Common Assessment Framework
Information for Professionals
Included in this section:
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The CAF is a key component in the Every Child Matters: Change
for Children programme. The aim of the programme is to ensure
that every child receives the universal services to which they are
entitled and any additional services they need at the earliest
opportunity.
Common assessmenst should be completed when a baby, child or
young person has needs which are unclear or
unmet.
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- a simple pre-assessment checklist to help practitioners
identify children who would benefit from a common assessment;
- a process for undertaking a common assessment, to help
practitioners gather and understand information about the needs and
strengths of the child, based on discussions with the child, their
family and other practitioners as appropriate;
- a standard form to help practitioners record, and, where
appropriate, share with others, the findings from the assessment in
terms that are helpful in working with the family to find a
response to unmet needs.
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Why complete a CAF?
Reasons to undertake a Common Assessment
include:
- safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young
people
- providing early intervention where concerns arise around
unclear or unmet needs
- reducing the number of assessments children and young people
experience
- improving the consistency and quality of assessments
- facilitating better referrals and co-ordination between
agencies
Common Assessment will not be necessary for:
- the majority of children and young people where their
development is good and their needs are met
- circumstances where you have a child proetction of safeguarding
concern. Where such concerns exist you should follow the
South West Child Protection Protocols (swpp.org.uk)
- children whose needs are clearly understood and can be met by
an existing direct referral process
The CAF has been developed from combining the underlying model
of the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their
Families with the main factors used in other assessment
frameworks. The elements that form the framework for common
assessment are shown in the figure below. They have been
grouped into the themes of development of the child, parents and
carers and family and environmental elements.
|
Development of Child |
|
Health:
- General health
- Physical development
- Speech, language and communications
development
|
|
Emotional and social development |
|
Behavioural development |
|
Identity, including self-esteem, self-image and social
presentation |
|
Family and social relationships |
|
Self-care skills and independence |
|
Learning:
- Understanding, reasoning and problem solving
- Progress and achievement in learning
- Participation in learning, education and employment
- Aspirations
|
|
Parents and Carers |
|
Basic care, ensuring safety and protection |
|
Emotional warmth and stability |
|
Guidance, boundaries and stimulation |
|
Family and Environmental |
|
Family history, functioning and well-being |
|
Wider family |
|
Housing, employment and financial considerations |
|
Social & community factors and resources, including
education |
The CAF provides a process to assess the additional needs of a
child or young person and to give a holistic view that considers
strengths as well as needs. Practitioners will then be better
placed to agree, with the child and family, what support is
appropriate.
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The CAF provides an easy to use assessment that is common across
services. It will help embed a shared language; support better
understanding and communications amongst practitioners; reduce the
number and duration of different assessments that historically some
children and young people have undergone; facilitate early
intervention and speed up service delivery. In addition, with time,
it will provide a robust mechanism for gaining information about
gaps in the provsion of services.
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Relationship to specialist assessments
The CAF will help to identify whether a specialist assessment is
necessary, and avoid duplication by building on accurate up-to-date
information. The CAF will replace the assessment elements of
the Connexions Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review
(APIR) Framework. Where there is a need for an immediate
specialist assessment, the CAF will not delay that process.
National implementation began in April 2006, to be fully
embedded by December 2008.
Bath & North East Somerset Council and all its partner
agencies and schools have been making steady progress in
implementing the CAF for ages 0-11 since 2006. CAF is beng
implemented on a phased basis across the three locality areas
- Bath, Keynsham and Chew Valley, and Norton Radstock. Local
development groups support the roll-out of CAF across the three
locality areas.
As of January 2008, implementation for children and young people
aged 11 and over will begin, building on evaluation and best
practice from the earlier phases.
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To promote consistency, electronic templates of the CAF form and
pre-assessment checklist are available from the Every Child Matters
website.
The national eCAF solution will be made available to all local
authorities and be promoted as a national approach. eCAF will only
hold information about some children, with consent, and for a
limited period of time. It will allow a practitioner to
electronically create, store, and share a CAF securely. The
complexities of working across boundaries are removed, as eCAF
provides a consistent approach for all practitioners working in
different agencies and locations. This should facilitate the
effective and efficient delivery of a coordinated service,
improving the experience of service provision for children and
families.
There will be a final set of requirements for a national eCAF
system. Commissioning for the national system will be subject to
tender, expected by the end of 2007.
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Guidance documents, training materials and case studies are
available from www.ecm.gov.uk/CAF
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