a partner record such as a court or advocacy-agency record under a written agreement
SourceCleared instruments, best rights class first 44
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
Public domainLicense wording
“freely available; permission not required for use.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Youth; self-esteem
- Scoring
- Score positive statements 3-0 and negative statements 0-3; sum 0-30, higher = greater self-esteem.
- Named by funders
- NIH PhenX catalogue; no grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Rosenberg, 1989; Gray-Little et al., 1997, item-response analysis.
- Caveat
- EN; Chinese. Measures global self-esteem, not mentoring quality or employment readiness.
Form License source
PHQ-9
Public domainLicense wording
“public domain.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Depression symptoms
- Scoring
- Sum nine 0-3 responses: 0-27; severity boundaries 5, 10, 15, 20.
- Named by funders
- HRSA 2026 UDS depression-remission measure names PHQ-9.
- Validity
- Kroenke et al., 2001, JGIM 16:606-613; Lowe et al., 2004, responsiveness evidence.
- Caveat
- EN form verified; translations not audited. Two-week recall. Item 9 requires an operational response process if administered. The developer instructions permit reproduction, translation, display and distribution without permission.
Form License source
GAD-7
Public domainLicense wording
“public domain.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Anxiety symptoms
- Scoring
- Sum 0-21; severity boundaries 5, 10, 15.
- Named by funders
- The HRSA-funded National HIV Curriculum supplies it; this is a training resource, not a universal HRSA mandate.
- Validity
- Spitzer et al., 2006, Archives Internal Medicine 166:1092-1097.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Two-week recall; symptom score is not a diagnosis.
Form License source
Brief Addiction Monitor, BAM (Continuous version)
Public domainLicense wording
“The BAM is in the public domain.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Substance use, recovery risks and resources
- Scoring
- Apply VA coding, then report Use, Risk and Protective composites separately. Continuous ranges: 0-90, 0-180, 0-180, respectively.
- Named by funders
- VA substance-use-disorder care.
- Validity
- Cacciola et al., 2013, J Substance Abuse Treatment 44:256-263; DOI 10.1016/j.jsat.2012.07.013.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Use the continuous-version key; VA retired its categorical version. No overall "recovery total."
Form License source
CFPB Financial Well-Being Scale, standard
Public domainLicense wording
“free and publicly available”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Financial wellbeing
- Scoring
- Recode items; sum raw points; convert with the age- and administration-mode-specific table to 0-100.
- Named by funders
- CSBG FNPI 3i explicitly names the CFPB scale as an option.
- Validity
- Primary technical guide: CFPB scale-development/psychometric work and calibrated scoring.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish. CFPB-created information is public domain, with third-party exceptions. Do not calculate a simple percentage of raw points.
Form License source
CFPB Financial Well-Being Scale, abbreviated
Public domainLicense wording
“free and publicly available.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Financial wellbeing
- Scoring
- Use short-form, age/mode-specific conversion to 0-100.
- Named by funders
- CSBG names the scale family; the manual does not separately prescribe this short form.
- Validity
- Primary technical guide: abbreviated-form scoring and comparability.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish. Related version of the standard scale, not an independent construct.
Form License source
SCORE-15
Public domainLicense wording
“freely available; permission not required for use.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Family functioning/change
- Scoring
- Reverse negative items 2,4,5,7,8,9,11,12,13,14 using 6 minus the response; mean all 15: 1-5, higher = worse functioning.
- Named by funders
- NIH PhenX catalogue; no grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Stratton et al., 2014, J Family Therapy 36:3-19; 584 participants/239 families, sensitivity over three therapy sessions (primary abstract).
- Caveat
- EN verified; translation forms unverified. Evidence is particularly relevant to systemic family/couple therapy.
Form License source
Protective Factors Survey, original PFS
Public domainLicense wording
“You may download and use the PFS free of charge.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Family strengths; parenting protection
- Scoring
- Reverse according to manual; calculate four protective-factor subscale means. No overall total; Knowledge of Parenting items are analyzed individually.
- Named by funders
- ACF/CBCAP, through FRIENDS technical assistance/development.
- Validity
- Counts et al., 2010, Child Abuse & Neglect 34:762-772; reliability and construct/criterion evidence (developer technical evidence).
- Caveat
- EN; validated Spanish adaptation. Staff/demographic sections are optional for scale validity, keeping the core within the length limit. Published timing corroborated by CEBC.
Form License source
PCL-5 (Past Month)
Public domainLicense wording
“This measure was developed by staff at VA's National Center for PTSD and is in the public domain and not copyrighted.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
Trauma symptoms
- Scoring
- Sum 0-80; provisional PTSD 31-33 or cluster rules.
- Named by funders
- VA and many trauma programs (named by the second research file only).
- Validity
- Weathers et al., 2013; Bovin et al., 2016.
- Caveat
- Intended for qualified professionals; Spanish unvalidated. Taken from 2A-grok.md under TRIAGE.md (VA public-domain quote, ptsd.va.gov form).
Form License source
USDA six-item food-security module
Federal workLicense wording
“G, federal-work basis; instrument-specific licensing sentence not located. ERS directs users to USDA policy; that policy page itself did not open and remains unverified.”
A U.S. federal government work; no copyright is claimed on the instrument itself.
Material/economic security
- Scoring
- Affirmative count 0-6: 0-1 high/marginal, 2-4 low, 5-6 very low food security.
- Named by funders
- USDA ERS authored/publishes it. AmeriCorps H12 does not mandate this particular tool.
- Validity
- Blumberg et al., 1999, AJPH 89:1231-1234; USDA validation documentation.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish/Chinese resources. Does not measure children's food security separately. Rights rest on federal authorship (17 USC 105).
Form License source
USDA Adult Food Security Survey Module
Federal workLicense wording
“G, federal-work basis; same qualification as the six-item module.”
A U.S. federal government work; no copyright is claimed on the instrument itself.
Material/economic security
- Scoring
- Affirmative count 0-10: 0 high, 1-2 marginal, 3-5 low, 6-10 very low.
- Named by funders
- USDA ERS, agency-developed survey instrument.
- Validity
- Primary technical form/guide: validated federal food-security measurement framework and scoring.
- Caveat
- EN; translated resources. Adult household conditions; not a measure of employment. Rights rest on federal authorship (17 USC 105).
Form License source
USDA Household Food Security Survey Module
Federal workLicense wording
“G, federal-work basis; same qualification as the six-item module.”
A U.S. federal government work; no copyright is claimed on the instrument itself.
Household economic security
- Scoring
- For households with children: 0 high, 1-2 marginal, 3-7 low, 8-18 very low. Follow official screening/affirmative rules.
- Named by funders
- USDA ERS, agency-developed survey instrument.
- Validity
- Primary technical form/guide: federal scale-development and validation documentation.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish/Chinese resources. Select the documented 12-month or 30-day version consistently. Related to the six-item and adult modules. Rights rest on federal authorship (17 USC 105).
Form License source
General Self-Efficacy Scale, Schwarzer/Jerusalem
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“permission to use and reproduce the General Self-Efficacy Scale for your study”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Youth; coping confidence
- Scoring
- Sum ten responses, each 1-4: 10-40, higher = greater efficacy; no reverse coding.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Luszczynska, Scholz & Schwarzer, 2005; cross-cultural evidence summarized in author FAQ.
- Caveat
- EN; extensive translations. The author's permission explicitly addresses research studies; do not represent it as unrestricted permission for a commercial product.
Form License source
Youth Strength of Relationship Scale (YSoR)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“non-commercial use”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Mentoring relationship
- Scoring
- Reverse items 3, 4, 6, 8; average ten 1-5 ratings; higher = stronger relationship.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource, not a universal OJJDP requirement.
- Validity
- Rhodes et al., 2017, Youth & Society 49:415-437; DOI 10.1177/0044118X14531604.
- Caveat
- EN verified. A relationship/process measure; it does not demonstrate broader youth-development impact by itself. The complete form is at printed p. 38 of the toolkit PDF. NMRC states no charge.
Form License source
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“Paper copies "without charge by individuals or non-profit organisations," subject to the owner's conditions. Electronic reproduction requires separate authorization; no unauthorized modification.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Youth psychosocial functioning
- Scoring
- Five subscales 0-10. Total difficulties = four problem subscales, 0-40; prosocial score stays separate. Apply version-specific reverse coding.
- Named by funders
- No US grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Goodman, 1997, J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38:581-586; DOI 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x. Original full text unverified.
- Caveat
- EN; many translations. Select the authorized 25-item, one-sided form. Impact supplements and administrative additions can push the administered packet above 30 items. Embedding it in software is a separate, paid-permission case (see the trap list).
Form License source
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“The MSPSS is free to use.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Youth; social support
- Scoring
- Mean all twelve 1-7 ratings; also calculate four-item Family, Friends, Significant Other means. Higher = more support.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Zimet et al., 1988, J Personality Assessment 52:30-41.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish, Chinese, French and many other translations. The author asks users to credit Zimet and colleagues. The author states there are no established population norms; avoid inventing clinical cutoffs.
Form License source
WHO-5 Well-Being Index
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Positive wellbeing
- Scoring
- Sum 0-25, multiply by 4 for 0-100; higher = better wellbeing. Below 50 suggests further assessment.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Topp et al., 2015, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 84:167-176; DOI 10.1159/000376585. WHO republishes the evidence reference.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Attribution, noncommercial use and share-alike conditions apply; adaptations and translations have additional requirements. Use the 2024 rights statement; older descriptions calling it unrestricted public domain are insufficient for the current publication.
Form License source
DASS-21
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“downloaded and copied without restriction”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Depression, anxiety, stress
- Scoring
- Three seven-item subscales. Sum each 0-21; multiply each by 2 when applying full-DASS severity conventions.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Antony et al., 1998, Psychological Assessment 10:176-181; Ng et al., 2007, routine-outcome validation.
- Caveat
- EN; translations. One-week recall. The owner also prohibits modification and sale for profit. The paid manual does not make the questionnaire license paid. Do not invent a single diagnostic total.
Form License source
Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“free to use without permission or charge by researchers”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Life satisfaction
- Scoring
- Sum five 1-7 ratings: 5-35, higher = greater satisfaction.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Diener et al., 1985, J Personality Assessment 49:71-75; Pavot et al., 1991.
- Caveat
- EN; extensive translations. The current owner page specifies "non-commercial purposes only" and asks users to credit the authors; keep that wording in your rights metadata.
Form License source
AUDIT
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“No permission is needed for any non-commercial purpose.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Alcohol-related risk/problems
- Scoring
- Official item coding yields 0-40; 8 or more is a commonly used screening threshold.
- Named by funders
- Washington State AMDG publishes the form.
- Validity
- Saunders et al., 1993, Addiction 88:791-804.
- Caveat
- EN; more than 40 translations listed. Preserve content, do not charge respondents, and identify it as WHO-approved. Standard past-year recall makes closely spaced pre/post comparisons difficult.
Form License source
Substance Use Recovery Evaluator (SURE)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“use within not-for-profit charities or health care settings does not require a licence.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Recovery and functioning
- Scoring
- Recode the five response options using the author's three-level key; total 21-63, higher = better recovery.
- Named by funders
- No US funder requirement verified.
- Validity
- Neale et al., 2016, development and validation; the owner identifies it as a psychometrically validated recovery outcome measure.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Distribution, commercial exploitation and electronic storage/transmission have separate restrictions. Particularly relevant to nonprofit paper administration; do not assume permission to embed it in your software.
Form License source
Career Engagement Scale
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“CC BY-NC 4.0; attribution and noncommercial scope; commercial use requires author permission.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Employment preparation; career behavior
- Scoring
- Mean nine 1-5 ratings; higher = more proactive career behavior; no reverse coding.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Hirschi, Freund & Herrmann, 2014, J Career Assessment 22:575-594; six studies, invariance and predictive validity (author research abstract).
- Caveat
- EN verified. Standard recall is six months. Measures behavior, not job placement, wages or retention.
Form License source
CRQ-A: four selected career-resource subscales
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“CC BY-NC 4.0: attribution and noncommercial use.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Youth employment preparation
- Scoring
- Mean each three-item subscale, 1-5; higher = more resource. No invented 12-item global total. Use Soft Skills, Career Confidence, Career Clarity, Self-Exploration.
- Named by funders
- The OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center identifies these four subscales.
- Validity
- Marciniak et al., 2021, J Career Assessment 29:164-180; two adolescent samples (author technical summary).
- Caveat
- EN verified. The complete CRQ-A has 36 items and fails the length rule; this entry concerns the named subscales only.
Form License source
Parental Stress Scale (PSS)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“The PSS is in the public domain”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Parenting stress
- Scoring
- Reverse 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18; sum 18-90, lower = less stress.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource; not a grant mandate.
- Validity
- Berry & Jones, 1995, J Social and Personal Relationships 12:463-472; later construct-validity qualifications.
- Caveat
- EN; translations. The source also requires permission for adaptations or derivatives and asks users to register use with the author; treat those conditions as operative. Different from the paid Parenting Stress Index and from Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale.
Form License source
Family APGAR
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“in the public domain and can be used without further permission”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Satisfaction with family functioning
- Scoring
- For this form, sum five 0-2 responses: 0-10, higher = greater satisfaction.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Smilkstein, Ashworth & Montano, 1982, J Family Practice 15:303-311. IFNA also documents conflicting construct-validity findings.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish, Chinese, Japanese. Developers should be acknowledged. This statement comes from IFNA's measure review, not an opened original-owner license. Measures perceived satisfaction; it should not be treated as a definitive diagnosis of family dysfunction.
Form License source
PALS Academic Efficacy subscale
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“non-commercial use”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Academic confidence
- Scoring
- Mean five 1-5 responses; higher = stronger academic efficacy.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource, not an AmeriCorps or OJJDP reporting mandate.
- Validity
- Midgley et al., 2000, PALS manual; subscale reliability reported; original PALS validation references included.
- Caveat
- EN verified. NMRC states no cost. Use this established subscale (printed p. 20), not the entire manual's questionnaire collection. Confidence is not academic achievement.
Form License source
Engagement versus Disaffection: Behavioral Engagement subscale
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“non-commercial use; no advance permission required.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Classroom engagement
- Scoring
- Mean five 1-4 ratings; higher = more behavioral engagement.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource, not a mandate.
- Validity
- Skinner, Kindermann & Furrer, 2009, Educational and Psychological Measurement 69:493-525; DOI 10.1177/0013164408323233.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Complete questions and response options are in the article appendix; there is no separate standalone PDF verified.
Form License source
Revised Implicit Theories of Intelligence, Self scale
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“non-commercial use”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Academic mindset
- Scoring
- Reverse four incremental-belief items; average eight 1-6 responses. Higher = stronger fixed-intelligence belief.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource, not a mandate.
- Validity
- De Castella & Byrne, 2015, European J Psychology of Education 30:245-267; DOI 10.1007/s10212-015-0244-y.
- Caveat
- EN verified. NMRC states no charge. Direction is easily reversed accidentally. Mindset change does not itself establish improved grades. Form is Appendix 1 of an author manuscript.
Form License source
Hemingway School Connectedness subscale
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“non-commercial use; no charge. Author requests review of terms and an acceptance email before use.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
School attachment
- Scoring
- Reverse the negatively worded school-boredom item; mean six 1-5 ratings, higher = greater connectedness.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource, not a mandate.
- Validity
- Karcher & Sass, 2010, J Counseling Psychology 57:274-289; DOI 10.1037/a0019357.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish, French, Chinese. Use the school subscale and age-appropriate version; the full connectedness instrument is longer.
Form License source
Lubben Social Network Scale, LSNS-6
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“Author welcomes use "for your research"; requests a demographic/research-goals form. No fee is stated on the permission page.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Social isolation/network resources
- Scoring
- Six 0-5 responses; sum 0-30, higher = stronger network resources.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Lubben et al., 2006, The Gerontologist 46:503-513; primary comparative validation: Myagmarjav et al., 2019.
- Caveat
- EN; Japanese, Portuguese and others. Research-use permission is not an unrestricted commercial license.
Form License source
Lubben Social Network Scale, LSNS-18
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“Same "for your research" permission and requested form as the LSNS-6.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Social isolation/network resources
- Scoring
- Eighteen 0-5 responses; sum 0-90, higher = stronger resources.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Myagmarjav, Burnette & Goeddeke, 2019, PLOS ONE 14:e0215523; supports reliability but finds better factor fit for the LSNS-6 in that sample.
- Caveat
- EN verified; Mongolian validation reported. The downloaded PDF has an inconsistent LSNS-R/twelve-item footer; confirm the version and key before deployment.
Form License source
Composite Abuse Scale-Revised, Short Form (CASR-SF)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“There is no fee to use this scale, but permission must be obtained.”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
IPV severity/frequency
- Scoring
- Past-year frequency 0-5; if 11 or more of 15 items answered, mean frequency x 15 gives 0-75. Higher = greater abuse.
- Named by funders
- No US grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Ford-Gilboe et al., 2016, BMJ Open 6:e012824; DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012824.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Obtain author permission before use. Each abuse item has lifetime and recent-frequency responses, increasing burden. Twelve-month recall limits short follow-up interpretation.
Form License source
PHQ-2
Screening onlyLicense wording
“public domain.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Depression screening
- Scoring
- Sum 0-6; 3 or more commonly triggers further assessment.
- Named by funders
- No specific grant requirement verified.
- Validity
- Kroenke et al., 2003, Medical Care 41:1284-1292.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Efficient screening; limited precision for tracking small changes.
Form License source
PHQ-4
Screening onlyLicense wording
“public domain.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Depression/anxiety screening
- Scoring
- Total 0-12; bands 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. Depression and anxiety two-item subscores each 0-6.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Kroenke et al., 2009, Psychosomatics 50:613-621.
- Caveat
- EN verified. PHQ-2 plus GAD-2; do not count all three as independent instrument families.
Form License source
GAD-2
Screening onlyLicense wording
“public domain.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Anxiety screening
- Scoring
- Sum 0-6; 3 or more commonly prompts fuller assessment.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Kroenke et al., 2007, Annals Internal Medicine 146:317-325.
- Caveat
- EN verified. This is an established two-item instrument, not an arbitrary truncation. The form is the PHQ-4: its first two questions are GAD-2.
Form License source
Kessler K6
Screening onlyLicense wording
“free and does not require any formal permission or approval”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Nonspecific psychological distress
- Scoring
- US coding 0-4, sum 0-24; higher = greater distress. Optional persistence/impairment questions are not part of the score.
- Named by funders
- NCHS/NHIS; the author also names the historical National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Survey use is not a grant requirement.
- Validity
- Kessler et al., 2002, Psychological Medicine 32:959-976; 2003, Archives General Psychiatry 60:184-189.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and others. The author asks users to retain copyright and citation. Do not mix US 0-24 coding with alternative 6-30 coding.
Form License source
Kessler K10
Screening onlyLicense wording
“free and does not require any formal permission or approval”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Nonspecific psychological distress
- Scoring
- US coding 0-4, sum 0-40, higher = greater distress.
- Named by funders
- US NCS-R research program; no frontline grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Kessler et al., 2002/2003; Furukawa et al., 2003.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin and others. The author asks users to retain copyright and citation. Alternative 10-50 scoring is a different coding convention.
Form License source
AUDIT-C
Screening onlyLicense wording
“available for use in the public domain.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Alcohol consumption risk
- Scoring
- Sum 0-12. Original commonly used cutoffs: 4 or more for men; 3 or more for women.
- Named by funders
- Oregon Health Authority resource; NIDA-stewarded NIH common-data-element record.
- Validity
- Bush et al., 1998; Bradley et al., 2003, cited on the form.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Versions change the heavy-drinking threshold; retain the exact version and scoring rule.
Form License source
Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-15
Screening onlyLicense wording
“The original scale is in the public domain.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Older-adult depressive symptoms
- Scoring
- One point for each depression-keyed response; 0-15, higher = more symptoms.
- Named by funders
- No US grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986; validity references and administration guidance on the HIGN sheet.
- Caveat
- EN; numerous translations. The instrument is public domain; the surrounding HIGN teaching sheet has its own publication rights.
Form License source
Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-30
Screening onlyLicense wording
“The original scale is in the public domain.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Older-adult depressive symptoms
- Scoring
- Depression-keyed yes/no responses, sum 0-30.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Yesavage et al., 1983, J Psychiatric Research 17:37-49.
- Caveat
- EN; translations. Exactly at the 30-item ceiling. Cognitive impairment can affect suitability.
Form License source
HARK
Screening onlyLicense wording
“The original article's license "permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction," with attribution. Applying it to the authors' own question table is an explicit inference; no separate excluded credit line was identified.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
IPV identification
- Scoring
- Yes=1, no=0; sum 0-4; 1 or more is a positive screen.
- Named by funders
- A Minnesota family-violence-prevention connection surfaced, but its state page did not open: unverified.
- Validity
- Sohal, Eldridge & Feder, 2007, BMC Family Practice 8:49; sensitivity 81%, specificity 95% in the study sample.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Validated identification screen; no verified responsiveness threshold for program-related safety improvement.
Form License source
PC-PTSD-5
Screening onlyLicense wording
“This measure was developed by staff at VA's National Center for PTSD and is in the public domain and not copyrighted.”
Cleared for screening. It is not built to show change over time.
Trauma screening
- Scoring
- 3 or more is a positive screen.
- Named by funders
- VA primary care (named by the second research file only).
- Validity
- Prins et al., 2015/2016.
- Caveat
- Screen only; follow with the PCL-5. Spanish unvalidated. Taken from 2A-grok.md under TRIAGE.md.
Form License source
BRFSS Housing Affordability protocol
Funder reporting itemLicense wording
“freely available; permission not required for use.”
A question the funder itself asks on its form, not a validated scale.
Housing affordability
- Scoring
- Tenure category plus frequency of worry about paying housing costs. Report categories; no validated composite score supplied.
- Named by funders
- CDC BRFSS; NIH PhenX catalogue.
- Validity
- Established federal survey protocol; independent longitudinal outcome-scale validation not verified.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish. The PhenX PDF is a worksheet, not a finished client questionnaire. Does not pass the strict validated-outcome/form test.
Form License source
SUPRT-C stable-housing client item (A2d)
Funder reporting itemLicense wording
“G inference; no instrument-specific license statement located in the form.”
A question the funder itself asks on its form, not a validated scale.
Perceived housing stability
- Scoring
- Six agreement categories plus prefer-not-to-answer; preserve reporting categories.
- Named by funders
- SAMHSA SUPRT-C.
- Validity
- Funder-authored reporting item; standalone psychometric validation not located.
- Caveat
- EN verified. Measures perceived stability; it is not a seven-item HIS substitute. Rights rest on federal authorship (17 USC 105), which the research treats as an inference.
Form License source
Not recommended: rights unresolved 4
Permission to use these was not confirmed. Do not put them in a proposal until you have it in writing.
- Rights unresolved Housing Instability Scale (HIS) English/Spanish validation reported. Strong outcome fit, but do not clear rights automatically. A standalone downloadable form is unverified; the items are on an opened HTML page. Source
- Rights unresolved Accountable Health Communities housing instability/quality questions EN verified. Federal hosting does not resolve the third-party permission language. Source
- Rights unresolved Measure of Victim Empowerment Related to Safety (MOVERS) EN/ES forms verified; many translations listed. The owner page and older manual use different response coding; resolve version and permission before use. Source
- Rights unresolved Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) EN form available. Form availability and validation do not resolve reuse rights. Source
Looks free, is not 15
Each of these circulates widely and carries a licensing restriction. The wording is quoted from the publisher's page.
- Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, CSQ-8. Use requires "express written permission" and "remission of use fees." Applies to service and research use. It also measures satisfaction, not outcome change. Licensing page
- Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, MMAS-8 / MMAS-4. Owner license pricing posts fees of $7 per MMAS-8 administration and $4 per MMAS-4 administration, with other licensing arrangements. Licensing page
- Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC. The author's request form refers to "terms of use and payment details"; PhenX confirms a licensing agreement is required. Current owner-site pricing is unverified because those sites did not open. Licensing page
- Outcome Rating Scale, ORS. Agency and group paper licenses carry fees; electronic or digital use is excluded from that license. Not universally paid, but not blanket-free for a nonprofit agency. Licensing page
- Session Rating Scale, SRS. Same agency-fee and electronic-use restrictions as the ORS. It also measures therapeutic alliance rather than participant outcomes. Licensing page
- SDQ embedded in your digital product. Electronic reproduction requires authorization and may involve payment. This does not invalidate the conditional paper-use entry in the instrument list. Licensing page
- PRAPARE embedded in a platform. Developer agreements are listed at $5,000 per year (regular) or $10,000 per year (enterprise). Royalty-free end-user agreements are a separate category. These are the published 2024 terms, not a verified 2026 quotation. Licensing page
- North Carolina Family Assessment Scale, General Services (NCFAS-G). The license is issued to the purchasing agency, and cost depends on the number of workers using it. Viewing a sample is not permission to administer. Licensing page
- Parenting Stress Index, 4th ed., Short Form (PSI-4-SF). The publisher's purchase page lists paid materials. Its 36 items also exceed the 30-item length limit. Licensing page
- BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). The publisher page lists paid forms and digital administrations and Qualification Level B. Short administration and simple completion do not make it public domain. Licensing page
- Drug Abuse Screening Test, DAST-10. The instrument is under copyright: "Copyright 1982 by Harvey A. Skinner, PhD, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada." The PhenX page allows reproduction "for non-commercial use (clinical, research, training purposes)" with credit to the author, and says it "may be obtained through" CAMH. Conditional, not unrestricted; CAMH's own terms were not opened. Licensing page
- Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory. The publisher sells it: the Pearson page lists the BDI-2 Complete Kit (Print) at $195.70, with items from $3.90, and shows Qualification level B. Licensing page
- Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). PAR publishes it and the site states "All rights reserved." A modified version requires a permission request to PAR. Licensing page
- Outcomes Star (family of Stars). The site refers to licence holders and states "all Outcomes Star licence holders must complete our core training programme." A licence is required; the page opened does not state fees. Licensing page
- PROMIS short forms embedded in an electronic platform. The PROMIS terms state "Permission to use PROMIS INSTRUMENTS does NOT grant permission to modify the wording or layout of items," or "to distribute to others for a fee, or to translate items into any other language." The need for HealthMeasures Electronic Administration Permission (HEAP) when embedding in a platform comes from secondary sources and was not found in the terms page. Licensing page