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This study was completed as part of the Family and Systems Team (FAST) evaluation project conducted in the state of Ohio. The Family Caregiver Wants and Needs Scale (FCWNS) was utilized to investigate the relationship between how hopeful a family feels when they begin to use mental healthcare services for their child and how empowered they perceive themselves to be at that time, as well as the relationship hopefulness and empowerment have with the child’s problem severity. Although the FCWNS had not undergone previous psychometric scrutiny, internal reliability for the Family Caregiver Wants and Needs Scale was predicted and found. I hypothesized a family’s level of hopefulness would be highly positively correlated with their level of caregiver empowerment when services were initiated. Additionally, I expected the child’s level of problem severity to be negatively correlated with levels of hopefulness and empowerment, so a child would be perceived as having less problem severity if their caregiver experienced more hopefulness and empowerment. Hopefulness and problem severity were correlated. Empowerment in general was not correlated with any hypothesized variables. Factor analysis of FCWNS items indicated there were two clusters; healthcare related empowerment items and social support related items. The healthcare empowerment items were correlated with hopefulness and problem severity. This study has broad implications for parent advocates and for programs designed to link youth in serious need with appropriate behavioral and mental health services by creating a more comprehensive way to evaluate their families. Caregiver Wants and Needs