3.1 Early Intervention when there are Child Welfare Concerns

Introduction
Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
When to appoint a Lead Professional
Principles of Common Assessment Framework/Lead Professional working

1. Introduction

Multi-agency working can make a unique contribution to preventative and early intervention services, because it has been shown to be the most effective way of addressing the wide range of risk factors that contribute to poorer outcomes for children and young people.

A web-based toolkit resource to support managers and practitioners delivering multi-agency services is available at: Children's Workforce Development Council website.

The toolkit covers:

The benefits of multi-agency working
Success factors for effective multi-agency working
Practical advice on setting up services
Activities to help managers and practitioners work through some of the issues
Examples of effective practice from a number of areas
A common language glossary, exploring how practitioners from different backgrounds use common terms
An agency A-Z explaining the roles and responsibilities of different agencies

2. Common Assessment Framework (CAF)

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is:

A "framework for helping practitioners assess children's needs for services earlier and more effectively, develop a common understanding of those needs and agree a process for working together to meet those needs" and

"A shared assessment tool used across agencies in England" providing "A common method of assessment across all children's services and across all local areas". It aims to help early identification of needs, leading to co-ordinated provision of services, involving a lead professional where appropriate, and sharing information to avoid duplication of assessments. This also reduces the need for children or their families to re-tell their story to different practitioners.

It provides an easy to use assessment that is common across agencies. It supports better understanding and communication among practitioners; facilitates early intervention, speeds up service delivery and reduces the number and duration of different assessments.

CAF Functions

The CAF has the following primary and supporting functions:

Primary function

The CAF is an assessment of need resulting in an action plan.

Secondary functions:

The CAF is a standard means of exchange for information sharing.
It is an overview summary of current services provided (in situations not considered 'complex'.
It provides a standard request for resources ('referral') format between a practitioner requesting a resource (CAF Assessor) and a provider of a resource (Specialist Provider).

3. When to appoint a Lead Professional

The Lead Professional (LP) is the person responsible for co-ordinating the actions identified in the assessment process and being a single point of contact for children with additional needs being supported by more than one practitioner.

A Lead Professional should be appointed at the conclusion (Action Plan) of the CAF assessment process where the CAF has identified that the child has additional needs requiring an integrated response

A Lead Professional should not be appointed when:

Additional support can be provided from core mainstream staff working closely together
Where there is no integrated response needed from services and where the child / parent does not require support in managing different services

The Lead Professional has a set of functions to be carried out as part of the delivery of effective and integrated support. Whilst ensuring the children and parent remain central to any decisions the Lead Professional should perform the following functions and tasks:

Acting as single point of contact for child and parent
Co-ordinating the delivery of the actions agreed by the practitioners involved
Reduce overlap and inconsistency
Identify where additional services may need to be involved and put processes in place for brokering their involvement
Lead on reviewing CAF action plan
Support child through key transition points

Consequently, the Lead Professional needs to be kept aware of (but is not responsible for) any changes to the CAF assessment or action plan.

4. Principles of Common Assessment Framework/Lead Professional working

Children & parents should be involved throughout
CAF cannot be undertaken without explicit agreement of the child and/or their parent.*
The views of the child and parent should be considered when agreeing Lead Professional
The parent is considered as a possible Lead Professional for their child in appropriate and defined circumstances
CAFs should promote information sharing and not replace the conversations between practitioners or families
CAF should be electronically enabled, i.e. computerised practitioners are individually accountable for what they enter on
CAF to the children and parents they are working with, to other practitioners and to their line managers and/or professional bodies
Wherever practicable CAF should replace current paperwork (so reducing duplication)
When to start a CAF is a matter of practitioner and professional judgement
CAF/LP work should support cross-boundary working arrangements

* Parental powers to control their children reduce as a child matures. The rights of parent give way to the child's right to make important decisions when 'he or she is of sufficient understanding and intelligence' to be able to make up his or her own mind. This is known as Fraser Competence.

When to use the Common Assessment framework

A period of Common Assessment is best seen as an 'episode' - a process of assessment, resource provision and, ultimately, a resolution.

The CAF Episode begins when there is an initial identification of a child as having 'additional need'.

The CAF Episode:

Can only start with the explicit agreement of the child / parent (depending on age and understanding of the child)
May include events such as reassessment (including modification of needs and/or strengths) or changes to the action plan
May include a request for, and provision of, resources

A CAF Episode should be considered (after consulting the child / parent and the child's practitioner network) whenever a practitioner believes that a child will not progress towards the five Every Child Matters outcomes without additional services (i.e. child has 'additional needs') and:

Needs are unclear or broader than the single service can address
Common assessment would help identify needs, and/or get other services to help meet them
Establishes if the identified additional needs are being met

For further guidance on supporting families within the Common Assessment Framework, please use the hyperlink to CAF Guidance.

A CAF Episode should not be started when there are child protection concerns, i.e. concerns that a child may be harmed or is at risk of being harmed. In such circumstances the appropriate course of action is to refer to children's social care.

The remainder of this chapter concerns when and how referrals to children's social care should be made and the range of responses which may follow.

End