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1.1
RECOGNISE NEED

When you have recognised need(s) you should refer to the Threshold Definitions and Guidance, to help you determine the level of the need(s) that you have identified.

1.2
CONSIDER PROCEDURES FOR CHILDREN IN NEED, SUFFERING HARM OR AT RISK OF HARM

If you believe that a child is in need, suffering harm or is at risk of harm, then you should follow the safeguarding children procedures.
If you are not sure then you should speak with your line manager.

The Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board procedures can be found on the Children’s Trust website at: www.sunderlandchildrenstrust.org.uk/profs-safeguardboard-procedures.asp

2.1
TALK TO THE CHILD/YOUNG PERSON/PARENT ABOUT THEIR ADDITIONAL NEEDS

When you have recognised a need that should be supported, you should speak with a child/young person and/or their parents. At this stage you do not need parental consent but it may be useful to secure consent at this early stage. See guidance below.
You should explain

• Why you want to talk with them
• What the CAF process is. Be clear that they will at the centre of the process, which will support them in a way that they want to be supported
• Show them a copy of the consent form
• What the pre-assessment checklist is. Be clear that you would like to complete a pre-assessment checklist and that you would like them to contribute towards it
• What the Common Assessment is. Be clear that you do not want to complete a Common Assessment but explain where it fits as part of the whole CAF process
• What happens next. Be clear about what you can do [2.4 2.5 2.6 3.1]

You can

• Talk about the strengths and the needs that you have identified
• Talk about the strengths and needs that they can identify

When talking with a child/young person and/or parent, you should

• Be open and honest
• Be clear that you, just like a parent, want to ensure a child/young persons needs are met and that they receive the best possible support
• Be easy to understand
• Always use positive language
• Spend enough time with them to ensure they understand
• Try to give the child/young person and/or parent ownership of what is happening

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2.2
DO A PRE-ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

The pre-assessment checklist aims to identify key strengths and needs, to assist you to determine what action to take, to support a child/young person.

Your own agency may have a tool that is able to meet the requirements of the pre-assessment checklist. If so, then you can use this tool.

Ideally a pre-assessment checklist will be completed with the child, young person and/or parents. Ideally a pre-assessment checklist will be completed with a signed consent, but you do not need this to complete the checklist.

Guidance is available to assist you determine whether it is appropriate to speak with a young person, without a parent present. Guidance on this can be found at 2.1.

When completing the checklist, you should

• Try to give the child, young person and/or parent ownership of the pre-assessment checklist
• Think about where (location) to complete the checklist. If this is with the family, ask them where they would like to complete it
• Spend as much time as is needed to complete the checklist
• Be sensitive
• Ensure everyone that is contributing towards the checklist sees what is recorded

You should use the Threshold Definitions and Guidance to help assist you in determining what level of needs the child / young person has, and how best these needs can be me

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2.3
STOP AND THINK

Using the pre-assessment checklist you should think about what sort of support a child/young person and their family needs. You should stop and think about who might be involved and what action to take.

You can speak with the CAF Coordinator who can give you some information about whether a Common Assessment is active or if a Common Assessment has been completed recently.

You can speak with your local CAF Champion or your line manager, if you have any queries.

You should speak with your line manager and ask:

• Do you fully understand the needs of the child/young person?
• Can a single agency support and respond to the needs of the child/young person?

You should use your own judgement to determine what to do next. As a guide, if you answered yes to these questions and a Common Assessment is NOT active or has NOT recently been completed then a mix of the following options are available to you.

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2.4
SIGNPOST DIRECT TO SERVICES

You should signpost a family direct to services when they are capable of accessing services without your support.

You should

• Think about what type of services will be able to support the child/young person and their needs. See guidance below for information on the resources you can use to find out about what services exist
• Provide as much information as possible to the child/young person and/or parent about what they can access, eg leaflets and your own knowledge
• Make suggestions as to what services they should access

It is good practice for you to offer further support and make sure they have your contact details.

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2.5
SINGLE AGENCY REFERRAL

You should refer a family to another service when that service can better meet the needs than yourself.

You should

• Think about what services will be able to support the child/young person and their needs. See 2.4 for information on the resources you can use to find out about what services exist
• Explain to the child/young person and/or parent what services may be able to support them. And provide as much information as possible to the child/young person and/or parent about what they can access. Eg leaflets.
• Make a referral to the appropriate service(s).

It is good practice for you to

• Offer further support and make sure they have your contact details.
  

2.6
SINGLE AGENCY ACTION

You should deliver support to a family when you feel you are able to meet their needs.

You should explain what support you can offer. You should give information about

• Who will work with the child/young person (it might not be yourself, but your agency)
• What work they will do
• How often they will meet and for how long
• What the expected outcomes will be

You should explain that at the end of this intervention, you will review the child/young persons needs.

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If you feel needs have changed or are not being met by the intervention, and you need to review and/or take further advice, it may be appropriate to consider the Common Assessment (CA). You should refer to the threshold document, Document 1.

You should explain what the CA is, what will happen next and how the child, young person and/or parent will be involved.

Ideally, you will already have received consent to go through the whole of the CAF process. For guidance see 2.1

You should explain

What the Common Assessment is and why it is being considered: A positive tool that will look at the child/young persons strengths and needs, and that with

• multiple practitioners involved, together you will be able to design a programme of support that will better meet the child/young persons needs
• who will be involved
• how the Common Assessment will be completed

When talking with the child/young person/parent remember to

• be open and honest
• be clear that you, just like a parent, want to ensure a child/young persons needs are met and that they receive the best possible support
• be easy to understand
• always use positive language
• spend enough time with them to ensure they understand
• try to give the child/young person and/or parent ownership of what is happening

2.7
NO FURTHER ACTION

You are now no longer supporting the child/young person and family.
You are confident the needs of the child/young person have been met, or are being met by another service.

You can destroy the pre-assessment checklist and related paperwork – if you choose to.

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3.1
PROCEED WITH THE COMMON ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK PROCESS

You should proceed with the CAF process when

• a child/young person’s needs are not being met from existing support
• you believe multi-agency support is required

You must have consent to proceed beyond this stage of the CAF process. If you do not have consent, see guidance at section 2.1.

You should speak with the CAF Coordinator who can tell you whether a Common Assessment is active or if a Common Assessment has been completed recently.

Having determined the status of a Common Assessment, you should speak with your local CAF Champion or your line manager.

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3.2
SHARE INFORMATION WITH AN ACTIVE CA

When a Common Assessment (CA) is active this means

• a CAF Form has been completed
• a discussion between practitioners has taken place about the child/young person’s needs
• a Lead Practitioner has been assigned
• coordinated provision is being delivered

You can now become involved by sharing information with the active CA. To do this

• you should contact the Lead Practitioner to discuss the needs of the child/young person and the support they are receiving
• your name will be added to the list of practitioners involved in contributing towards the Common Assessment. This information will be held by the CAF Coordinator

As the CAF revolves around a fluid process there are a number of actions that can follow this discussion. These could be:

• the Common Assessment may be updated with the information you provide
• a multi-agency planning meeting may be called
• multi-agency discussions may take place
• you may be invited to participate in future multi-agency meetings / discussions

3.3
SHARE INFORMATION WITH A PREVIOUS CA

When a Common Assessment (CA) is previous this means that:

• a CAF Form has been completed and the assessment has been closed
• coordinated provision has been delivered to meet the needs identified at the time

You can now become involved by sharing information with a previous Common Assessment.

You should contact the individual that was assigned as the Lead Practitioner to discuss the needs of the child/young person.

As a result of this discussion the recent Common Assessment will be reactivated. The CAF Coordinator holds central records about the Common Assessment. The Lead Practitioner should:

• inform the CAF Coordinator that the CA has been reactivated
• request your name to be added to the list of practitioners involved in contributing towards the Common Assessment.

As the CAF revolves around a fluid process there are a number of actions that might follow this discussion. These could be:

• the Common Assessment may be updated with the information you provide
• a multi-agency planning meeting may be called
• a multi-agency discussions may take place
• you may be invited to participate in future multi-agency meetings / discussions

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3.4
SHARE INFORMATION AND COMPLETE A CA

When a Common Assessment (CA) is not active or not recent, then you need to initiate a Common Assessment.

You should:

• attempt to find out what other services are supporting the child/young person
• contact the CAF Coordinator, your local CAF Champion or line manager, and agree how to progress the CA

If a multi-agency team around the child planning discussion [3.5] is required, you should contact the services that are currently supporting the child/young person and discuss the needs of the child/young person. You will be assigned the role of Lead Practitioner. With support from the CAF Coordinator you can progress the CA.

If a multi-agency team around the child planning meeting [3.5] is required, you should arrange a meeting and invite the services that are currently supporting the child/young person. Support is available to arrange multi-agency meetings. Please contact the CAF Coordinator for support to do this.

3.5
MULTI-AGENCY TEAM AROUND THE CHILD PLANNING MEETING / DISCUSSION. RECORD AGREED CONCLUSIONS AND ACTIONS

The purpose of a multi-agency planning meeting / discussion is to jointly agree how to best meet the needs of a child/young person and their family by completing a Common Assessment. In some circumstances, this step will be taken as part of an ongoing review of a Common Assessment [From 4.2].

• Multi-agency team around the child planning discussion [3.5] – to discuss the needs of the child/young person and how best to progress the Common Assessment.
  
• Multi-agency team around the child planning meeting [3.5] –a meeting to discuss the needs of the child/young person and to progress the Common Assessment. You will be invited to attend a meeting. Children, young people and/or parents may attend the meeting and the venue should be convenient to enable them to attend.

The output of a multi-agency planning meeting/discussion is to complete a Common Assessment, using a CAF Form. Accompanying guidance is available to help you complete the CAF Form.

At the meeting the CAF Form should be used to record:

• the strengths and needs of the child/young person and family
• the support that a child/young person and family needs
• the actions to ensure that support is delivered
• the name and contact details of the Lead Practitioner who will ensure these actions are achieved

If the child/young person and/or parent(s) are unable to attend then it will be agreed at the meeting who will feedback the outcomes of the meeting to them. This feedback should take place face-to-face.
If any relevant practitioners are not able to attend the meeting/discussion, they will receive details of the outcome of the meeting/discussion.

As a result of the Common Assessment, you will either:

• be assigned as the Lead Practitioner AND delivering a service
• be assigned as the Lead Practitioner AND NOT delivering a service
• be delivering a service
• not be delivering a service

3.6
LP INFORMS CAF RECORDS OF AGREED ACTIONS

A Common Assessment is now underway. A CAF Form has been completed.
The Lead Practitioner should provide the CAF Coordinator with a copy of the CAF Form. CAF Records are held by the CAF Coordinator. The CAF Coordinator will update this central record when a copy of the CAF Form is received.

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4.1
DELIVER AGREED ACTIONS

The CAF Form sets out what actions should be taken to better meet the needs of the child/young person and their family. You should proceed with the actions that you are responsible for.

4.2
MONITOR AND REVIEW PROGRESS

If you are working with a child/young person and/or their family you should continually monitor the progress that is being made.

The CAF Form should be updated as part of the review. The Lead Practitioner (LP) should determine how best to conduct this review.

The LP may ask all those providing a service to provide an update. The LP may use these updates to determine whether another multi-agency meeting / discussion needs to take place. The LP may use other methods to determine how to conduct the review.

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