Continuum of needs to support the Common Assessment

The CAF will promote more effective, earlier identification of additional needs particularly in universal services. It is intended to provide a simple process for a holistic assessment of children's needs and strengths taking account of the role of parents, carers and environmental factors on their development.

In undertaking a common assessment, practitioners will need to consider three themes or ‘domains’:

• How well a child is developing, including their health and progress in learning
• How well parents or carers are able to support their child’s development and respond appropriately to any needs
• The impact of wider family and environmental elements on the child’s development and on the capacity of their parents and carers.

Within each of these domains practitioners need to consider the elements defined below.

Domain 1-Development of Child

The development of the child/young person, including their health and progress in learning is assessed through considering the following elements:

Health

• General health - How far the child or young person appears healthy and well, is growing and developing normally and is accessing health services (such as GP, dentist or optician) appropriate to their age
• Physical development - How far the child or young person’s physical skills seem to be developing normally for their age, for example; whether they are crawling, walking and running as expected and whether their vision and hearing seems normal
• Speech, language and communications development - How far for their age the child or young person seems able and willing to speak, communicate, read and write, and express their feelings.

Emotional and Social Development

• How well the child or young person copes with everyday life, their disposition, attitudes and temperament, any phobias or psychological difficulties.

Behavioural Development

• How well behaved the child or young person is and if they display any anti-social or aggressive behaviour.

Identity, including Self-Esteem, Self-Image and Social Presentation

• How far the child seems to be developing the right measure of confidence and self-assurance, and how far they have a sense of belonging.

Family and Social Relationships

• How far the child or young person is building stable and affectionate relationships with others, including family, peers and the wider community.

Self-Care Skills and Independence

• How independent the child or young person is for their age - how far they can do routine tasks for themselves and make their own decisions.

Learning

• Understanding, reasoning and problem solving - how well for their age the child or young person is able to understand and organise information, reason and solve problems
• Participation in learning, education and employment – how far the child or young person is engaged in and attending learning appropriate to their age, whether through play, early year’s settings, school or college/employment
• Progress and achievement in learning - the child or young person’s educational achievements and progress, including ability to read and write, compared with what would normally be expected from someone of their age
• Aspirations - the ambitions of the child or young person, whether their aspirations are realistic and whether they are able to plan how to meet them.

Threshold definitions and guidance:

Child's development needs pre-birth ( 169kb)

Child's development needs 0-7 ( 96kb)

Child's development needs 8-13 ( 202kb)

Child's/young person's development needs 14-19 ( 92kb)

Domain 2-Parents and Carers

How well parents or carers are able to support their child’s development and respond appropriately to their needs is assessed through considering the following elements:

Basic Care, Ensuring Safety and Protection

• The extent to which the child or young person’s physical needs are met and they are protected from harm or danger, including self-harm.

Emotional Warmth and Stability

• Provision of emotional warmth in a stable family environment, giving the child or young person a sense of being valued.

Guidance, Boundaries and Stimulation

• Enabling the child or young person to regulate their own emotions and behaviour while promoting the child or young person’s learning and intellectual development through encouragement and stimulation and promoting social opportunities.

Threshold definitions and guidance:

Parents and carers ( 63kb)

Domain 3-Family and Environmental Factors

The impact of wider family and environmental elements on the child's development and on the capacity of their parents and carers is assessed through the following elements:

Family History, Functioning and Well-Being

• Who lives in the household and how they relate to the child, including any changes since the child's birth; family routines; and anything about the family history, such as family breakdown, illnesses (physical or mental) or problems with alcohol or other substances that are having an impact on the child's development.

Wider Family

• Whether there is an appropriate level of support for the child, young person or parents/carers from relatives and others.

Housing, Employment and Financial Considerations

• Whether the accommodation has everything needed for living safely and healthily
• Who is working in the household, the pattern of their work and any changes?
• What is the income available over a sustained period of time?

Social and Community Elements and Resources, including education

• Impact of the child/young person of local area, including crime levels, availability and quality of shops, schools/colleges, etc. This includes how well the child/young person fits in with neighbours, friends and others.

Threshold definitions and guidance:

Family and environmental factors ( 191kb)

Risk, Resilience and Protective Factors

Having assessed the elements the practitioner needs to use their professional judgement to consider the level of need against the continuum of needs (windscreen) within the context of risk, resilience and protective factors.

Use of the CAF does not mean that each element needs to be assessed to the same level of detail or that the elements should be followed mechanistically. Practitioners should always consider the possibility of needs and strengths within each element using the 'windscreen' to indicate the level of need. The level of detail and the questions asked will vary according to the child's circumstances and the skills and knowledge of the practitioner. It will not always be appropriate for practitioners to assess all areas but they should consider the whole child, not just their own agency focus. As with other frameworks, CAF relies on practitioner judgement and will only work if practitioners use it as a tool to support practice rather than as an administrative process.

The CAF does not change the statutory obligations of agencies.

Threshold definitions and guidance:

Risk, Resilience and Protective Factors ( 55kb)

Threshold Definitions and Guidance

Sunderland has issued these guidelines to support practitioners when completing the Common Assessment and to develop a common language to define levels of need across the 'Windscreen' continuum of need.

These are guidelines only and do not replace professional judgement.