To CAF or not to CAF

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To CAF or not to CAF
National Integrated Working Conferences 2008
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1. What does the CAF stand for?

• Common Assessment Framework
• Children and Families
• Continual Assessment Form

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2. What is the CAF?

• A shared assessment framework for children with
  additional needs not being met by universal
  services.
• 2. A common process to enable practitioners to
  undertake a common assessment and then act on the
  result.
• 3. A standard form to record an assessment of a
  child and young persons needs.

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3. Who should complete a CAF?

• Anyone working with children and young people
• Anyone who has undergone CAF training
• The lead professional

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4. In the IW SAT 2008, what of respondents
said they had fully implemented the CAF in their
local area?

• 1 in 5 (20)
• 2. 1 in 4 (25)
• 3. 1 in 3 (33)

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5. What percentage of respondents said they would
use the national E-CAF system?

• 1. 54
• 2. 64
• 3. 74

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6. What was the most popular advantage cited from
using CAF?
1. Greater cooperation between agencies 2.
Professionals now act earlier 3. Less
duplication of effort 4. More accurate
targeting of services
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7. How does CAF fit with other assessments eg.
SEN or Asset?

• A CAF should always be completed first this is
  a broad generic assessment which can feed in to
  and support specialist assessments.
• Specialist assessments should replace CAF as they
  encourage a targeted focus based on a childs
  pre-identified additional or complex needs.
• A CAF should be used at an earlier stage than a
  specialist assessment, ideally enabling issues to
  be resolved before they require specialist
  assessments. It is not a replacement.

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8. CAFs should always be undertaken for
home-educated children?

• Yes, children who are home educated do not have
  access to universal education services such as
  schools. A CAF should be undertaken to make sure
  their needs are being met.
• 2. No, the CAF should not be routinely
  undertaken with specific groups of children. It
  should only be used where it is unclear what the
  child's needs are or their needs are broader than
  that which the practitioners service can
  address.
• 3. No, CAFs should only be undertaken when an
  additional need has already been identified by a
  practitioner.

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9. Can information disclosed in the course of a
CAF discussion be shared?

• Information must be shared whenever a
  practitioner has concerns about the safety and
  well-being of a child.
• Information should only be shared with the
  consent of a parent or guardian.
• A young person aged 16 or over, or a child under
  the age of 16 who has the capacity to understand
  and make their own decisions, may give consent
  for information to be shared.

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10. Social care departments need a CAF to support
every referral?

• No, a CAF should only be provided with the child
  and families consent.
• No at times of urgent need children and young
  people should be referred to social care
  departments at the earliest opportunity. CAF
  should not slow down the process.
• Yes, CAF will provide the social care team with
  the full picture from the start of the referral.

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Answers
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1. What does the CAF stand for?

• Answer 1. Common Assessment Framework
• Thats the easy one!

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2. What is the CAF?
All of the answers! The official definition is
that the CAF for children and young people is a
standardised approach to conducting an assessment
of a childs additional needs. The CAF has been
designed to help the earlier identification of
needs and is a tool to help ensure any additional
needs are dealt with by the most appropriate
services.
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3. Who should complete a CAF?

• Answer 2. Anyone who has undergone CAF training
  but you can still initiate them if you havent
  been trained.
• Everyone working with children and young people
  should have knowledge of CAF.
• Anyone can initiate a CAF and should have access
  to someone who has attended CAF training.
• If you personally are expected to undertake
  common assessments you should attend a locally
  approved CAF training course.

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4. In the IW SAT 2008, what of respondents
said they had fully implemented the CAF in their
local area?

• Answer 1. 1 in 5 (20) have fully implemented
  CAF
• A further 54 said they had begun implementation.
  

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5. What percentage of respondents said they would
use the national E-CAF system?
Answer 2. 64
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6. What was the most popular advantage cited
from using CAF?

• Answer 1. Greater cooperation between agencies
  was the greatest advantage cited by 48 of
  respondents
• However there were lots of advantages including
• Professionals now act earlier
• Less duplication of effort
• More accurate targeting of services
• Makes better use of available services
• Delivery is more consistent

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7. How does CAF fit with other assessments eg.
SEN or Asset?

• Answer 3. A CAF should be used at an earlier
  stage than a specialist assessment, ideally
  enabling issues to be resolved before they
  require specialist assessments.
• The CAF is not a replacement for a specialist
  assessment and much of the information in a CAF
  will feed in to specialist assessments

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8. CAFs should always be undertaken for
home-educated children?
Answer 2. The CAF should not be routinely
undertaken with specific groups of children. It
should only be used where it is unclear what the
child's needs are or their needs are broader than
that which the practitioners service can
address.
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9. What consent is needed to complete and share a
CAF?

• Answer 1. CAFs can be completed whenever a
  practitioner has concerns about the safety and
  well-being of a child.
• But first step would normally be to get consent
  from either a parent or child. This should not be
  a barrier if you are working in partnership with
  them. There may be a circumstances in which
  recording and sharing information without consent
  may be justified in the needs of public interest
  for example if there is a worries a child is
  suffering or at risk if suffering significant
  harm. New information sharing guidance is
  available on ECM website

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10. Social care departments need a CAF to support
every referral?

• Answer 1 No at times of urgent need children
  and young people should be referred to social
  care departments at the earliest opportunity. CAF
  should not slow down the process.

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To CAF or not to CAF
National Integrated Working Conferences 2008