Questions and answers for the professionals
What is a CAF?
The common framework assessment process (CAF) consists of the common
assessment framework and team around the child meetings (TAC). The CAF is a
holistic assessment that helps identify whether a child has unmet needs and
what support can be put in place to meet those unmet needs. The CAF is the
assessment tool used to identify need at a single service level or complex multi
service level. Where two or more additional services are required a TAC needs to
be convened with the family to co-ordinate a package of supporthttp://www.salford.gov.uk/caf.htm
Who can complete a CAF?
Anyone within Children’s workforce can complete a CAF with a parent/carer and
child and/or young person along as consent has been given by themhttp://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacforpractitioners.htm
and http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm
It is completion of one CAF per child in Salford. The person/s who writes the CAF
is termed a CAF author.
Is there any support for CAF training?
Yes please refer to http://www.salford.gov.uk/cafandtactraining.htm for further
details.
Are there any supporting tools to support with chairing the TAC and being
lead professional?
Yes please refer to http://www.salford.gov.uk/caf-lead-professional.htm for further
details
How do I view a CAF and update a CAF?
You need consent from the family to view the CAF and you can either contact the
lead professional or the CAF team (0161 6034239) to ask for the CAF to be sent
to you. We advise you gain written consent from the family evidencing you have
consent. Then if you want to update the CAF-simply add to any writing that is
present on the existing CAF and a good way of doing this is inserting the date
you do this e.g. 4.9.14 and then the current information throughout all boxes on
the CAF.
Are there any tools to aid me with explaining the CAF and completing the
CAF with the family?
Yes please refer to http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm and
http://www.salford.gov.uk/equalityanddiversity.htm for more details.
Do any organisations have Service Level Agreements around the CAF?
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**The Youth Offending Team completes an ASSET assessment and can be
completed by them instead of the CAF; it would then lead into Team around the
Child meetings.
**The Early Support Team within Starting Life Well work with children under 5
who have complex needs-they will request a CAF to gain an idea of their and
then their family service plan meetings replace the team around the child
meetings and paperwork. The Family Service Plan is reviewed every 3 months.
**When the Community Pediatrician’s and GP’s in Salford recognise that a case
is an early intervention level and a CAF may be considered. They complete the
referral form to Children’s Services and send this in to the Early Intervention and
Prevention Service. The idea is that the EIP worker would then initiate the CAF
and co-author it with the community pediatrician or GP.
** Does a professional have to complete the helping family’s assessment with the
family if there is a CAF and/or the case is in Team around the child meetings?
Where there is a currently active CAF/2a reviews/team around the child meetings
going on-then you would not do a Helping family assessment on the members of
the family/household that have CAF/TACs. This would mean if John has a CAF
then this covers his needs and his parent/s needs are also covered on this CAF.
So you would not so the Helping family’s assessments for neither John nor his
parent/s.
However, you could complete the helping family’s assessment on the rest of the
household. The HF assessments can then feed into the ongoing Team around
the child meetings. Where it is identified that there is a CAF/TACs please contact
a CAF Coordinator to discuss further. Where it has been identified that the CAF
assessment is more than several months old (and no reviews have been taking
place) or circumstances have significantly changed then speak to a CAF
Coordinator and decide whether it is appropriate to complete the helping families
assessment on all of the household or use the current CAF for that ch/yp and this
can feed into the HF assessment. Each case needs to be considered on an
individual basis.
Can an adult worker complete a CAF?
Yes we have a service level agreement with any adult worker in Salford such as
probation, adult social care or adult metal health worker where they would initiate
the CAF, complete sections 2 and 3 and send in with a referral to Childrens
Services form requesting that an early intervention and prevention worker finish
the CAF off, visit the child and arrange the first TAC.
Who can you complete CAF with?
A child under the age of 18 and a young adult with learning disabilities up to the
age of 25 and with the parent/carer who has parental responsibility
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Can you complete a CAF with just a young person?
Yes if a young person is deemed as ‘Gillick Competence’ a CAF may be
considered to be completed with them without their parent’s consent. See
http://www.salford.gov.uk/achildsvoice.htm for Fraser Guideline
Should we involve a child and or young person in the CAF process?
Yes it is about them and important to listen their wishes and feelings in whatever
way possible. There is a variety of wishes and feelings, TAC invites and TAC
plans
for
children
and
young
people
on
http://www.salford.gov.uk/achildsvoice.htm
How do I submit the CAF?
You can submit a CAF, CAF review and closure form, along with other
supporting documentation such as the child’s voice via the secure uploadhttp://www.salford.gov.uk/secureupload.htm.
What is co-authoring of a CAF?
Co-authoring is where the two or more add to the CAF. There is a CAF author
and other professional’s co-author it. This is where they add their input into the
assessment, but does not account for adding a few lines into the assessment. It
is
where
the
CAF
is
written
togetherhttp://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacforpractitioners.htm
What happens if parents don’t consent?
Then the CAF cannot be completed with the family. Consent can be overridden If
you feel there are safeguarding concerns and the child is at risk of significant
harm or likely to be by trying to gain consent- http://www.salford.gov.uk/caf-leadprofessional.htm
How regularly should a CAF be reviewed and on what paperwork?
Currently a CAF should be reviewed every 4-12 weeks following completion of
the CAF. It should be reviewed at level 2a (where a single agency is required)
and level 2 b –team around the child on the CAF review and closure form and
submitted refer to -http://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacforpractitioners.htm for more
details
on
the
TAC
process
and
http://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacforpractitioners.htm for TAC invites.
What is a 2a review meeting and what is a TAC?
A 2a review meeting is where the CAF was completed and it requires only one
additional targeted agency to meet the need/s of the child/family. The CAF author
completes the CAF review and closure form every 4-12 weeks until the CAF can
be closed. The 2a review can be held via telephone calls with the family and the
one additional agency and does not have to be a face to face meeting.
The TAC-2b is where it is a multi agency meeting with the family. It is reviewing
the needs identified in the CAF every 4-12 weeks on the CAF review and closure
form until the CAF can be closed. Where practitioners can’t attend a report is
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required to be sent to the lead professional. CAF review and closure form can be
found on- http://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacforpractitioners.htm
Do I need to chair the TAC meeting and take minutes if I am the lead
professional?
The CAF author (person who writes the CAF) will often be the lead professional
up until the first review of the CAF. At that point it can be decided by the family
who they want the lead professional to be. The CAF author/lead professional will
generally arrange the first TAC meeting. They do not have to chair it and they
need to communicate with the other professionals as to who is best fit and
confident to chair the meeting. There is a TAC process to followhttp://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm. It is advised that someone else
minutes the TAC meeting from the professionals present.
How do I escalate a case to CSC?
A referral form to Children’s Services would need to be completed and any
supporting evidence such as the CAF or graded care profile can be sent too. You
can phone the M.A.S.H. team on 0161 6034500 for a consultation with a duty
social worker. Within the CAF and TAC arena there is escalation guidance-refer
to http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm to download the document.
If there is a Team around the Child meeting due and the social worker is
undertaking the Children and Families assessment (but the case has not gone to
Child In need, Child Protection or looked after). The lead professional would
need to have a conversation with the social worker and agree on an individual
basis, if the TAC is to go ahead. If it does go ahead it is advised the social worker
attends so that the information can inform their assessment. The social worker
would not chair the TAC meeting.
How do I close a CAF?
The CAF should generally be closed under the review process on the CAF
review and closure form at level 2a or 2b (TAC). There is ever only one CAF
active at a time.
The CAF may be closed for one of the following four possible outcomes:
1. Family Disengaged: where parent/carer or child/young person has
withdrawn their consent to the support identified from the CAF continuing
and/or parent/carer or child/young person become un-contactable through
various attempts to engage.
2. Needs Met: the child’s and the parents/carers needs respectively, are now
well understood and the appropriate intervention has taken place to
enable the child’s needs to be met through Universal Services
3. Moved to another Local Authority: If moving to another local authority
within England, the CAF can be transferred with consent. See cross
border
protocol
for
more
information
by
visiting:
http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm.
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4. Moved to Social Care: When a decision has been made by Social Care
for the family to be escalated to Child Protection (CP), Child in Need
(CIN), Looked after Children (LAC) but not at the point when a referral into
Social Care has been made or a Children and Families Assessment by a
social worker is being undertaken.
To close the CAF, the Lead Professional and/or remaining professional should
record the decision to close the CAF on the CAF review and closure form and
upload to: http://www.salford.gov.uk/secureupload.htm. If the case gets escalated
to Children’s Social Care (Child in need, Child Protection, Looked After) in
between reviews please email the CAF team at CAF@salford.gov.uk letting us
know to close the CAF under the outcome: escalated to Children’s Social Care,
what level (CIN,CP,LAC),name of child, date of birth and who the named social
worker is.
Decisions to close a CAF should always be done in consultation with your line
manager, with the agreement from other professionals involved and the
parent/carer and/or child/young person where possible. For more information
refer
to
the
CAF
review
and
closure
guidancehttp://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm
What happens if the case is closed by a Social worker and handed down to
Team around the child?
Within Salford we have a step down process where the social worker has
completed a child and families assessment (CAFASS) and hands the case down
to Team around the Child. Where the case has had a CAFASS assessment and
is being handed down from a RIAT Social Worker-and the case is going to an
EIP worker (except children centers) the EIP worker would coordinate and chair
the first TAC. Where the case is coming from RIAT to a TAC without EIP then the
case is handed to the CAF Coordinator to Coordinate and chair the first TAC.
Where the case has come from Looked After, Child In Need or Child Protection
then the case is handed over to the lead professional at the last Child In need
meeting or Child Protection Meeting (e.g case conference) and the lead
professional will coordinate the first TAC. However, the lead professional
In all cases transferring to level 2 a and 2b-TAC the Social Worker has to submit
the case to the weekly transfer meeting within Children’s Services, gain a signed
TAC agreement by the parent/s and give the parent/s, ch/yp and professionals
involved the plan for them to continue working at which is taken from the transfer
record.
Refer to http://www.salford.gov.uk/supportingtools.htm for the transfer agreement
and protocol for cases stepping down from Children’s Social Care to level 2a or
TAC (2b).
Should a CAF be completed if a social worker is involved?
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No the case is held at a higher threshold either level 3 or 4 within Salford a Social
Worker’s Children and Families (CAFCASS) assessment supersedes the CAF.
What is CAF plus?
This is a name given to CAFs being completed with children and young people
with complex needs and palliative care needs. It is the normal CAF process but
ensuring this group of children and young people has a CAF and a joined up
approach where possible. Within Salford where children are five years and under
and are identified as having additional needs such as developmental delay. The
Child Development Panels that run across the city requests a CAF to ensure a
holistic assessment of the child and family’s needs are being given.
Where does CAF sit within the Special Education Needs ProcessEducation, Health and Care plan (EHCP)?
A CAF can be considered at any point throughout the EHCP-SEN Process and
can be used as an early intervention and identification tool within the SEN
Process. The information gathered in the CAF can feed into the ‘My story work’
so that the family only have to tell their story once. It can also enable multiagency working within the TAC arena. The SEN review can be held in
conjunction with the CAF Review-http://www.salford.gov.uk/children-needs.htm
What is the pre-caf checklist?
The pre-caf checklist is a tool that can be used to identify if a CAF is needed or
not. It is not a mandatory tool and can be used to aid youhttp://www.salford.gov.uk/caftacforpractitioners.htm
As a manager/organisation is there anything I should be doing to embed
the CAF process effectively?
Yes you will need to ensure all staff are trained and you have an identified CAF
champion in your setting. You will also need to ensure you monitor the
completing of CAFs by your staff and the quality of them as well. Please refer to
http://www.salford.gov.uk/cafandtactraining.htm
and http://www.salford.gov.uk/caf-informationformanagers.htm for further details.
Please contact the CAF coordinator on 0161 6034239 if you have any
questions, or need any further support.
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