improving information sharing between agencies, ensuring all local authorities
have a list of children in their area, a list of the services they have had contact
with, and the contact details of relevant professionals P56
Contact point
Limited access
establishing a common assessment
framework. The Government will move
towards a common assessment framework
across services for all children. The aim is
for core information to follow the child
between services to reduce duplication
What is the CAF? •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 and action plan 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. The CAF provides an easy
to use assessment that is common across agencies. It will help embed a shared
language; support better understanding and communications amongst practitioners;
facilitate early intervention; speed up service delivery and reduce the number and
duration of different assessments that historically some children and young people have
undergone.
page 176 in Makings sense of ECM
How is CAF used in CAMHS? CAF should be from tier 2,
although children can move between tiers quickly. Nurses attend
CAF meetings for children,
integrating professionals through
multi-disciplinary teams responsible for
identifying children at risk, and working with the
child and family to ensure services are tailored
to their needs
LINKS WITH SCOOLS, GPS, ED PSYCH,
ensuring effective child protection
procedures are in place across all
organisations.
LIASON WITH SAFEGUARDING - LINK NURSES, SOCIAL SERVICES
identifying lead professionals to take the lead on each case where
children are known to more than one specialist agency