In February 2013 the CAF team put together a multi agency working group including practitioners from Education Psychology, Secondary School, Integrated Youth
Support Services and Early Intervention and Prevention service to decide when it would be appropriate to complete a CAF and provide support to a young person without their parents necessarily being involved. The examples include:

The young person does not want their parents to be involved

The parents/carers do not want to be included

Parents disengage from the CAF and Review process
Practitioners are advised to always consult with management within their own service and this document should be treated as guidance only. All information and documents related to the CAF and TAC process can be found on http://www.salford.gov.uk/caf.htm
and should be used in conjunction with this guidance.
Practitioners should always aim for parental/carer involvement and encourage children under 16 years to involve their parents/carers as appropriate throughout the whole process of assessments and support. In accordance with National guidance
CAF’s should not be completed with young people under the age of 12 unless practitioners and the young person can demonstrate reasons to proceed with a CAF without the parent/carer being involved or knowing.
1. Can a young person give consent for a CAF without their parents knowing or being involved?
It is presumed in law that a child aged 16 and older will have sufficient understanding to make their own decisions. 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 cas e by case basis taking the young person’s maturity into account.
However it is recommended that practitioners should always encourage children under 16 years to involve their parents/carers as appropriate throughout the whole process of support. For further guidance refer to national guidance – The Common
Assessment Framework for children and young people pages 60/61-
( http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm
)
We would therefore recommend that CAF’s should not be completed with young people under the age of 12 unless practitioners and the young person can demonstrate reasons to proceed with a CAF without the parent being involved or knowing.
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2. How do I judge a young person’s capacity to consent?
You should also refer to ‘ Information sharing: how to judge capacity to give consent in conjunction with the
Information Sharing ‘How to’ guides,
Information
Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers particularly sections 3.22- 3.29 and 3.30- 3.35 where applicable for young people over 16 years of age which takes into account mental capacity
( http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DCSF-00807-2008 and any other relevant local, organisational or professional guidance.
You will need to make sure you record all that you have done with regard to the CAF assessment and the reasons why you have gone ahead with the CAF or why you have been unable to proceed.
3. What happens if one practitioner agrees to the young person having sufficient understanding to undertake the CAF without their parent’s knowledge and its associated support but another practitioner does not?
It would be advisable to speak to your line manager and also consider gaining another opinion from a practitioner that knows the young person well enough to offer their opinion on if the young person has sufficient understanding to complete the
CAF and its associated support.
You will need to make sure you record all that you have done with regard to the CAF and the reasons why you have gone ahead with the CAF or why you have been unable to proceed.
4. What do I do if a young person’s parent(s) won’t consent to a CAF or if a young person does not want to be involved in the CAF and its associated support?
A Common Assessment cannot go ahead without consent from the parent(s) of the young person, unless the young person themselves is of sufficient age and understanding and has consented in their own right (refer back to 1.
Can a young person give consent for a CAF without their parents knowing or being involved?) ).
You will need to consider whether this leaves the young person 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 parents and young person’s 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? Speak to another practitioner that has a good relationship with the parent/young person or perhaps the parent/young person could speak to someone who has already experienced a CAF? If the answer is still no, and you feel the young person is not at risk, or the situation is not meeting the thresholds for social care
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services, prevention against crime or educational responsibilities of parents then you will need to consider how to offer support in a less structured and informal way.
Your support may 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 you has been unable to proceed.
For more information please visit http://www.salford.gov.uk/achildsvoice.htm
5.
What do I do if a young person’s parent(s) consents and completes the
CAF and associated support initially but parent does not engage after the CAF is completed however, the young person still wants support.
If consent is not given, withdrawn or parent disengages at any stage of the CAF/TAC process, practitioners should speak to their line manager to see if the parent’s and/or young person’s needs could still be met within their agency. If this is not the case the parent(s) should be advised of the implications of not giving consent especially if it is considered that there is a risk of the child's needs not being met, i.e. a potential referral to 'Children's Social Care'.
The CAF author should aim to discover why the parent has disengaged and see if resistance or barriers can be overcome. Guidance on working with resistant families is available to help practitioners with this.
Where there is a risk of the child's needs not being met the CAF author should discuss the matter with their manager and also seek advice from the CAF Team or
Children’s Social Care.
If professionals working with a family as a part of the review (2a/TAC) process have evidence to indicate that a parent or carers continued non engagement is having a direct impact on a child; and that this impact is causing or is likely to cause a child significant harm, then the professionals meeting's would cease. In this instance a referral, containing all of the relevant documentation should be made to Children’s
Social Care for their consideration. If in doubt, you are advised to contact the CAF team and Children’s Social Care for further advice.
If you feel the child is not at risk and does not meet the thresholds for Social Care, prevention against crime or educational responsibilities of parents, 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 or choose to initiate a CAF with the young person depending on their age and understanding (refer back to 1 .
Can a young person give consent for a CAF without their parents knowing or being involved?)
You will need to make sure you record all that you have done with regard to the CAF and the reasons why you have proceeded with support or why you have been unable to proceed.
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For more information visit: http://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacprocedures.htm
6. What do I do if a Parent does not want to be involved in CAF or associated support but consents to young person having CAF completed and its associated support?
If you feel the child is not at risk and does not meet the thresholds for Social Care, then you will need to consider if the parent will be involved in completing the CAF and support for the young person or that you choose to go ahead in completing the
CAF with the young person alone (refer to 1.Can a young person give consent for
a CAF without their parents knowing or being involved?)
It is recommended that practitioners should always encourage children under 16 years to involve their parents/carers as appropriate throughout the whole process.
This may involve the parent(s) contributing information to the CAF but not necessarily being a part of the action plan in the CAF or the support provided by practitioners. Practitioners in this case should aim to always inform the parent with the young person’s agreement of support being provided and where possible invite them and encourage parents to be a part of reviews (2a/TAC) where possible.
Practitioners should also refer to guidance on working with resistant families
You will need to make sure you record all that you have done with regard to the CAF and the reasons why you have proceeded with support or why you have been unable to proceed.
What if only one parent/carer is agreeing to a CAF?
National guidance states that the consent of one parent with Parental Responsibility
(or equivalent) is sufficient, so if parents are living separately you should normally obtain consent from the parent/carer the child is living with. However each situation is different and you will need to manage each situation carefully so as not to potentially create conflict between families, always discuss these scenarios with your manager. For further guidance refer to national guidance – The Common
Assessment Framework for children and young people pages 60/61
( http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm
)
For any further information or queries please contact the CAF team on: 0161 603
4239 or email a CAF Co-ordinator: Natalie.Lunn@salford.gov.uk
Gary.Woodward@salford.gov.uk
**Please note all CAFs should have a review date set by the parents/carers, young person/child and professionals. The CAF should be reviewed every 4-12 weeks and when appropriate a CAF should be closed with a specific outcome chosen as part of this review process. The CAF form and CAF Review and Closure form can be found on: http://www.salford.gov.uk/secureupload.htm.
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