HOPE FOR CHILDREN AND
FAMILIES PROGRAMME:
Child Protection Decision
Making using the Safeguarding
Children Assessment and
Analysis Framework (SAAF)
Stephen Pizzey
© Child and Family Training 2014
1
Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and
Planning Intervention
Stage 1 Identification of harm and initial safeguarding
Consider the referral and aims of the assessment
Stage 2 Gather assessment information on the child’s
developmental needs, parenting capacity, and
family and environmental factors
Collect information from available sources using an
appropriate range of methods and approaches
Create a chronology of salient information
Stage 3 Establish the nature and level of impairment of the
child’s health and development
Organise information using the Assessment
Framework and identify strengths and difficulties in
all dimensions
© Child and Family Training 2014
2
Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and
Planning Intervention
Stage 4 Analyse the patterns of harm and protection
Consider the chronology of salient information
Processes and impact
Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning:
The Safeguarding Analysis
Profile of harm and impairment of development
Predict the likely outlook for the child: the risks of reabuse or likelihood of future harm (the systemic analysis)
Determine the prospects for successful intervention
Summary of safeguarding analysis
Stage 6 Develop a plan of intervention
Stage 7 Identify outcomes and measures for intervention
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Assessment Framework
A map of relevant data to be collected
Health
Basic Care
Education
Ensuring Safety
Emotional &
Behavioural
Development
Identity
Family & Social
Relationships
Social Presentation
Self-Care Skills
© Child and Family Training 2014
Emotional Warmth
CHILD
Safeguarding &
promoting
welfare
Stimulation
Guidance &
Boundaries
Stability
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
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Working with the Assessment Framework
 The Child’s Developmental Needs Domain maps Strengths
and Impairment in Development
 The Parenting Capacity Domain is concerned with
Attributability
 Where there is no observable or measurable impairment,
the Parenting Capacity and Family and Environmental
Factors Domains are relevant to the Likelihood of
Impairment
Note that some impairments may not be attributable to parenting - e.g. Autism
is genetic or Cerebral Palsy is congenital in most instances - but make greater
demands which parents may not be able to meet.
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Resources for gathering assessment
information
 The HOME assessment of parenting and family life
 Family pack of questionnaires and scales
 Apps for communicating with children and young people
 Assessing Families in complex child care cases
 Communicating with children using the In My Shoes
Interview
 The Attachment Style Interview in child care cases
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and
Planning Intervention (Child Protection)
Stage 1 Identification of harm and initial safeguarding
Consider the referral and aims of the assessment
Stage 2 Gather assessment information on the child’s
developmental needs, parenting capacity, and
family and environmental factors
Collect information from available sources using an
appropriate range of methods and approaches
Create a chronology of salient information
Stage 3 Establish the nature and level of impairment of the
child’s health and development
Organise information using the Assessment
Framework and identify strengths and difficulties in
all dimensions
© Child and Family Training 2014
7
Organise Information using the Assessment Framework
Identify Strengths and Difficulties
Health
Basic Care
Education
Ensuring Safety
Emotional &
Behavioural
Development
Identity
Family & Social
Relationships
Social Presentation
Self-Care Skills
© Child and Family Training 2014
Emotional Warmth
CHILD
Safeguarding &
promoting
welfare
Stimulation
Guidance &
Boundaries
Stability
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
8
Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and
Planning Intervention (Child Protection)
Stage 4 Analyse the patterns of harm and protection
Consider the chronology of salient information
Processes and impact
Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning:
The Safeguarding Analysis
Profile of harm and impairment of development
Predict the likely outlook for the child: the risks of reabuse or likelihood of future harm (the systemic analysis)
Determine the prospects for successful intervention
Summary of safeguarding analysis
Stage 6 Develop a plan of intervention
Stage 7 Identify outcomes and measures for intervention
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Chronology of Salient Information
When examining processes consider:
 the time relationships between impairments in
the child’s development and life events and
stressors
which
 can raise hypotheses about processes
influencing the child’s health and development
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Principles Underlying Analysis - Processes
Distinguish:
 What has brought things about from the past
 What keeps things going in the present
both of which
 Can help to predict what’s likely to happen in
the future if things carry on as they are
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Principles Underlying Analysis - Impact
The two key elements of Impact are:
 Severity of difficulty: the weight of a negative factor or
process
 Magnitude of strength: the weight of a positive factor
or process
Thus once the processes have been analysed
consider:
 What processes are having the biggest effect on the
child’s health and development or processes that affect
it?
 Which are the greatest protective processes?
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Stage 4: Summary of Principles Underlying
analysis - summary
In general:
 the more dimensions of domains that show
difficulty;
 the more frequently those difficulties are
manifest;
 the longer the difficulties have existed;
 the less the difficulties are modifiable;
then the greater the severity of the problem
© Child and Family Training 2014
13
Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and
Planning Intervention
Stage 4 Analyse the patterns of harm and protection
Consider the chronology of salient information
Processes and impact
Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning:
The Safeguarding Analysis
Profile of harm and impairment of development
Predict the likely outlook for the child: the risks of reabuse or likelihood of future harm (the systemic analysis)
Determine the prospects for successful intervention
Summary of safeguarding analysis
Stage 6 Develop a plan of intervention
Stage 7 Identify outcomes and measures for intervention
© Child and Family Training 2014
14
Profile of Harm and Impairment of Child’s
Health and Development
To analyse the profile of harm the following must be
considered:
Child’s Developmental Needs
 Severity of impairment of the child’s health and development and
impact on the child
Parenting capacity
 Severity of parenting difficulties
Family and Environmental Factors
 Severity of individual and family difficulties
 Severity of environmental difficulties
Parenting, protection and therapeutic help child requires
© Child and Family Training 2014
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The Structure of the Profile of Harm and
Impairment of Child’s Health and Development
The instrument is structured in terms of the
Assessment Framework domains and comprises:
 Areas to be considered
 Descriptors
 Scale: lower to higher level of concern
which are summarised in the summary grids
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Systemic Analysis of Patterns of Harm and Protection
Predisposing Factors and
Processes:
Harmful Maintaining
Factors and Processes
Present:
Parent’s
longstanding drug
addiction;
Social contacts
within drug
sub-culture;
Chaotic household
routines.
Precipitating Trigger Factors and Processes:
Grandmother ill; one parent in
house – father out buying drugs;
father in prison
Protective Maintaining
Factors and Processes:
Supportive
grandmother who
keeps house clean;
The Child’s Current Health and Development
Including Harm to the Child:
No speech; underweight; listless;
unresponsive; home alone twice
(once in cot for 6 hours)
Parents use drugs
at different times
so one is available
for child
Predicting Likely Future of Child’s Health and
Development:
Irreversible developmental delay
(cognitive, physical and emotional);
high accident risk.
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Determine the Prospects for Successful
Intervention
To determine the prospects for successful intervention the
following must be considered:
 Nature of harm suffered and the child or young person’s
wishes and feelings
 Parental child-centredness
 the capacity of the parents to recognise, understand,
acknowledge and take responsibility for difficulties
 Modifiability
 the parents level of motivation and capacity for change regarding
the identified difficulties; and
 whether the child’s circumstances can be improved with safety
within a reasonable period taking account of the child’s
developmental timeframe
 Parent’s ability to co-operate with professionals and
agencies
© Child and Family Training 2014
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The Structure of the Prospects for Successful
Intervention Instrument
The instrument is structured in terms of the:
 Areas to be considered
 Descriptors
 Scale: better to poorer prospects for intervention
which are summarised in the summary grids
© Child and Family Training 2014
19
The Summary of the Safeguarding Analysis
The summary of the safeguarding analysis provides
3 part scales regarding:
 Overall level of harm and impairment to the child’s
health and development (low/moderate/high)
 Future outlook for the child’s health and development if
no intervention: overall level of risk of re-abuse or
likelihood of future harm (low/moderate/high)
 Overall prospects for successful intervention
(poor/moderate/good)
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Planning Interventions
 What are the options for interventions which might:
(a) help support strengths in health and development and/or
(b) help meet impairments in health and development?
 Towards which strength/impairment in health and development
is each intervention targeted?
 What resources are available?
 Which of those available is the family most likely to cooperate
with?
 Which intervention is likely to produce the most immediate
benefit and which might take time?
 What should be the sequence of interventions and why?
 What is the likelihood of achieving sufficient change within the
child’s timeframe?
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Ispcan workshop 2014
Hope for Children and Families
A resource manual of modular systemic
Interventions
Empowering frontline
practitioners to deliver evidence
based approaches
Arnon Bentovim -Child and Family Training UK
Jenny Gray – President ISPCAN
Marianne Bentovim – Child and Family Training -UK
© Child and Family Training 2014
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Identifying Outcomes and Measuring Change
The key outcome is the child’s developmental progress
To assess outcomes of intervention need to measure change
over time in:
 The Child’s Development
 Factors and Processes thought to influence the Child’s
Development
Need baseline and follow-up measures
© Child and Family Training 2014
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The Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis
Framework
www.childandfamilytraining.org.uk
Bentovim, A., Cox, A, Bingley Miller, L. and Pizzey, S. (2009) Safeguarding
Children Living with Trauma and Family Violence: A Guide to EvidenceBased Assessment, Analysis and Planning Interventions. London: Jessica
Kingsley.
Bentovim, A., Bingley Miller, L., Pizzey, S. and Tapp, S. (2013) The
Safeguarding Assessment and Analysis Framework. York: Child and
Family Training.
Department of Health, Department for Education and Employment, and
Home Office (2000b) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need
and their Families. London. The Stationery Office.
Contact: Stephen.Pizzey@childandfamilytraining.org.uk
© Child and Family Training 2014
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