Centacare Broken Bay
SCARF : Case Management
tool for Housing, Family &
Youth Support Services
Case Management Tasks
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Intake
Assessment
Planning
Direct Service
Coordination
Review
Closure
Values and Principles of SCARF
ecological
child
development
child centred
evidence
based
Assessment
and action
in parallel
equal
opportunity
strengths
based
continuing
process
Inter-agency
approach
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Using SCARF with families
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Focus on the work, not the paper
Remember parents almost always want good
things for their children - SCARF is a way of
getting children the help they need.
Leave tools behind unless they are really
needed.
Use ‘sign off’ opportunities as a reminder to
make sure that work is on track
Recognise that families react to ‘paper’ in
different ways - work out what they find
helpful.
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Benefits of SCARF
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Focuses on children’s needs
Involves parents in transparent
process
Key issues identified
Flexible process
Concrete plans
Maintains continuity
Interagency approach
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Additional Benefits of e-SCARF
Which we would LOVE to know first hand….
e-SCARF allows the electronic completion,
filing and storage of SCARF client files.
Consolidated reports can help to:
 Lead to improvements in planning
 Assist you to evaluate program outcomes
 Help you to meet your reporting
requirements
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SCARF – Supporting Children and
Responding to Families
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SCARF was adapted from the United
Kingdom (UK) Department of
Health “Framework for the
Assessment of Children in Need and
their Families." (CIN Framework).
Centacare Broken Bay has been
using SCARF for at least 4 years.
Programs
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Waitara Family Support
Waitara Housing Support
Brookvale Family Support
Brookvale Housing Support
Naremburn Family Support
Naremburn Youth Support
Family Support Program
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Family Services staff work in
partnership with families of children
0-18yrs and help them to make a
change.
The focus is on early intervention
and preventing family breakdown
where there is a risk to children.
Youth Support Program
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Youth Services staff work in
partnership with our youth support
workers. The services accepts
young people aged 14-18 with low
level behavioural difficulties.
The focus is on early intervention
and preventing family breakdown
where there is a risk of
homelessness for the young person.
Housing Support Program
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We offer short term accommodation
to families
We aim to transition families into
more stable, long term housing.
This is not crisis accommodation,
however often the families are
going through crisis when accepted
into the housing programs.
SCARF Triangle
Case Study - Child S
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5 yr old daughter (Domain A), loves to dress up in
grown up clothes (A: identity) and swim in
designer clothes in the ocean (A: Social
Presentation); father appears very controlling (A:
DV); Father jumps on chairs to profess his love
(A: (mental) health & disability)
Both parents appear to have a good relationship
with their daughter (B: Basic Care), allowed to
walk around in high heals from 2yrs old (B:
Ensuring Safety)
A very financially well off family (C: Housing),
father has a previous adoptive family (C:
Immediate Family) both parents work sporadically
(C: education employment or community
resources), Family involved in Scientology in a
significant way (C: social networks)
The Good, Bad and the Ugly of the triangle
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The Good: Great visually for staff
and families to use; Very holistic;
Gives good prompts
The Bad: Inexperienced workers
don’t often know what to ask in
relation to the fields; Can feel
cumbersome covering all topics;
The Ugly: ??
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the
Flowchart
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The Good: Logical; Easy to follow; Age specific; action
plans very accessible to families; great new
assessment agreement; new referral form; Action
plans have a spare page for updates, which staff love;
Ensures families don't get caught in the ‘service trap’;
Great for managers to review progress/lack there off;
Add-its for inexperienced staff; Reviews can be used
effectively.
The Bad: Add-its for experienced staff; re-training
staff to use the record of contact; not great for short
pieces of work.
The Ugly: Paper version can make it cumbersome to
find information; lots of repetitive writing (eg DOB’s);
‘creative’ use of the closure form; ; STILL not having
e-SCARF as most staff would prefer computerised
version.
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Implementation of SCARF to CBB
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Initial training for all families teams
Review sessions for all families
teams
Engaged Bronwen Elliott to facilitate
staff skill development for
challenging programs or situations.
Staff needed a lot of guidance and
support to change their practice as
required by SCARF.
Centacare review of SCARf 2010
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58 files were audited by senior
management staff based on rigid
criteria.
This audit highlighted that after 4
yrs, staff vary greatly in their use
and knowledge of SCARF.
Highlighted that some parts could
be utilised greater, e.g. referral
record and action plans.
What we have learned from SCARF & audit
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Great way to encourage good practice with
families.
Leads to shorter intervention times.
Helps workers get focused very quickly on goals
and outcomes.
Managers NEED training on how to effectively
use/audit SCARF to ensure best practice.
Staff from statutory child protection backgrounds
need support to adjust to not keeping case notes
and doing a “snapshot assessment” as opposed to
an ongoing assessment.
Value of the proposed buddying system for SCARF
users
That the E-SCARF System is still being sought by
staff.
Thanks for listening
Maura Magee
Family & Youth Services Coordinator
Brookvale Family Centre,
02 8968 5100
Maura.magee@dbb.org.au