Skip to content

Common Assessment Framework

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and Lead Professional role are a key part of the strategy to improve outcomes for children and young people by ensuring that all of the agencies in local areas work together in an integrated way.

The CAF supports timely and integrated responses to the needs of Children and Young People (YP) who may not meet traditional thresholds for statutory or specialist services but who, without help, are at risk of not achieving one or more of their 5 Every Child Matters outcomes.

The intention is to ensure that any child or young person in Warwickshire with additional needs, which do not meet thresholds for intervention by statutory services, is provided with an opportunity through CAF at the earliest possible stage to have a holistic assessment of their needs undertaken by a practitioner who is already involved with them.

CAF assessment

The CAF addresses emerging needs such as:

  • Children experiencing difficulties at school in relation to learning and behaviour
  • Low attendance and poor social bonding with school and community
  • The impact on children of family breakdown
  • Children and young people showing signs of anti-social behaviour
  • Concerns about children and young people's physical and mental health
  • Parents seeking support with their parenting

Earlier identification of needs and targeted intervention via CAF can prevent some children’s circumstances deteriorating to the point that their needs become complex and it is then more difficult to provide effective specialist services.

Existing multi-agency child protection work will be strengthened as practitioners and agencies become more familiar and confident with common assessment language and each other's skills and strengths via involvement in early intervention through CAF.

CAF can be used for all children from pre-birth to 19 years of age. It is an entirely consensual process. The emphasis is on assessment undertaken with the child’s family or a young person, not to or about them. It is voluntarily entered into by young people and their families.

The emphasis is also upon seeking practical solutions to needs and thus positive outcomes for children and young people, not upon gathering a lot of information about what is going wrong.

What are the benefits?

CAF ensures that, irrespective of the agency in which the initiating practitioner works and their professional discipline, a holistic assessment of the child/young person’s situation is undertaken. The term ‘Common’ Assessment' underlines the need for all agencies to develop a shared or common language about children and their needs and a common approach to recording information about those needs.

This then prevents young people and their families having to repeat their story as they move from one agency to another and facilitates much more effective sharing of information across agencies.

One of the great advantages is the active involvement by young people and families in the assessment and planning stages so that they retain ownership of actions.

So a CAF is written, what then?

The practitioner who undertakes the Common Assessment with the young person or family agrees with them what support they require and which agencies are needed in order to ensure that the child or young person’s identified additional needs are addressed. If more than one agency needs to be involved, the practitioner then invites those agencies to a Family Support Meeting (FSM) within 15 working days of completion of the Common Assessment.

In Warwickshire, practitioners in each of the 5 areas are supported by locally based CAF Officers. Practitioners can contact CAF Officers for support at any stage of the process from very early contemplation of a Common Assessment to arranging and facilitating a FSM.

At the Family Support Meeting an action plan is agreed between the young person or family and the practitioners involved.