COMMON ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK ANNUAL REPORTdemocratic.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/documents/s54981... · 2012. 7. 13. · The Common Assessment Framework was introduced to Bracknell Forest

Final Version July 2012 1

COMMON ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

ANNUAL REPORT

April 2011 to March 2012


COMMON ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK ANNUAL REPORT April 2011 to March 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Common Assessment Framework was introduced to Bracknell Forest in April 2007 and is now a process that is embedded across the borough. The CAF provides a national single, shared, inter-agency assessment tool to enable those working with a child or family to undertake a holistic assessment of support needs. The CAF is particularly targeted at understanding needs at an early stage before problems become entrenched. The CAF report, produced annually provides information on the progress of the CAF within the context of the wider agenda for prevention and early intervention. Section two of the report highlights that the reporting period has now become aligned with other central reporting periods, and therefore covers CAF activity in the period of April 2011 to March 2012 [as opposed to Jan to Dec as was previously reported]. It also identifies a range of activity in the last year that has had some impact on the way in which the CAF currently operates, and on plans for future development. This activity includes the Overview and Scrutiny review of the CAF which concluded in January 2012 and made a series of recommendations based on the findings. Other work includes the outcome of Ofsted Inspection activity, LSCB analysis through Quality Standards and Case Review, and an ongoing internal review of the CAF process within the context of prevention and early intervention. Section three of the report outlines the CAF Coordinator role which is central to the ongoing success of the CAF across the borough. The CAF Coordinator has a close liaison role with a wide range of agencies, often brokering actions and solutions, this is important in relation to assessments that may cause some concern regarding the safety or wellbeing of a child and may be in need of specialist services support. The CAF Coordinator delivers training to practitioners across a range of agencies, provides consultation for practitioners, and plays a strategic role in attending various meetings. Section 4 of the report looks specifically at CAF data, the number of assessments completed each year has risen, and the range of agencies completing an assessment is broad including schools, health, voluntary organisations, nursery /pre-school, CAMHS etc. The system for recording outcomes from an assessment has been developing and is now able to record outcomes under six categories, of which multi-agency support is the main response. It is important to note that of all the assessments completed in 2011/12 only 2 were identified for no further action. Other data in this section includes the reasons for an assessment being initiated [behaviour remains the most common reason], and the age of the child when an assessment is completed. The data suggests that assessments are being undertaken at an earlier age which is a positive approach to early intervention, and it also shows that the incidences of assessments at key transition points are increased and shows that this is a time where vulnerable children may need additional support,


Section five of the report provides information on the ongoing internal review of the CAF which has been undertaken alongside the work of Overview and Scrutiny. In order to support the review an additional worker was employed and a significant part of the work undertaken was in talking to and consulting with key partners and stakeholders, with a particular focus on schools at primary and secondary level. In total at the time of this report nine primary and six secondary schools, plus Kennel Lane School and College Hall [Pupil referral Service] had contributed to the review. In addition to schools, two voluntary youth providers, the Behaviour Support Team, Early Years and the Family Intervention Project have also participated. Those who participated were asked to express their views on their use of and understanding of the CAF, including what was good and not so good, what were strengths and barriers to using it in practice, the comments made are summarised in 5.5 and 5.6 of the report. 5.7 of the report identifies some of the responses that have been made to improve the experience and use of the CAF, many of the improvements and developments have been made with the direct involvement of the participating agencies, which includes seeking the views and contributions of children and young people. New materials have been developed to support practitioners in involving children and young people more in the assessment; training has been revised and to date has been positively evaluated. The CAF form itself has also been revised. 5.9 looks specifically at the development and introduction of a Family CAF which may support the wider work around the Troubled Families Initiative. A number of schools had agreed to pilot a family assessment and this will inform future decisions about working with families. 5.10 makes some observations about the role of the Family Support Adviser role within schools and notes this is seen as a significant role by schools in the ongoing use of CAF and within the context of prevention and early intervention. 5.11 reflects the direct involvement of young people in the review process and how they are continuing to be involved in developing tools and materials to support assessment, including developing a young person friendly leaflet outlining the CAF process. 5.12 identifies the ongoing work planned to aid the development of the CAF which includes the ongoing involvement of young people, parents and other agencies / organisations. Section six of the report identified the current web resources and highlights those materials and resources which are available, but much of it will need to be updated as a result of the current work. Section seven of the report looks at progress in relation to introducing a process to review all assessments in order to track progress and take further action where issues or difficulties have not been resolved. With an increased focus on this area of activity there has been a significant increase in the number of reviews being completed [shown in 7.3]. Further work is planned to embed this further into the process. Section eight of the report provides information on the Integrated Care Pathways, which are often the forum where completed assessments are discussed. There are three pathways, one for under five’s, one for primary aged children and one for


secondary aged young people. The process for each pathway varies slightly, however the CAF Coordinator attends all three meetings to ensure some consistency with regards to the CAF process. Section nine of the report provides information on the work of the CAF Coordinator in relation to working with partners “cross border”, as many Bracknell Forest children attend schools outside of Bracknell and vice versa for children from other areas attending Bracknell Forest schools. The links made with CAF colleagues has enabled closer working on cross border issues, and a greater understanding of the processes that exist in neighbouring authorities. In addition to direct discussion and liaison regarding individual children, the cross border meetings allow for sharing practice, and comparing data which is helpful when working to assess the impact and effectiveness of the CAF compared to other areas. Section ten of the report provides information on the delivery of CAF training. This is delivered largely to multi-agency audiences, and has been revised periodically to ensure it remains in line with ongoing developments both nationally and locally. The training reflects feedback and ongoing consultation and is now delivered in two sessions, the first is CAF in practice, and the second is Assessment Skills. Evaluation of training has been very positive and attendance by multi-agency practitioners continues to be good. In addition to the multi-agency training, more targeted training is offered to groups of professionals who may have difficulties in attending the training at given times, for example Child Minders, or for specific groups of practitioners such as individual schools, youth workers. Section eleven of the report comments on the use of ICT to support the CAF and notes that the Capita One System is currently used to store CAF information. There is more work to do in this area in order to develop more efficient use of ICT to support the process. Sections twelve, thirteen and fourteen of the report summarise the main points in the report, noting progress made and identifying priority actions for the coming year.


COMMON ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK ANNUAL REPORT April 2011 to March 2012

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This report provides an update and overview of the Common Assessment

Framework delivery and covers activity and actions taken in the past year in the ongoing development and implementation of the CAF in Bracknell Forest.

1.2 The Common Assessment Framework is a key part of delivering integrated

frontline services that are focused around the needs of children and young people. The CAF provides a national single, shared, inter-agency assessment tool to enable those working with a child or family to undertake a holistic assessment of support needs. The CAF is particularly targeted at understanding needs at an early stage before problems become entrenched.

2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Following an initial pilot of CAF in 2007, a phased roll out programme was

instigated, which culminated in the CAF being fully implemented by 1 April 2008. A significant focus of activity in the past year has been on supporting the quality of the assessments, communication between agencies to support the action plan and the CAF review process.

2.2 A decision has been made to standardise the reporting period for CAF annual

reports and to report for the period April to March to ensure reporting remains in line with key reporting cycles. To support improved reporting the IT system used to record CAF activity has been updated and amended which allows for greater range and more detailed reporting to take place.

2.3 The ongoing development of CAF in the past year has taken place against a

backdrop of inspection, scrutiny, review and ongoing quality assurance, this includes;

• Overview and Scrutiny review of Safeguarding Children and Young

People published in January 2011. • Overview and Scrutiny review of the Common Assessment Framework

with a particular focus on the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) as a means of early intervention. This commenced in September 2011 and a report was produced in January 2012 with recommendations in respect of the CAF process.

• The CAF Co-ordinator has been involved in various inspection activities including the unannounced inspection of Children’s Social Care, the Inspection of Safeguarding and Looked After Children which took place in October 2011, and the Ofsted Inspection of the Alders' Children Centre.

• LSCB Serious Case Review findings and outcomes of LSCB Quality Assurance activity.

• Consultation and development of the Prevention and Early Intervention Strategy.

• Internal review of the CAF led by the Shared Processes Group.


2.4 To support the internal review of the CAF process a development worker was

employed in September 2011 and has been engaged in supporting the CAF Coordinator in a range of activity:

- to revise training in light of LSCB learning from the Serious Case Review

(Child B and recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Review of CAF recommendation 5)

- to undertake consultation with schools and other agencies including the voluntary sector to more fully understand the reasons for schools’ dissatisfaction with the CAF Process, to raise awareness of the CAF process and to offer support. (Overview and Scrutiny Review of the Common Assessment recommendations 3 and 7)

- to explore with practitioners various templates for the CAF, Family CAF and CAF Review Forms (O & S recommendation 8, 10,13,14,15)

2.5 The CAF Co-ordinator also attends the LSCB Quality Standards Group and

contributes to the case reviews identified for this group. An audit has been carried out on a sample of CAFs which have an element of Domestic Abuse and included looking at the information held on significant males.

2.6 In conjunction with the LSCB Business Manager and following the learning

from the Bracknell Forest Local Safeguarding Children’s Board’s Serious Case Reviews (Child B) questionnaires were given out to Strategic Partners and sent to front line staff to collate information regarding assessment including the CAF process.

2.7 The CAF Co-ordinator and CAF Development Worker have also worked to

complete actions identified in the Shared Processes Action Plan which includes CAF.

3. CAF COORDINATOR ROLE 3.1 The line management for this role has moved from Early Years to the Head of

Performance Management and Governance in July 2011. 3.2 The CAF Coordinator plays a key role in reporting into the Shared Processes

Group, and tasks associated with the role have changed over time as the CAF has been embedded. The CAF Coordinator maintains close links with the Head of Safeguarding [Children’s Social Care] to ensure communication and discussion around issues that relate to safeguarding. The CAF Co-ordinator also has regular contact with the Duty and Assessment Team; the Team Manager, Deputy Manager, and other Social Work staff. This communication includes working together to support children and families where it is deemed that they have not met the threshold for Children’s Social Care and need support from within targeted services. It also means discussing and negotiating next steps with respect to individual CAF Action plans and reviews.

. 3.3 In addition to close liaison with Children’s Social Care the CAF Coordinator

works closely with a wide range of practitioners across Children’s Services, including those from statutory and voluntary sector settings. Working with


various personnel in school settings has also been important to continue to provide support, advice and guidance in the use of the CAF.

3.4 The primary task of the CAF Co-ordinator role has remained supporting the

implementation of the CAF locally, whilst promoting related areas of workforce reform. This includes the role of the lead professional and information sharing. The numbers of CAFs and reviews and consequently enquiries has meant the volume of the work has steadily increased. Tasks undertaken include:

• Taking a lead on all CAF training, preparing materials and facilitating

training sessions. Reviewing training and ensuring it remains current. • Taking a lead in negotiating with professionals across agencies on the

most effective and manageable ways of implementing CAF. • Working in a consultative capacity across all services / agencies, offering

advice and guidance to professionals considering a CAF for a child or young person presenting with additional needs, this aspect of the role remains in demand with a significant portion of time being spent providing support.

• Responding to enquiries from families regarding the CAF. • Administrative tasks which include logging all CAF assessments onto a

central data system, ensuring that families’ confidentiality and data protection rights are preserved.

• Attending appropriate meetings to raise awareness of the CAF, and to network.

• Attending regional and national events as relevant to the role. • Attending Pan Berkshire meetings of CAF Coordinators to secure

improved cross border working. 3.5 This year has seen a significant increase in requests for information from

services within Bracknell Forest Council, schools and outside agencies such as Home Start and Pyramid for Parents.

3.6 The CAF Co-ordinator attends a number of strategic and practitioners’ forums

which provide an opportunity to further embed good CAF practice in planning and policy activity. Some examples of these include:

• Shared Processes • CHILD (Children’s Holistic Integrated Learning and Development)

Pathway • Primary Integrated Care Pathway • Secondary Integrated Care Pathway • Parenting Strategy Group • LSCB Quality Standard Meeting • Young Carers Steering Group • Domestic Abuse Forum • Neglect Task Force • Families with Multiple Problems • Education, Health and Children’s Social Care Liaison Meeting • Cross Berkshire Network Meeting


4. CAF DATA 4.1 To date there have been 1155 CAFs completed in total. In 2007, 81 CAFs

were completed and this number has steadily increased year on year with a further 13 % rise this year. August has consistently been a quiet month in relation to assessments being undertaken; this is most likely due to school holidays.

Months No. of

CAFS 2007

No. of CAFs 2008

No. of CAFs 2009

No. of CAFs 2010

No. of CAFs 2011

* No of CAFs 1/4/2011 – 31/3/2012

Jan 4 8 24 10 33 - Feb 4 9 16 26 29 - Mar 8 13 24 29 48 - Apr 3 22 7 22 22 22 May 4 25 20 43 38 38 June 2 26 24 31 37 37 July 5 12 19 34 38 38 Aug 1 2 3 5 4 4 Sept 6 10 13 21 26 26 Oct 9 25 27 31 24 24 Nov 22 26 35 23 32 32 Dec 13 15 18 24 15 15 Jan - - - - - 24 Feb - - - - - 19 March - - - - - 45 Total 81 193 230 305 346 324

* Reporting period has been standardised and will run from 1 April to 31 March each year. 4.2 CAFs have been completed by a range of practitioners shown in the table

below. Primary Schools are the lead completers, but within this the practitioner undertaking the CAF could be varied for example the SENCO, the headteacher or a Family Support Adviser (FSA). Secondary Schools are beginning to increase the number of CAFs completed.

CAF By Source Number Completed Primary Schools 149 Health 26 Secondary Schools 62 Voluntary Organisations 17 Education [Other] 41 Nursery / Pre School 3 CAMHS 2 Connexions 3 Youth Offending Team 2 Youth Service 1 Other 18

Table shows the main Source from April 2011 to March 2012


4.3 The education “other” category includes assessments undertaken by the Pupil Referral Service and the senior family worker at College Hall. Health includes assessments undertaken by practitioners such as Health Visitors, Community Midwives, School Nurses and Occupational Health.

4.5 Although Primary Schools still facilitate the highest proportion of CAFs this

percentage has gradually decreased from around 57% in previous years to 49% this year.

4.6 Number of CAFs by outcomes – the system used to record CAF details is the

One System, which records outcomes under six main categories:

• Multi-agency response • No further action • Referred to specialist service [this includes Statutory Assessment of

Special Educational Needs and Youth Offending Service] • Single agency response • CAMHS (since October 2010] • Children’s Social Care (since October 2010)

4.7. This year provides the first full year for statistical analysis of the specialist

service category. It is anticipated that we will further divide the specialist category to respond to the increasing requests for information and the CAF profile to include Youth Offending Service and Statutory Request for a Special Educational Needs Assessment.

4.8 Multi-agency continues to be the main response showing both the need for an

integrated working approach and use of the Integrated Care Pathway procedures. For the second year running the percentage of assessments passed to specialist services has declined (18% referred to either CAMHS or CSC). This may indicate that CAFs are being undertaken earlier before issues become more complex for families and individual children.

4.9 Single agency responses largely include work by the behavioural support

team or work within schools.

Outcome Number of CAFs 2011

Multi-agency Response

231 Specialist Service 3 Children’s Social Care *

28 CAMHS * 29 Single agency response

31 No further action 2

Table to show outcomes for CAFs undertaken April 2011 – March 2012

*New category from October 2010 4.10 There is a close working relationship and dialogue between the CAF Co-

ordinator and the Duty and Assessment Team to ensure appropriate assessments are directed to CSC and others are supported at the targeted level. There have also been consultation sessions undertaken by Children’s


Social Care and the CAF Co-ordinator to increase awareness of practitioners in respect of thresholds.

4.11 CAFs by gender and reason – it is noted that 64% of the assessments have

been undertaken on boys [this proportion of males to females is consistent across the country]. From year to year the proportion of girls to boys who have been the focus of a CAF assessment has approximately remained around one third girls to two thirds boys. However this year there has been a slight increase in the percentage of assessments carried out with females.

Reason for CAF Female Male Total

Behaviour 36 97 133 Development / Learning Delay 5 8 13

Educational Concerns 8 22 30 Emotional Distress 24 29 53 Family Conflict 6 3 09 Health Concerns 9 9 18 Parenting Capacity 9 14 23 Poverty Low Income 2 1 03 School Attendance 8 7 15 Social Inclusion 2 - 02

Speech and Language Problems 1 6 07 Other 6 12 18

TOTALS 116 208 324 Table to show main reasons for CAF from April 2011 until March 2012

4.12 Behaviour remains the predominant reason stated for undertaking the

assessment. This year emotional wellbeing issues have again increased. Educational concerns remain consistent as one of the main reasons for undertaking a CAF.

4.13 This year the most common age at which children are currently assessed

(modal value) is 5 closely followed by ages 6 and 7 years. The most common age at which children are assessed is now younger and this is also in keeping with the fact that Primary Schools are the main initiators of a CAF. The peak ages are between 5 years and 8 years with a further peak between the ages of 10 years and 14 years. This again highlights the needs of children at points of transition. For children under statutory school age the most common age for a child to be the focus of a CAF assessment is 2 years.


5. CAF DEVELOPMENT WORK 5.1 The key areas for development were:

1. The form itself to aid better assessment ( O & S Recommendations 8, 12, 13, 14 and 15)

2. The review process following CAF completion (O & S Recommendation 14)

3. Reviewing training content and materials (Learning from Serious Case Review Child B)

4. Developing materials for involving the child/young person more in the process (Learning from the Serious Case Review Child B)

5. To produce a toolkit to assist the undertaking of assessments 6. Involving young people in discussion about ongoing developments of the

CAF process

The consultation process 5.2 In the past six months there has been a considerable amount of consultation

to find out how professionals used and understood the CAF process with the view to help all professionals in their work improve outcomes for vulnerable children and young people (O & S recommendation 3).

5.3 22 agencies have been interviewed and asked about the process. All schools

were invited to participate. At present the following groups/representatives have been seen:

Agency Personnel seen Date Infant and Primary schools Sandy Lane Head, SENCO and FSA 4.10.11 Binfield SENCO and FSA 6.10.11 Meadowvale FSA 10.10.11 Holly Spring Infants Head 10/10.11 Holly Spring Junior SENCO and FSA 29.11.11 The Pines FSA 2.12.11 Harmanswater Deputy Head and FSA 14.12.11 Warfield SENCO 27.02.12 Ascot Heath Infants FSA 01.03.12 Secondary Schools Sandhurst FSA 5. 10. 11 Garth Hill College Senior Teacher 11.10.11 Brakenhale AHT, FSA and admin support 16.11.11 Edgbarrow AHT and Student Support 25.11.11 Ranelagh AHT 28.11.11 Easthampstead Park Director of Learning and Deputy 01.12.11 Special Schools Kennel Lane SENCO and FSA 22.11.11 College Hall Ruari Hignall -Student Support 06.01.12 Youth work and clubs Kerith Head of Youth work and CPLO 10/01.12 The Wayz Youth Lead worker 08.02.12


Access and Inclusion BST BST lead and co workers 02.12.11 Early Years Cherry Hall 08.12.11 Family Intervention Gill Keeling 16.03.12

5.4 Each agency was encouraged to talk about:

• What they found helpful in the process and any barriers they found to the process.

• Training needs and what they required for training. • The impact on the families they had worked with. • Any suggestions they had to improve the early intervention process. • Child friendly materials to engage children and young people more fully in

the process. • The introduction of a family CAF (as requested by primary schools and

FIP). • The review process- opinions were sought on a variety of templates. • The role of the Lead Professional.

5.5 The following strengths of the process were common to all agencies:

• A holistic assessment. • It opens up discussion with those responsible for the care of the child or

young person. • The discussion is focussed. • Identifies strengths in the family and can focus on these. • Encourages a realisation for parents that action is necessary • Accountability. • Builds relationships between the agency and the young person and their

family. • Encourages parents to take responsibility. • Encourages families to listen to each other.

5.6 The following barriers to the process were common to all agencies:

• The time it takes to complete the assessment. • The problem with getting a rapid response from other agencies when a

need is perceived. • Raises expectations amongst families. • The amount of work the process can create. • Not automatically discussed at transition phases. • A lack of feedback when referral is made to other agencies.


5.7 Current Responses to the barriers identified by practitioners.

• Materials are being produced to encourage the involvement of children and young people. These have been shown to some agencies and shared in training, and with a group of young people.

• Training content has been updated and includes guidance on how to respond to/ask difficult questions, examples of CAF and child friendly materials.

• The response from 40 (at time of report) professionals attending the training has been very positive and evaluations reflect this.

• All schools visited agreed to make CAF a topic when transition meetings take place. This will aid information sharing.

• Steps are being taken to ensure all agencies are aware of and utilise voluntary agencies in any process that helps young people and are willing to attend meetings and give reports.

• The review process is addressed through training and good practice examples are being shared with practitioners. Review reminders are being sent out by the CAF Co-ordinator.

• Training and visits to practitioners / agencies stress that CAF is an assessment not a referral form.

• Time to complete the assessment can be reduced by using all information that has been previously collected, also when good ground work is carried out using the pre-CAF form.

• Targeted school based training sessions given to reach more pastoral staff. At present delivered to Ranelagh and The Brakenhale Schools

• Reviewing the CAF form to ensure it is relevant to needs in Bracknell Forest Assessment including a review form.

• A toolkit developed to aid practitioners with the process including materials to: - support the engagement of children and young people in the assessment process, - assist practitioners to complete the CAF form - aid review, track progress and support evaluation including a resource designed by young people (O & S recommendation 12)

5.8 Revising the forms CAF and CAF Review

During the consultation there was also a discussion about the CAF and CAF Review forms in line with the recommendation from overview and scrutiny working group. Recommendations 3, 8

However it is to be noted that the CAF form itself was not presented as a barrier by the schools or agencies taking part in the consultation. It is also to be noted that other areas have indicated their commitment to remain true to the idea of a “common” assessment supported by a “common” or recognisable form.

Changes have been made to the CAF form and the Review form as a result of consultation, recommendations from O&S and also researching other forms in other areas as noted below:


CAF Form - Further boxes added to indicate the confidential nature of forms - Note added regarding the form evidencing a holistic assessment - Note added as a reminder to include strengths and needs - Tick box to easily identify areas of need - Detailed notes taken away leaving general sub heading as some

practitioners found detail distracting

Review form - Amalgamated the key features from the most popular templates shown and

discussed during consultation - Standardised form - Key information included - Box to note change of Lead professional – also in line with O & S

recommendation 13 - Tick box table to summarise some common outcomes to ease use and

collection of data such as: CAF closed/CAF escalated to Level 3/ CAF to ICP/Team around child meeting to be called/Child moved out of area

Other areas of the consultation for comment and development

5.9 The Introduction of a Family CAF

This was requested by three primary schools who felt that having one document for a family was less time consuming and all information was kept in one place.

Outcomes from discussion and practice:

• All agencies visited liked the idea of a family CAF and several schools

have agreed to use this and give feedback. • A Family CAF was researched and a Bracknell Forest version developed

for trial. • It does raise questions about the practical use especially when requiring

cooperation between several agencies and practitioners from both Children and Families and Adult Services

• A Team around the Child/Family could be the way forward when using the family CAF and is already in evidence in a lot of cases at present when more than one agency is involved in the process although it is not formally recognised as a TAC/TAF.

• The Lead Professional role will be vital in this process to ensure that reviews are undertaken and reports gathered from all agencies involved with the family.

5.10 Observations on the role of the FSA and support staff in schools:

• Where schools have an FSA or a Family Support Worker dealing with families the Early Intervention process works very well and better outcomes for young people are achieved. The FSA is the first point of contact with the parent and a relationship is established.

• The FSA/Family Support Worker can and does cut down on the time element that professionals identified as a problem.


• The availability of funding in schools is a major factor in sustaining this role but it is a necessary one if the early intervention process is to be successful and embedded in an agency. School staff identified that they would be better able to manage the process and help more children/young people with additional administration support.

• The FSA role worked at its best when full cooperation and trust were in evidence such as observed at Meadowvale School and Edgbarrow School. These were both excellent examples of teaching and support staff working well on early intervention for the benefit of children and young people. Both schools report improved outcomes when a CAF is undertaken and managed well. ( same conclusion reported in LARC 2)

5.11 Consultation with young people on CAF process

A group of young people at Garth Hill College agreed to look at materials and the CAF process. They are at present working on the form itself and young people friendly materials. Consultation with the Youth Council who designed a resource for teenagers to support their involvement in the assessment process A group at The Wayz are looking at the leaflet for young people, which outlines the CAF process with a view to making the leaflet more child/young person friendly.

5.12 Future planned consultation to aid development:

• To engage a group of Year 6 pupils at the end of the summer term. • To talk to a group of young people that have been subject to a CAF and

gain their views on the process • To further gather the views of parents who have been involved in the

process • To include other agencies in the consultation process and other

representatives of the voluntary sector. • Special schools in other areas to identify how CAF is used • Visit to other local authorities to look for common usage to aid

practitioners in Bracknell Forest- publish names of CAF Coordinators in other authorities

6. WEB RESOURCES 6.1 A page on the Bracknell Forest web site has been developed to provide

information to both members of the public and practitioners about the CAF. In addition to general information the forms can be accessed alongside a range of tools and information to support the process, including a process map, templates for meetings, tips for lead professionals etc. This information is in the process of being updated and we are exploring the possibility of having web based versions of the updated forms. Once approved it is envisaged that the toolkit will also be available to practitioners on line. http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/living/liv-change-for-children/learn-common-assessment-framework.htm


7 REVIEWS 7.1 We carried out an audit which looked at the number of reviews being

undertaken. The audit found that in 2010 a small number of reviews were being completed. As a result it was identified that more needed to be done to support practitioners with review documentation and to emphasise the importance of reviews in training. Further information concerning reviews has been added to the training, and review materials have been sent out to all the main Lead Professionals, schools, Family Support Advisers, SENCOs etc.

7.2 From October 2010 we have been able to have a further category of Reviews

added to the ONE system and the facility to log an expected date for review and to keep the review active in order to support reminders to practitioners.

7.3 There has been a steady increase in the number of reviews being

undertaken, with only 50 recorded from April 2010 to December 2010, 78 reviews had been logged as active since October 2010. Between April 2011 and March 2012, 213 reviews have been completed and a further 422 reviews have been logged and are ongoing/active. Further support has been offered to agencies to support the review process.

7.4 In summer of this year (2011) letters were sent to all Lead Professionals in

respect of reviews outstanding this resulted in further reviews being received and a number of practitioners providing interim updates and creating tables to track their own review processes.

7.5 Most CAF assessments are reviewed more than once before the child’s

needs are supported sufficiently for them to return to universal services provision.

See also ICP changes which have been implemented to support the review process.

7.6 Some agencies, in particular secondary schools use family support meetings

to complete and review the CAF with the family and young person. Other agencies particularly Primary Schools have developed their own template for multi-agency meetings in order to complete the assessment and review the action plan as agreed within the CAF process. Often a Team Around the Child Meeting will form part of the CAF or CAF review process.

8. INTEGRATED CARE PATHWAYS 8.1 The Integrated Care Pathway for under 11s is the forum in which the majority

of CAFs for this age group are discussed and reviewed. This route is appropriate as many children within this age group present with behavioural/ or emotional issues.

8.2 The Behaviour Support Team has worked very closely with the CAF

Coordinator in supporting the use of the CAF. A multi-agency Primary ICP meeting takes place fortnightly during school term time and the CAF Co-ordinator attends these meetings.

8.3 The CAF Coordinator has also attended the 11-16 Integrated Pathways

meeting to obtain feedback as to the use of CAF and to observe on an


occasion when two Common Assessments were presented. Referrals to this group are predominantly made using the ICP referral form, particularly where cases are more complex. Some referrals are enabled through the Common Assessment and agencies in attendance were happy to accept the CAF if it was identified that there was a need for their support.

8.4 November 2010 saw launch of the CHILD Pathway (Children’s Holistic

Integrated Learning and Development Pathway. Early Years and the CAF Co-ordinator worked closely with the community paediatricians, and the Margaret Wells Furby Centre to establish this multi-agency forum. The CHILD Pathway built on the existing Margaret Wells Furby management meeting in order to look holistically at the assessments and referrals for the 0-5 age group and to provide appropriate support for each child.

8.5 Within the Primary ICP Lead professionals are now recorded and a review

date incorporated into the actions plan in order to monitor progress and tighten the process.

8.6 The Secondary ICP has worked with the LSCB Business Manager to

encourage the use of the CAF as the assessment prior to referral and to include a review process. Young people’s progress is able to be brought back to the ICP and the support and actions reviewed to ensure support is relevant to any ongoing or newly identified needs.

9. CROSS BORDER ISSUES 9.1 The CAF Coordinator has been meeting regularly with CAF colleagues across

Berkshire. These meeting have enabled closer working on cross border issues, and have enabled the sharing of practice and information. Each area has adopted a slightly different approach to the CAF and it is therefore important to ensure a clear understanding and establish clear protocols to support cross border working. This year a representative from Oxford has also joined the meeting.

9.2 Between April 2011 and March 2012 there have been 41 communications

between the relevant CAF co-ordinators and the practitioners supporting the child regarding CAFs involving cross border issues. The majority of these have involved children living in Bracknell and being educated in Reading or Wokingham. Other checks have been made to obtain previous CAFs made with children who have moved to our area. Liaison has also taken place with Surrey, Devon, Sussex, Oxfordshire and Bradford. Within the CAF Cross Berkshire Networking meeting statistics are also shared with Bracknell Forest Council and partners completing more assessments per head of the child population that any other area within Berkshire.

10. CAF TRAINING 10.1 When the CAF training was originally developed it was designed to ensure

people fully understood the context of CAF, where it sat in relation to prevention and early intervention and how it supported integrated working. There was also an element of having to “sell” the concept to practitioners. Over time it has become less necessary to “sell” the CAF as people are coming to training more aware and informed. Taking this into account a


review of the training was undertaken in 2010 and the materials revised to make them fit for purpose.

10.2. In response to the outcome and recommendations of the Serious Case

Review and recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Working Group on the Common Assessment Framework, the training sessions were updated again this year. We continue to stress the qualities of good assessment; the use of observations, the importance of information sharing and accuracy and the division of opinion, view point and facts and attributing these to their source.

In addition the training contains: • A session on the importance of involving children and young people in the

assessment process and supporting resources • An activity around asking open questions and looking at some of the

assessment areas that may be considered more sensitive • Examples of CAFs and CAF Reviews which have been completed in

order to critic the information and assessments. 10.3 Following on from individual meetings with schools; discussions with Head

Teachers, SENCOs, FSAs and other pastoral care staff and lead professionals the CAF in practice training was further updated to include more activities and examples of CAFs and CAFs Reviews. The training was also extended to accommodate the additional activities.

10.4 The training now includes a session to address the difficulty some individuals

expressed in covering certain aspects of the assessment, such as finance. This included helping practitioners to think about how they would ask difficult questions during the assessment.

10.5 Training is also used as a further opportunity to reiterate that the CAF is not a

checklist but a holistic assessment. The focus is around the areas of strength or needs of an individual child this means that not all areas of the form have to be completed and that open questions can be asked considering the impact of areas of a child’s life and environment on their progress. For example we are not interested in what a family earns their income or benefits received. What would be relevant is a discussion with the family as to whether there are areas which affect the parent’s ability to cope or manage their child’s behaviour or how they cope if they feel the environment is causing pressure or impacting on their emotions and ability to provide for their child.

10.6 The new training for both CAF in Practice and Assessment Skills for CAF has

been delivered a number of times and has been highly evaluated by practitioners attending. The Assessment Skills for CAF course looks in more depth at assessment skills and aims to provide practitioners with knowledge and skills about different assessment tools and to discuss more complex issues around good quality assessment.

10.7 Attendance at the training has been good, with a wide range of agencies /

practitioners including Family Support Advisers, Health Visitors, SENCO’s Early Years Workers, Youth Service, Connexions, Voluntary/Charity Workers, Police, and practitioners involved in the Family Intervention and Parenting Early Intervention Programmes. Between April 2011 and March 2012 116 practitioners attended the training.


Evaluation of Training:

10.8 CAF in Practice - 98.5% of participants rated the training excellent to good feeling that they strongly agreed or agreed that objectives had been met.

Assessment Skills for CAF - 98% rated training as excellent with a further 2% rated it as good and again 98% of participants strongly agreed that the training had met the objectives and was clear, knowledgeable and was responsive to participants needs.

Examples of other comments are: CAF in Practice “Excellent knowledge, very informative” “Informative, learnt new skills” All the course was relevant Best part – Looking at CAF Examples CAF is for Early Intervention Examples session very useful

Assessment Skills for CAF Case studies very good Assessment practice good and review Including children session very useful Sensitive question session was useful All very good

10.9 The Workforce Development Group continues to support funding for CAF

Training this year which has meant further multi-agency training can be offered free; thus supporting integrated working and quality assessments. Venues and dates have been arranged for the forthcoming year.

10.10 Practitioners who have undertaken a number of CAFs were approached to

ask if they would support CAF training. A number of practitioners from Education, Early Years and Health have offered their support if time permits. Currently the training is supported/co-facilitated by Kay Robinson, previously Child Protection Lead and Senior Teacher at Garth Hill College. Kay’s input has been evaluated as very successful. Additional offers of support from Family Outreach and, Secondary school personnel are being explored. The input from those more experienced in carrying out CAF assessments and the lead professional role is helpful in engaging practitioners and providing examples of good practice.

Additional Targeted Workshops and Training Delivered: 10.11 Whilst practitioners are encouraged to attend the multi-agency training, it is

also possible to deliver more targeted workshops and training for specific services or professional groups. Some examples of these in the past year are;

• Kennel Lane School to support staff to chair practitioners meeting. • Child Minders. • Senior Management Teams at schools to discuss particular aspects of

process – cases • Primary Heads Meeting • Individual schools Binfield, Sandhurst, Easthampstead Community

School, Garth Hill College, The Brakenhale and Ranelagh regarding transition


• Ranelagh and The Brakenhale – Training sessions • LSCB Forum • Joint CSC/CAF Co-ordinator consultations with schools • CSC Senior Management Team

11. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT CAF 11.1 Presently the CAF process is supported by the One System (formerly named

the Education Management System). Basic CAF details are stored on the Children’s Support Service component of the system, with all CAF assessments scanned and attached securely to the child’s record. In a national context the Government have decided not to progress the development of a national e-CAF solution and it is now down to each local authority to consider whether this is relevant and appropriate to pursue at a local level.

12. MAIN AREAS OF PROGRESS • Continued participation in the CHILD Pathway for children 0-5 years • ICP procedures reviewed and common data set agreed. Reports from all

ICPs delivered at Shared Processes meetings. • CHILD Pathway and Primary ICP – transition arrangements agreed • A further adaptation of training in response to LSCB, O&S and consultation. • Consultation with a number of schools and agencies to ascertain the

strengths and barriers to undertaking holistic assessments • Gathering information from practitioners in order to develop additional

supporting material and review the process and documentation. • Adaptation of the CAF form in line with feedback while retaining the essentials

for a holistic assessment • New Review form taking the most popular features from a number of

templates • Agreement to Pilot the Family CAF from a small group of schools • Supporting the review process through reminder letters

13. SUMMARY 13.1 The number of CAFs undertaken has remained high. Agencies working with

the 11+ age group are also undertaking a higher proportion of CAFs than in the past and this year more CAFs have been completed with younger children.

13.2 There has been a marked increase in the number of reviews received and

recorded. This reflects the work undertaken through consultation, the emphasis on reviews during training and the supporting materials developed.

13.3 An increasing amount of time has been spent working in a consultative

capacity across services/agencies either; offering advice and guidance to professionals considering as CAF for a child or young person, supporting the assessments of needs and risk and the level of appropriate intervention as well as identifying relevant resources.


13.4 The Consultation work enabled through the Development Worker has been invaluable. The visits have raised the CAF profile as evidenced by the increased attendance at training and the desire for ‘in house‘ training sessions. All have agreed that early intervention is vital and that the CAF process is a tool to aid this.

13.5 The development and consultation work has resulted in a number of

resources being produced which can support practitioners to undertake the CAF process with the children and families they are working with.

13.6 Having the opportunity to spend time consulting with young people has also

resulted in the development of a new tool for use with secondary school children and input of their views on the scaling tool and within training. In addition the visits to schools and agencies has allowed for clarification, discussion of barriers and strengths of the process resulting in new training, and the CAF form and review forms being updated in line with practitioners comments and views.

13.7 While practitioners request the family CAF those piloting it and using the draft

Family CAF have reported that it works well when they are already working with more than one child in the family for example where two children are attending Primary School or a Health Visitor is working with a parent or parents who have more than one child under 5 however it is much more complicated when the needs identified cover both children of different age groups and adults. Practitioners have also reported that it is very time consuming.

13.8 There is not an easily definable route for addressing all of the action plans

through the Integrated Care Pathway meetings which have a focus on children of particular age groups and agencies that support them. If the Family CAF was more widely used it would seem that either the multi-agency forums would need to be reviewed or Bracknell Forest would have to develop resources and a new approach which favoured the Team Around the Family Model. This would be a significant change for most practitioners. The family CAF does however seem to work well for practitioners who are currently working with more than one child within their remit.

13.9 Adaptations and changes in training have proved to be evaluated highly with

the majority of participants commenting they were useful, informative and helpful. The new activities including involving young people, asking sensitive questions, and looking at actual CAF examples were particularly mentioned as good.

14 PRIORITY ACTIONS FOR 2012 / 13 14.1 It is important to note that in order to further progress the development of CAF

within an overarching approach to prevention and early intervention there will be an impact on available CAF resource. As noted the numbers of CAF completions remains high, and the impact of ensuring the wider processes are linked in to and effectively integrate with CAF [such as reviews, and the Integrated Care Pathways model]. The present resource is one full time CAF Coordinator which will need to be reviewed in light of moving these areas of work forward in the coming year. The CAF Development Worker identified


earlier in this report was not a permanent post is not an ongoing CAF resource.

• Seek additional resources to ensure that CAF developments can be

achieved in the coming year. • The updated CAF form and CAF review form to continue to be monitored

and feedback sought in order to remain responsive to feedback. • Using the updated forms revised in light of the Overview and Scrutiny

comments and also the consultation with schools and agencies investigate the possibility of adapting these as web based forms to further aid inputting.

• Young People to redesign the leaflet which explains the CAF process to other young people.

• To continue to support the review format through reminders and to develop further templates to assist this process.

• To agree further categories within the ONE system in order to gather data to support the LSCB categories and Bracknell Forest Council Priorities including looking at elements of Domestic Abuse, neglect and substance misuse. Also to develop a “self” audit tool to record aspects of the CAF such as the involvement of significant males in the assessment process.

• To gather feedback on the pilot of the Family CAF. • Training to include CAF Awareness session with School Governors. • To hold an events/workshop to invite major participants in the CAF

process to consider the different models which support Early Intervention and quality assessment such as Team Around the Child/Family and Multi – agency forums and to discuss implications to process changes including the Family CAF/Single Agency Request form.

• To produce and use an audit tool based on present checklist to sample and audit CAFs.

Debbie Greatrex Common Assessment Framework Co-ordinator [email protected] Kay Robinson Common Assessment Framework Development Worker [email protected]

Documents

COMMON ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK ANNUAL REPORTdemocratic.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/documents/s54981... · 2012. 7. 13. · The Common Assessment Framework was introduced to Bracknell Forest