Frequently Asked Questions
Questions and Answers
How do I get a signature on the electronic CAF?
Those signing the
CAF
should sign a paper copy
which is held on the Lead Professional case file. If you are
sending in the
CAF
electronically you can type in the space where the signature goes
the words ‘signature held on paper copy in file’ and record the
date of the signature.
How do I let the CAF team know about a change of Lead
Professional?
When you change the
LP
at
a review meeting, you can just ad the new
LP
name and details in the appropriate
section of the form. When this is sent in to the
CAF
team, we will pick the
information up from that. If sending in the form electronically you
could always indicate in your email that the
LP
has changed from xxxx to
xxxxxx. If the
LP
is
changing in between meetings, then just let us know by phone or
email who the new
LP
is and
their contact details and we can make the change s on our database.
This means that if another practitioner contacts us about that
child we can let them know who the current
LP
is.
What do I do if a new Lead Professional cannot be
identified?
If you need to withdraw from being the Lead Professional because
your service is no longer involved then the
LP
role should be transferred to one of
the other practitioners involved as part of the Team Around the
child (
TAC
). Any
children’s practitioner can take on the
LP
functions, and you should ask the
views of the parent/young person (age appropriate) who they would
wish to be the
LP
.
These conversations are best held not in a meeting, but a meeting
can confirm the decision made. If there is reluctance
for whatever reason to take on this role, and normal conversations
cannot resolve this, then the matter should be escalated to your
line manger who should discuss with the proposed
LP
’ s manager. The needs of the
child should be borne in mind when considering this and workload
should not generally be seen as a reason not to become the
LP
(unless in extreme
circumstances) as all practitioners are busy people. In time
there will be panels where issues such as this can be taken, and
panel members will decide who is best placed to act as the lead
professional if no one else can.
Can I do a CAF without being CAF trained?
Yes you can in the short term. If you have identified that
a child has additional needs, then that child needs to have an
assessment as soon as possible. You can ask someone in your
agency that has had the
CAF
training to assist you.
You could also contact the
CAF
team who will come out to
talk you through the process and offer you some support to embark
on your first
CAF
.
However, you must book onto the
CAF
training as soon as
possible so that you can benefit from the multi agency
training which will help you put the
CAF
process into context and
give you more detail.
Can I be a Lead professional without doing the Lead
Professional training?
Yes you can. The Lead Professional training is really designed
for practitioners who don’t feel confident enough to take on the
role without a bit more information. The Lead professional
training considers what skills are required – hopefully helping
most people realise that they have the skills necessary. It also
gives information about managing/chairing meetings – which
obviously some people do as port of their day to day work. As a
lead professional you can always ask another member of the
TAC
to chair a meeting
for you, or you could ask your manager to help you. If
you are happy to chair a meeting, you could ask someone else to
take notes – you don’t have to do everything yourself.
What do I do if other professionals don’t turn up for TAC
meetings?
If one of the
TAC
members is unable to make a meeting, then they should be contacting
the
LP
to let them know.
They should be prepared to give a written report in their absence,
or at least give some information verbally that can be shared at
the meeting.
If a practitioner has just not turned up then it would be
acceptable to contact them afterwards to share any relevant
information or decisions made by the meeting in their absence that
may affect them. If one agency is persistently absent then
this should be followed up directly and if necessary escalated
through line management. One manager talking to another manager
often solves the problem. If the problem is not
resolved then your manager can report the situation to
the
CAF
team.
However you must have clear evidence of what has happened and when
and how you have tried to manage this to date.
Where will I find the CAF forms etc?
All
CAF
forms
are downloadable from the CAF team website. Cheshire East
uses the national
CAF
form (we have just added a
Cheshire East logo on the top right hand corner) which were
reissued in July 2009. If you have any copies without the
Cheshire East logo on please don’t use these as they are out of
date. (The old forms are slightly different and we quality assure
on the basis of the 2009 form).
What do I do if the child/young person needs a CAF but
lives in a different Local Authority?
It is fine for you to take on the assessment process. The
CAF
is logged in
the home authority i.e. where the child lives, so you should check
with the local
CAF
team whether a
CAF
is already in place – if so they should be able to put you in touch
with the lead professional so you can liaise with them.
If there is not a
CAF
already in place and you
become the
CAF
author, then you will need to log the
CAF
with that Local Authority
and comply with their
CAF
procedures. Please
refer to the Neighbouring
Local Authorities CAF contact details (PDF, 25.8KB).
How often do I need to have a review of the CAF?
The recommended time gap between reviews is 3 months as advised
in the national guidance ‘The Common Assessment Framework for
children and young people- A guide for practitioners’, March
2010, page 55 (PDF, 2.5MB)) states; ‘It is recommended that a
CAF
episode is
reviewed at least every three months (although this maybe more
frequent and should be decided on a case by case basis)’.
Do I need to do a new common assessment if a child is under a
CAF or had social care involvement?
If there is relevant up to date assessment information from
social care, you will not need to do a common assessment. The
TAC
support under the
CAF
procedures can
be picked up using a multi agency meeting form. This should be
completed at the last review that social care hold, where they
should be preparing for case closure from their point of view
and arranging for an ongoing package of support from a multi
agency group. This should help to prevent (but may not necessarily
do so) a re-referral into Children’s Social Care (
CSC
). Please refer to the
CAF and Children’s Social Care
Pathway (PDF, 44.6KB) which explains this process.
Can a teenager give consent for a CAF without their parents
knowing?
It is presumed in law that a child aged 16 and older will have
sufficient understanding to make their own decision. National
guidance is clear that children aged 12 or over may generally be
expected to have sufficient understanding – and this decision has
to be made on a case by case basis taking the child maturity into
account. However it is recommended that practitioners should always
encourage children under 16 years to involve their parents/carers
as appropriate. For further guidance refer to national
guidance – The Common
Assessment Framework for children and young people pages 60/61
(PDF, 2.5MB).
What do I do if a child’s parents won’t consent to a CAF?
A Common Assessment cannot go ahead without consent from the
child s parents (unless the child themselves is of sufficient age
and understanding and has consented in their own right as above).
You will need to consider whether this leaves the child at greater
risk and if so is a referral into Children’s Social Care justified.
However, there may be alternative ways of dealing with this
situation. Consider whether you have done all you can to ‘sell’ the
CAF
to them – have
they had
CAF
leaflets that explain the purpose of the assessment and give
information about what happens to the information gathered. Is
it worth having another conversation with them or perhaps could
they speak to someone who has already experienced a
CAF
? If the answer is still
no, and you feel the child is not at risk, or the situation
is not meeting the thresholds for social care services, then you
will need to consider how to offer support in a less
structured or formal way. Your work can still carry on but perhaps
in a less coordinated way than you would have liked. You will need
to make sure you record all that you have done with regard to the
CAF
and the
reasons why this has been unable to proceed.
What if only one parent is agreeing to a CAF?
National guidance states that the consent of one parent is
sufficient, so if parents are living separately you should normally
obtain consent from the parent the child is living
with. However each situation is different and you
will need to manage each situation carefully so as not to
exacerbate situations and potentially put people at
risk. For further guidance refer to national guidance –
The Common Assessment Framework for children and young people pages
60/61 (PDF, 2.5MB).
If I have concerns about more than one child in a family do I
have to do a CAF on each child?
It is important to treat each child as an individual as each
child has their own needs and these should be reflected in
individual assessments. Some information may be the same e.g.
the family and environment issues and if completing the
CAF
electronically
time can be saved by using cut and paste. The action plan
created at a review can be joint as long as actions/tasks from each
child are included separately and it is clear to which child they
relate. However it may be that it is not within your remit to work
outside of a certain age range. One way forward would be to
complete a
CAF
on
the child you have most concerns about. Invite people to a multi
agency meeting who are working with other children in the family.
It may then be appropriate for one of those practitioners to
undertake the Common Assessments for other children in the family.
Ideally there should be one
LP
for the family but if, for example
there are big age differences with a wide range of identified
needs, it may be appropriate for two practitioners to jointly
undertake the
LP
role
liaising closely together to ensure continuity for the family and
consistency of advice.
If there is more than one child in a family with a CAF in
place, can we hold joint meetings?
Yes, it is easier for families to come to one meeting rather
than several. It might mean a bit more planning beforehand. For
example if the children are at different schools and have different
professionals involved it might not be appropriate for all the
professionals to be there all the time. The meeting might need be
held in 2 halves with some practitioners leaving half way through
and some joining at the half way point. The parents and LPs may be
present throughout.
If a family has more than one child with a CAF do I need
to be LP for all children?
There is no definitive answer to this although ideally it is
easier for the family to have one Lead professional. However, if
the children are involved with different agencies with no
commonality then it might be sensible to have different Lead
Professionals who work closely together to ensure continuity and
consistency of advice for the family. However it is organised
it is important the child/young person and their family are
comfortable with arrangement and that communication and information
sharing is given a high priority.
Do I have to fill in all the boxes on the CAF - what if they
are not relevant?
All the boxes are relevant to assessing the needs of the child
and the family. However if you think a box is not relevant or you
are unable to complete it then please write in N/A (not applicable)
rather than leave it blank. Remember though that the
child / young person, their parents or other people working with
them may be able to provide you with the appropriate information.
The more information on the assessment then the more likely
identified needs will be met.
How much information do I need to put in the assessment?
You don’t need to write reams. As long as a parent
recognises their own child from the descriptors and a practitioner
who receives the
CAF
can read it and get a
clear sense of the child and his/her needs – what life is like for
them, that is fine. It is better to be succinct than to
write a lot, but say little. A few carefully chosen words can
have far more impact than a lot of waffle! Remember though to
state the facts and to include the views of the child/young person
and parent
Can I hold a Review meeting without the child/young
person/parent/carer being present?
Ideally the parent should be there, and according to their age
the child/young person also. The whole
CAF
process is based on
consent and the willingness of the family to take part in the
discussions and action planning, and their participation is
crucial. If you have arranged a meeting and the parent does
not turn up unexpectedly, then you should try to contact them to
see what has happened. You will need to consider whether to have a
professionals meeting (if you have a number of practitioners who
have arrived – they might find this useful). However if you
agree any actions this will only be on the proviso that these are
discussed with the family/young person as soon as possible after
the meeting. It may be that you will have to reschedule the
meeting for another day to have the full action plan review
meeting. If professionals cannot come to the subsequent meeting
then their view will need to be obtained verbally or though a
written report.
What age should I start including the child’s views on the
CAF and Closure Summary?
This will depend upon the child’s level of understanding but
even very young children are able to give their views. The skill is
in finding the right techniques to encourage them to talk and
express themselves. Puppets, pictures, role play,
CAF
cards and using age
appropriate language etc will all help a young child to express
their thoughts. Further guidance on this may
follow.
What happens when my CAF is Quality Assured?
In order to improve practitioner confidence and the quality of
assessments the Cheshire East Council
CAF
team undertake Quality
Assurance on initial, and subsequently a sample of, Common
Assessment forms. Details about this process can be found on our
website, under the section on Quality Assurance of CAF's.
What support should I expect from my Manager?
As a practitioner undertaking Common Assessments you should be
able to seek support and advice from your manager and receive
appropriate supervision. The expectations and role of Managers in
the
CAF
process is
set out in National Guidance and can be found on our website, under
the section on Information for Managers.
Who can be a CAF champion?
Anyone who is enthusiastic about the
CAF
process, has experience of
using it and is keen to advocate its use can be a
CAF
champion. It
is our aim to have at least one person in every organisation/team
who is a
CAF
champion. A
CAF
champion may be the first
person to approach if you have a query and should therefore be
someone who keeps up to date with
CAF
developments. Managers and
their teams should identify their
CAF
champion. Please let
us know if you are a
CAF
champion so we can help
you to keep well informed and notify you of any changes or
forthcoming events.
