A. You will have to:
A. Unfortunatley, we do not have Surrey's CAF Form in any other languages. Please do contact the team on 0208 541 9282, and we will try to organise a translation service for you.
A. No, Children should have their own CAF Form, as required by the Department for Education (DfE).
To make it easier for yourself:
A. Yes the CAF form can be used for unborn babies. In the Name field enter the following information: Unborn Baby and the Mother's Name (i.e. "Unborn baby - mother: Dawn Crouch").
A. EDD stands for Expected Delivery Date – for an unborn child (see CAF form p1, footnote 2)
A. The professional needs to consider all section of the form and complete those that are relevant and where information is available.
Do not leave boxes blank but put "Information not available" as this will cover situation where it is not known, or where parents do not wish to share, or not relevant to the situation.
It is important that parents are allowed an opportunity to highlight areas that concern them.
A. If a child has additional needs it is important to complete a holistic assessment with a clear action plan for next steps including the role of the early years setting and local children's centre. It will also help the child settle into the early years setting, and support communication between those working with the family.
Version No.1 applies if you are the first person to complete a CAF. To check if a CAF has previously been completed, you should telephone the Contact Centre on 0300 200 1006. A Referral Information Officer (RIO) will check their records. They will then pass you over to the CAF Team who will give you the contact details of the Lead Professional or CAF Assessor. You can then discuss whether a new CAF needs to be completed or the previous CAF can simply be updated. Either way the updated version or the new CAF would be marked Version No. 2.
You will need to send a copy of the new CAF Form to the CAF Team.
A. One of the most important things that the CWDC (Children's Workforce Development Council) have learnt is that our ability to intervene early and support families when they first need help may be hampered by not sharing information between agencies involved at the time.
A. Ask to speak to a Referral & Information Officer (RIO). Outside office hours and during bank holidays and weekends call the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on: 01483 517898.
A. If during the completion of a CAF assessment you find out that the child or young person is being privately fostered, please ring the Contact Centre on 0300 200 1006 to seek advice.
A. The appointment of a Lead Professional would usually be decided jointly between the agencies involved and the parent, carer or young person. For more details see "Integrated Multi-Agency Policy and Procedures Manual" in the "CAF Information for Professionals" page – "You are a professional working in Surrey", section What processes and procedures do you need to follow?
The Lead Professional is likely to be the person who knows the child or young person best and already has a relationship with the family. Therefore, in most cases the Lead Professional will be the person who has completed the CAF form and may be appointed following a Team Around the Child Meeting (TAC).
If the Lead Professional changes please complete the CAF Change of Information Form.
A. Not necessarily. However, where there is more than one Lead Professional, we suggest they share information as appropriate.
For example, a child under five with health needs may well have a Health Visitor as a Lead Professional, when their eight year old sister with multiple needs may have a Children's Fund worker as their Lead Professional and for their fourteen year old brother who has attendance and behaviour difficulties the Lead Professional may be an Education Welfare Officer.
In this scenario the Health Visitor, Children's Fund worker and EWO would need to share information about issues that are common to all siblings in the family and ideally coordinate reviews. Consent to share information and the professionals involved must be listed on the CAF Form.
A. More than one practitioner could start a CAF with a child or young person at the same time. This could lead to duplication and confusion. Surrey is recording data centrally and updates this data regularly. Therefore, it is very important that you check with the Contact Centre to see if they hold any information on the child, who will then put you through to the CAF Team. The CAF Team will let you know if a CAF has already been completed on this child before you complete a CAF form.
If a CAF has already been completed on this same child or young person, The CAF Teamwill put you in touch with the person who initiated the CAF.
Contact Centre - 0300 200 1006
CAF Team - 020 8541 9282
e-mail: caf@surreycc.gov.uk
A. By sending a copy of the completed CAF to the CAF Team, Runnymede Centre, Chertsey Road, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 2EP. Or by secure email to caf@surreycc.gov.uk. You will receive an email, please ensure the assessors email is on the CAF Form.
A. After you have sent the CAF to the CAF Team, basic information are centrally recorded in a database:Name, address and date of birth of the child or young person, and the parent(s) name. It will also record the name and contact details of the professional who initiates the CAF and who has been appointed as the Lead Professional together with the outcomes.
The detail of the assessment is not recorded.
A. The CAF is about a current episode. Once it is agreed with the family and all agencies involved that all the issues identified on the CAF have been addressed satisfactorily, the CAF should be closed. You will need to notify us by completing the change of information form. We will retain a central record that a CAF has been undertaken until the child or young person reaches the age of 18 (or 25 for young people with disabilities).
A. The CAF process is designed to be empowering, open and transparent. It is essential that the person who gave their consent to the CAF be given a copy of the completed CAF assessment. We have learnt that this level of engagement from the outset increases the chances of achieving the initial goals.
A. We need to complete CAFs as quickly and efficiently as we can. Delays in sharing information can have a detrimental impact on a child or young person's welfare. We want to commit to sharing information within two weeks of receiving a CAF, but ideally we would like CAFs to be turned around much faster than that. Please be mindful of working hours for colleagues and negotiate timescales if it looks like it may be problematic e.g. colleagues working part-time hours or evenings, or education colleagues working term time only.
A. Reviews should be conducted once every three months as a minimum. You will also be contacted by the CAF Team three monthly via email to complete the Outcome Review Form. Review periods will depend on the complexity of need. If there are many needs or services it may be better to initiate a review a few weeks after the CAF has been completed. If needs are less complex a review could be three months after the CAF has been initiated.
A. You should record in your agency records only that the family have refused the offer of a CAF. If the professional has safeguarding concerns, or feels that Child in Need (CIN) thresholds have been reached, they will make a referral to Social Care.
The only time you can submit a CAF without written consent is if there is Child Protection / Safe Guarding issues.
For more details see "Integrated Multi-agency Policy and Procedure Manual" under "CAF Information for Professionals" – "You are a professional working in Surrey”"under section What processes and procedures do you need to follow?
A. Managers of each agency are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to use the CAF and encourage them to book on the Half Day Multi-Agency Training for Users course.
The four Area Implementation Managers coordinate, promote and support the training programme in the four areas of Surrey.
A. Ideally yes, however if they disagree you must have consent from the parent who the child spends most time with. If the parents disagree then the views of that parent, and the needs of the child, are paramount.
A. Information can be accessed via Surrey website on the Family Information Directory, or by contacting your CAF Area Implementation Manager. See CAF Team Contact Details.
A. You will need to explain the contents to them as you would do for any other form and they can have someone with them when completing it.
A. Contact your CAF Area manager for advice and possible escalation to Common Assessment Panel. See CAF Team Contact Details.
A. It is possible that if a family situation required the intervention of the courts we may need to submit any records (including CAFs) as evidence of assessment processes and support provided to a family. We may also be required to declare it as unused evidence in a prosecution e.g. for school absence.
Permalink: http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/?a=190795
Can't find what you're looking for? Tell us how we can improve
Copyright © 2013 Surrey County Council
