Nottinghamshire Common Assessment Framework Handbook

The Nottinghamshire
Common Assessment
Framework Handbook

Contents
Overview
1. Common Assessment Framework
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Where to find further information about the CAF . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 The Nottinghamshire CAF Paperwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 How we have introduced the CAF in Nottinghamshire . . . . . . 2
1.5 An overview of the CAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.6 Using the CAF in Nottinghamshire: Principles . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.7 Using the CAF in Nottinghamshire: CAF Process Summary . . . 4
1.8 What do we mean by Early Intervention?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.9 How does the CAF support Early Intervention? . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.10 How does the Joint Access Team (JAT)
support Integrated Early Intervention work? . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.11 Forms to be used in Nottinghamshire to record CAF
assessments and Lead Professional working . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.12 Nottinghamshire procedures for registering CAF work . . . . . . 9
1.13 Support for practitioners using the CAF . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2. Lead Professional
2.1 Rationale for the Lead Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Vision and Core Functions for the Lead Professional . . . . . . 13
2.3 The role of the Lead Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4 Useful skills for the Lead Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.5 Myth Buster - the Lead Professional Role . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.6 Team Around the Child (TAC)/Multi-Agency Meeting . . . . . 15
2.7 Management, Supervision, Training and Development . . . . . 15
3. Frequently Asked Questions about CAF and
Lead Professional
3.1 Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4. Information Sharing within Integrated Early
Intervention Work in Nottinghamshire
4.1 Purpose of this Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2 Nottinghamshire advice on information sharing about
individual children and young people within integrated
locality working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.3 Context: Summary of National Guidance and Advice
on Information Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 Information Sharing and Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.5 Seven Golden Rules for Information Sharing . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.6 Seven key questions for Information Sharing . . . . . . . . . . 28
5. Nottinghamshire CAF Quality Assurance Framework
5.1 Nottinghamshire Quality Assurance Framework for the CAF . . 31

6. Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G
Appendix H
Appendix I
Appendix J
Appendix K
Appendix L
Appendix M
Appendix N
Appendix O
Appendix P
CAF Guidance
CAF Form
Pre-assessment Checklist
Review/Action Plan
Integrated Services Leaflet – Logging CAFs
Example of a CAF Team Around the Child (TAC)
Meeting Agenda
Meeting Attendance Register
CAF Self Assessment Checklist
Supervision Checklist
CAF My Feelings Tool
CAF My Feelings Tool Guidance Notes
Young Person’s Questionnaire
Parents Questionnaire
CAF Quality Review Form
Quality Assurance Working Group Terms of Reference
Regional Minimum Standards for the Common Assessment
Framework (CAF) within Integrated Working Practices in the
East Midlands
7. Resources for the Common Assessment Framework

Overview
The Common Assessment Framework
Together with the Pathway to Provision and the Joint Access Team (JAT) Handbook,
the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) Handbook provides a comprehensive
tool kit for practitioners working with children, young people and families, especially
at the early intervention stage.
These three separate resources aim to provide concise and clear guidance to the
children’s workforce ensuring that there is a consistency of practice across
Nottinghamshire with regard to the Joint Access Teams, Common Assessment
Framework Process, Children’s Social Care and access to services for children,
young people and their families.
Section 1 – this section provides an overview of the Common Assessment Framework
process in Nottinghamshire and when to use it. The Common Assessment Framework
aims to assist practitioners working with children, young people and their families to
assess their strengths and needs and support effective integrated working between
professionals.
Section 2 – this section details the key functions of a Lead Professional, the rationale
for the role, along with useful skills when engaging with children, young people and
their families and working with others as part of a Team around the Child.
Section 3 – this section aims to answer frequently asked questions relating to the
Common Assessment Framework process which include queries relating to parental
responsibility, gaining consent, completing the assessment and next steps.
Section 4 – this section provides clear direction for sharing information with other
professionals based on the national guidance for Information Sharing.
Section 5 – this section outlines the Nottinghamshire Quality Assurance Framework
for the Common Assessment Framework which consists of six stages: self assessment
and quality supervision, feedback from children/young people and/or parents/carers,
audit of the CAF process, evaluation of the audit results, with feedback and
recommendations as a result of the evaluation leading to the final stage,
improvements to the CAF Process. The Quality Assurance Framework will provide
examples of best practice which will be shared with the wider workforce and used
to improve training and supervision.
Section 6 – this section includes all the appendices referred to in this document which
will support practitioners when using the Common Assessment Framework process.
Section 7 – this section includes details of websites which contain useful information
and resources to support practitioners working with children, young people and
their families.

Section 1
The Common Assessment Framework
An Introduction
This section provides an overview of the Common Assessment Framework
process in Nottinghamshire and when to use it. The Common Assessment
Framework aims to assist practitioners working with children, young
people and their families to assess their strengths and needs and support
effective integrated working between professionals.

1.1
Introduction
The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a standard assessment that can be used
by all services working with children and young people. It is particularly suitable for use in
integrated early intervention work, where we work with families as soon as we realise that
a child or young person is experiencing difficulties. The CAF helps practitioners to identify
a child or young person’s strengths, needs and goals. It can be shared between services
and used as a starting point for planning coordinated multi-agency action.
This handbook provides essential information to support you in using the CAF as part of
your work with children, young people and their families in Nottinghamshire. It is split
into three main themes which are: Common Assessment Framework, lead professional
and Quality Assurance for the Common Assessment Framework.
Before starting to use the CAF, you need to complete an e-learning module and attend
the half day CAF Practitioner Training. This training introduces you to the CAF and the
role of the lead professional and gives you the opportunity to exchange ideas about using
the CAF with other practitioners from partner services.
1.2 Where to find further information about the CAF
You will find copies of CAF forms and other information about using the CAF in
Nottinghamshire online, at:
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
The CAF is a national initiative and is a key part of integrated locality working. As well as
Nottinghamshire guidance, you should also read the following national documents (see
Section 7: Resources)
n The Common Assessment Framework for Children and Young People: A Guide for
Practitioners (2009)
n The Team Around the Child (TAC) and The Lead Professional (2009)
n Information Sharing: Guidance for Practitioners and Managers (2008)
n Co-ordinating and Delivering Integrated Services for Children and Young
People (2009)
n The Common Assessment Framework for Children and Young People:
Supporting Tools (2007)
In all the work that you do with children, young people and families, you must ensure
that you follow Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Board procedures, available
online at: www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/nscb
If you would like to discuss any aspect of CAF developments in Nottinghamshire,
please contact:
The CAF Team: Telephone: 01623 433181
E-mail: caf@nottscc.gov.uk
To arrange CAF training or to request leaflets:
Email: caf@nottscc.gov.uk, Telephone: 01623 433291
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1.3
The Nottinghamshire CAF Paperwork
The Nottinghamshire CAF form was reviewed in September 2009, following feedback
from practitioners. Appendix A will provide guidance to practitioners completing an
assessment on areas to explore with children, young people and their families and a copy
of the CAF form can be found in Appendix B.
1.4
How we have introduced the CAF in
Nottinghamshire
In Nottinghamshire, we have introduced the CAF gradually, linking its introduction to the
roll-out of Joint Access Teams (JATs).
Joint Access Teams are at the centre of integrated locality working. They are based
around at least one family of schools. (A family of schools is a group of schools that work
together, often a secondary school and the primary schools around it).
The CAF is a key tool to support integrated locality working across services and agencies.
When practitioners start using CAF, they need support from their line managers and
access to a local structure for multi-agency working. Integrated locality working provides
this support and structure.
1.5
An Overview of the CAF
What is the CAF?
n an assessment process used across all services working with children, young
people and families
n a common form for recording this assessment
n a holistic assessment that summarises a child or young person’s strengths, needs
and goals after considering all aspects of his/her development, including health,
social development and learning
n designed to be shared between services and used as a starting point for planning
coordinated multi-agency action
n a consent-based process — we need the agreement of a parent/carer or of a
competent young person/older child before using the CAF.
Who might have a CAF assessment?
A CAF can be carried out with any child or young person from pre-birth up to age 19
(up to the age of 24 if the young person has a learning difficulty or disability), where:
n you are worried about how well the child or young person is progressing towards
the Every Child Matters priority outcomes. You might be worried about their
health, development, welfare, behaviour, progress in learning or any other aspect
of their well being
n a child or young person or their parent/carer raises concerns with you
n the child or young person’s needs are unclear, or not being met by their current
service provision.
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Which practitioners might use the CAF?
n any practitioner in any service that works with children, young people and
families might use the CAF. This includes practitioners who work in services for
adults, as many adults accessing those services are also parents/carers and may
need a Common Assessment for their child
n the CAF is a tool for early intervention work to support children or young
people, so it is most likely to be used by practitioners in universal services or by
practitioners providing targeted early intervention support
n the first practitioner who identifies that a CAF is needed is responsible for
ensuring that a CAF is completed. This person either completes the CAF or
arranges for an appropriate person to do so.
How does the CAF relate to other assessments?
n the CAF is the assessment tool for integrated early intervention work to support
children who are not making the progress we would expect for their age, and are
at risk of poor outcomes
n some children who have a CAF assessment may have other assessments for
specific purposes; for example, health assessments such as a speech and
language assessment, or school assessments relating to educational attainment.
A summary of these assessments may be included within the CAF, with the
family’s permission
n the CAF does not replace statutory or specialist assessments for children with
complex needs. This includes children with disabilities, looked after children,
children who are young offenders, and children at risk of harm
n if a child requires specialist services, she or he may have previously been
supported by practitioners in universal or targeted services who have completed a
CAF assessment. A practitioner in a specialist support service who undertakes a
statutory assessment should use any existing CAF as a source of information.
1.6
Using the CAF in Nottinghamshire: Principles
The CAF process should fully involve children, young people, parents
and carers. The following principles support this way of working:
1) Use a strengths based approach
n respect children, young people and parents
n listen to and value what they tell you
n focus on strengths as well as needs
n ensure that the child, young person or carer is fully involved
in decision making and planning.
2) Seek consent to work with a family and to share information about them
Whether to do a CAF is a decision that you should make jointly with the child or young
person and/or their parent(s)/carer(s). To complete a CAF, you need the consent of either
a parent/carer or of a child or young person who is competent to give consent. If a family
chooses not to use the CAF, you should continue to work with them in other ways that
they find helpful.
In most circumstances, you must seek consent before sharing information. If you are
concerned that a child may be at risk of significant harm, you may need to share
information without consent. You must ensure that you follow Nottinghamshire
Safeguarding Children Board procedures, available online at
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/nscb.
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You can find out more about consent and information sharing in these documents:
n The Nottinghamshire Common Assessment Handbook available online at:
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
n Information sharing: Guidance for Practitioners and Managers (2008)
n Information Sharing: Case Examples (DFES, 2006), all available online at:
n www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/informationsharing
3) Use your professional knowledge and experience to decide how to complete the CAF
The CAF provides you with a structured way of recording information about a child or
young person and his/her family. You should use your professional judgement to decide
what strengths and needs to record in each section of the assessment. In the document
listed below, you will find some ideas about when to complete a CAF and what you might
record in each section. These are not checklists and are not a substitute for professional
judgement – you and the family are the people who are best placed to decide when to
use the CAF and what you need to record within the CAF.
1.7
Using the CAF in Nottinghamshire:
CAF Process Summary
The first practitioner who identifies that a CAF is needed is responsible for ensuring that a
CAF is completed. This person either completes the CAF or arranges for someone else to
do so.
The CAF process can be summarised in three stages:
1. Preparation
2. Discussion 3. Delivery
Seek the consent
of the child/young
person or parent/
carer
Check if a CAF
already exists
Talk to other
workers if you need
more information
Complete CAF
assessment
together with child/
young person and
or parent/carer
Use CAF form to
record strengths,
needs and goals
and agreed action
Deliver agreed
actions in a
coordinated way
(This may mean
setting up a multiagency
family
support group to
meet regularly)
Monitor and review
progress
The standard CAF process assumes that the family prefers to talk with one practitioner.
This practitioner will act on behalf of the family to contact other practitioners and seek
their views. She or he will then discuss this information with the family and complete the
CAF assessment. You may find that you need to vary this process sometimes to meet the
unique needs of a family.
You may complete the CAF in any way and in any place that suits you and the family
provided you ensure that you always:
n work in a strength-based way
n work with the family at all stages and seek consent where appropriate
n inform the Integrated Services Team about all work that you do.
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You need to make your own professional judgement on how best to work with a family to
ensure that they are enabled to contribute fully. You must be satisfied that both the child/
young person and parents/carers have been able to fully express their views*. You may
need to talk to parents/carers and the child/young person together or separately. You will
need to work at a pace which suits the family and may need to complete the CAF over
several meetings.
The flowchart below illustrates the Nottinghamshire CAF process in detail.
* Except where a competent young person has given consent for a CAF to be
completed and has also chosen not to involve parents/carers. Young people should
be encouraged to involve parents/carers, but have the right to choose not to do so.
Figure 1: CAF Process in Nottinghamshire
If not sure what to do
(with consent from the
family, or if there is no
consent the child can be
discussed anonymously)
Has the child got additional needs under the 5
Every Child Matters Outcomes?
Discuss with child/young person and family
Gain written consent for CAF
Log CAF
Integrated Services Team (IST): 01623 433291
Complete CAF form as far as possible
Speak to other practitioners
Use the ‘My Feelings’ tool
All CAFs are collected
centrally; please send
recorded delivery to;
CAF Team
Integrated Services,
Meadow House,
Littleworth,
Mansfield, NG18 2TB
Or password protected/
encrypted to;
caf@nottscc.gov.uk
If need further
Advice and support
Send a copy of the CAF form to the Integrated
Services Team
Joint Access
Team
Child or young person’s
needs met by assessing
agency
At each stage,
consider if there are
any safeguarding
concerns.
If so, undertake the
appropriate action and
discontinue the CAF
process
Multi-agency/ Team around the Child Meeting
- Agree Multi-Agency Action Plan
- Lead Professional agreed
- Date of Review Meeting Set
- Update IST
Close CAF
Inform IST
Complete young person/parent questionnaire
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1.8
What do we mean by Early Intervention?
Figure 2: the Nottinghamshire Continuum of Children and Young People’s Needs
This model is used to illustrate the different levels of need of children and young
people in Nottinghamshire rather than numbers of children and young people at
each level. It recognises that children, young people and their families will have
different levels of needs, and that a family’s needs may change over time.
Early intervention means providing support to children and young people as soon as
we realise they are experiencing difficulties. It means intervening early before situations
reach crisis level, and making sure that we work in a coordinated way as soon as we
realise that a child has additional needs. Using the Pathway to Provision indicators of
need can help to identify if a child has additional needs. If a child is not making the
progress we would expect for his/her age, then early intervention and targeted support
services may need to provide additional services. If a child has needs that relate to
several services, then those services need to work together effectively.
Early intervention work can be with children of any age. Intervention in the early years
of children’s lives can be very effective as we support families as soon as they encounter
problems. However, children of all ages may experience difficulties and need additional
support. For most early intervention work we need the consent of the young person or
family. We are offering our help, but families choose if they want to accept it.
For children with more complex needs, we are likely to be already providing multi-agency
support. We need to continue to support these children, but early intervention means
reaching more children at an earlier stage – and working together to help families resolve
their problems as soon as possible.
6

1.9
How does the CAF support Early Intervention?
The CAF is the assessment tool for early intervention work. It summarises a child’s
strengths, needs and goals and can be shared between services as a starting point for
planning coordinated action. Usually, one practitioner works with the family to produce a
CAF assessment, consulting with other practitioners (with the family’s consent).
When to use a CAF
When to use a CAF is a matter for professional judgement. Consider using a CAF
on any occasion when you think it might help you to better understand a child or
young person’s strengths, needs and goals. The key question to ask is: “Would the
CAF provide useful additional information or bring together existing information
in one place?” If yes, then consider a CAF. Further guidance is available in the
Nottinghamshire Pathway to Provision Multi-Agency Thresholds Guidance.
A CAF might be useful in any of
these situations:
n if there are concerns about
a child’s progress towards
the Every Child Matters
outcomes without additional
services
n if the child’s strengths,
needs and goals are unclear
A CAF need not be done when:
n a child’s progress is good
n a child’s needs are identified by an
existing assessment and are being met
If at any stage when you are working with
a family, you think that a child is suffering
harm or abuse or likely to suffer harm or
abuse, then you must immediately follow
NSCB child protection procedures.
If you are unsure if a Common Assessment is required, the Pre-Assessment Checklist may
help you decide (Appendix C).
1.10
How does the Joint Access Team (JAT) support
Early Intervention work?
Examples of support the Joint Access Team might provide to a practitioner
1. A practitioner is unsure if a CAF
assessment is needed
2. A practitioner has completed
a CAF but is unsure which
support services to involve
3. A multi-agency group has met,
but was unable to agree a lead
professional
4. A multi-agency group has been
meeting regularly to support a
child, but has not been able to
make progress
JAT can provide advice on whether to use
CAF or an alternative approach
JAT can make recommendations on which
services to invite to a multi-agency meeting
JAT can agree which service has a
practitioner able to act as lead professional.
This practitioner will then contact the family
to offer to become lead professional
JAT uses combined expertise to identify
alternative approaches or alternative services
to involve
7

1.11
Forms to be used in Nottinghamshire to record
CAF assessments and Lead Professional working
There are standard forms to be used to record CAF assessments and multi-agency action
planning. Copies of all these forms are included with this handbook (see Section 6) and
are available on the Nottinghamshire County Council’s public website, at:
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
In Nottinghamshire, there are three forms to be used:
1. CAF Pre-Assessment Checklist (Appendix C)
This is a document that was produced nationally, and its use is optional. You may find
it a useful checklist when considering if a CAF would be helpful. It is not intended to
be shared with other services or used directly with families.
2. Nottinghamshire CAF form (Appendix B)
If you undertake a CAF assessment in Nottinghamshire, you should record assessment
findings using the standard Nottinghamshire CAF.
3. Nottinghamshire Multi-agency Review/Action Plan (Appendix D)
Following CAF completion, it is likely that a multi-agency support group will meet
regularly, coordinated by a lead professional. At each meeting, action will need to
be reviewed and further action planned. Unless a child’s/young person’s strengths or
needs have changed significantly, there will be no need to complete an updated CAF
at each meeting. Instead, the Nottinghamshire Multi-agency Action Plan should be
used to review and plan action.
Storage of copies of CAF forms and Multi-agency Review/Action Plan forms
Every time you complete one of these forms, you must store the original of the completed
form within your records for a child or young person. You should follow your service
procedures on the storage of information, including how long to keep information within
records, but must ensure that the original of the CAF is retained for at least six years.
A copy of the completed form must be given to the person within the family who gave
consent for CAF completion (either parent/carer or child/young person). Further copies
may be given to other practitioners or family members, if the consent-giver agrees. The
CAF Project Team within Integrated Services will also require a copy of the CAF; this
should be sent in line with your own organisation’s Information Sharing Governance. The
minimum expectations would be to send by email password protected to caf@nottscc.
gov.uk or by post to:
Integrated Services Team, Meadow House, Littleworth, Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire, NG18 2TB
Use of forms when working across boundaries
If a service works across local Children’s Trust boundaries, then practitioners may use
whichever area’s CAF form is most appropriate in the circumstances, taking into account
where the child/young person lives or accesses services, and the training that the lead
practitioner has attended.
Nottingham City is using a similar CAF form, also based on national guidance, and
working to similar arrangements, although there will be variation across localities to meet
local need. A practitioner who has completed CAF training in either Nottingham City or
Nottinghamshire may use the CAF in either area, using either city or county CAF form as
appropriate to the circumstances.
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1.12
Nottinghamshire procedures for registering
CAF work
Every time you use the CAF, you must register this by telephoning the
Integrated Services Team (IST): Telephone number: 01623 433291
This section explains why it is important for you to register the work that you do with the
Integrated Services Team (IST). It also tells you when you need to contact them and what
information you need to provide. This information is also available as a leaflet that you
can carry with you as a reminder (Appendix E).
Why we need to know if you use the CAF
We need to keep a central record of CAFs completed so that:
n we make sure that a child or young person has only one person working with
them to complete a CAF.
n we use information to evaluate how effectively we are using the CAF. The CAF
implementation team needs to undertake quality audits. They may use the
database to identify an individual child or young person and contact the lead
person to find out more about work done. Also, CAF management information
reports are produced, with no individuals identified.
How we keep information secure
Nottinghamshire County Council holds CAF information on behalf of Nottinghamshire
Children’s Trust. Information is held on a secure database. This holds the minimum
information needed to identify a child or young person and the lead person working with
them. It has no details about work done with families.
Only the Integrated Services Team can directly access this database. Practitioners
telephone the Integrated Services Team to update or request information.
Nottinghamshire County Council employees follow security procedures to confirm a
practitioner’s identity before giving out information about individuals.
When to phone the Integrated Services Team (IST) to find out if there is
already a CAF or a Lead Professional for a child or young person
You can phone any time you think that someone else may be working with the family. If
you are listed as having attended CAF training, the administrator will phone you back
with information. If not, the administrator may need to first contact your manager to
check why you need this information.
When to phone the Integrated Services Team (IST) about work that you
are doing with a child or young person
1. When you first decide to use the CAF
As soon as you have decided to use the CAF, phone the IST. The administrator will tell
you if has CAF has been started. If not, you will be recorded as the temporary lead
person.
2. When you have completed a CAF assessment
Phone the IST with the CAF completion date and agreed action.
This can be one of five options:
n multi-agency support needed
n referral to one other service
n further support from your own service
n child/young person or family withdraw consent
n no further action.
3. If you decide not to continue with the CAF for any reason
Phone the IST to record that CAF is no longer being used.
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4. If multi-agency support is needed
Phone the IST when the date of the first multi-agency family support meeting is agreed.
5. EVERY TIME a multi-agency family support meeting has happened
The lead professional phones the IST with agreed action and the next meeting date.
Possible actions are:
n multi-agency support continues
n referral to specialist service
n multi-agency support no longer needed.
6. If an updated CAF is completed at any stage
The practitioner who led on the CAF phones the IST with information about action
agreed (possible actions are as in situation 2).
1.13
Support for practitioners using the CAF
Before you start to use the CAF for the first time, you should make sure that you have
discussed this with your line manager. Your line manager should confirm with you how
to store a completed CAF within your service records and agree with you how you will be
supported within your service.
If you have any questions or concerns about CAF, you should always first discuss them
with your line manager. You may then agree, together with your line manager, to seek
the advice of your local JAT team. JAT teams can discuss individual children with the
consent of the family and recommend action. This could be at any stage in working with
a child or young person; you might want to seek advice about whether the CAF would be
a useful approach, or having completed a CAF, you might want to seek advice on how to
meet the child’s support needs.
Up-to-date information about the CAF is available online at:
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
If you want advice on using the CAF, or have any questions about how we are
implementing the CAF in Nottinghamshire, you may contact the CAF Team.
The CAF Team Telephone: 01623 433181
E-mail: caf@nottscc.gov.uk
10

Section 2
The Lead Professional
This section details the key functions of a Lead Professional, the rationale
for the role, along with useful skills when engaging with children, young
people and their families and working with others as part of a Team
around the Child.
12

2.1
Rationale for the Lead Professional
The lead professional contributes to the delivery of early intervention to children, young
people and families by taking the lead in coordinating provision and acting as the single
point of contact when a range of services are involved in providing integrated support to
a child or young person and their family following a Common Assessment.
This is outlined in the Statutory Guidance Supporting Section 10 (Inter-Agency
Cooperation) and Section 11 (Safeguarding and Promoting the Welfare of Children) of
Children Act 2004. All local authorities and relevant partners have to take account of this
guidance. If they decide to depart from it, they must have clear reasons for doing so.
2.2
Vision and Core Functions
for the Lead Professional
Vision
All children and young people with additional needs who
require support from more than one practitioner should
experience a seamless and effective service in which one
practitioner takes a lead role to ensure that services are coordinated,
coherent and achieving intended outcomes
Core functions of the Lead Professional
Act as a single
point of contact
for the child or
family
Co-ordinate the
delivery of actions
agreed by the
practitioners
involved
Reduce overlap
and inconsistency
in the services
received
2.3
The role of the Lead Professional
The lead professional contributes to the delivery of early intervention to children, young
people and families by taking the lead in coordinating provision, and acting as the single
point of contact when a range of services is involved in providing integrated support to
a child or young person and their family following a Common Assessment. The lead
professional could be any practitioner from across the children and young people’s
workforce, who is working with a child as part of his/her work. The group of practitioners
working with a child agree together with the family who would be best placed to be the
lead professional. This is usually the practitioner working most closely with the family,
13

or whose service has the main responsibility for meeting the child’s needs. The lead
professional is responsible for coordinating a joint multi-agency action plan. She or he
arranges regular joint meetings with the family and practitioners working with them to
review and update this action plan.
Many children who have a CAF assessment will need coordinated multi-agency support.
A practitioner who completes a CAF does not automatically become lead professional,
but is responsible for organising the first multi-agency meeting where the lead
professional is identified. Appendix F includes an example agenda for a Team around the
Child (TAC) meeting.
2.4
Useful skills for the Lead Professional
Understand
boundaries of
own skills and
knowledge
Strong
communication
skills; diplomacy;
sensitivity
Establish a
successful and
trusting relationship
with child/family
Knowledge of
local and regional
services for children
and families
Empower child/
family to make decisions
and challenge when
appropriate
Convene
meetings and
initiate discussions
with relevant
practitioners
Understand implications
of the child’s assessment,
for example in relation
to risks and protective
factors
Work effectively
with practitioners
from a range of
services
Support and
enable child/
family to achieve
their potential
2.5
Myth Buster –The Lead Professional Role
n does not need any particular qualifications
n does not have to be an ‘expert’ in everything
n is not automatically the person who carried out the CAF, although that person
is responsible for convening the initial Team around the Child (TAC) meeting at
which the lead professional is agreed
n is not responsible or accountable for the actions of the other practitioners or
services within the TAC. When you are the lead professional, you are accountable
to your home agency for delivering the lead professional functions and the
service provision from your home agency as agreed in the review/action plan
n will have support mechanisms in place to resolve any issues; for example, other
services failing to deliver on agreed actions.
14

2.6
Team Around the Child (TAC)/
Multi-agency Meeting
The Team around the Child (TAC) is a model of multi-agency service provision. The TAC
brings together a range of different practitioners from across the children and young
people’s workforce to support an individual child or young person and their family.
n members of the TAC are jointly responsible for developing and delivering a
package of solution-focused support to meet the needs of the child or young
person identified through the Common Assessment
n each member of the TAC is responsible for delivering the activities they agreed to
carry out as part of the action plan
n each member of the TAC is responsible for keeping the other members of the
team informed about progress in their area of responsibility
n TAC members should support the lead professional by keeping them informed,
providing reports promptly when requested and attending meetings
n all TAC members should contribute to taking minutes and chairing meetings and
take on other tasks as necessary
n TAC members should support the lead professional by providing information,
offering guidance and advice
n TAC members should contribute actively and positively to solving problems or
resolving difficulties.
2.7
Management, Supervision, Training and
Development
Good management and supervision arrangements will help you work more effectively as
a lead professional. Supervision can have different meanings in different agencies. In the
context of the lead professional, line management supervision ensures practitioners are
encouraged and supports to work effectively and efficiently to deliver the functions of the
lead professional role. Appendix I includes a supervision checklist to support this process.
Lead Professional Training will enhance practitioners’ confidence in undertaking this role.
For details of dates and venues please visit:
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
15

Section 3
Frequently Asked Questions about CAF
and Lead Professional
This section aims to answer frequently asked questions relating to the
Common Assessment Framework process which include queries relating
to parental responsibility, gaining consent, completing the assessment
and next steps.
16

3.1
List of Frequently Asked Questions
Using the CAF
1. Why is a CAF for one child, instead of a whole family approach?
2. Who can give consent to a CAF being completed?
3. What if a family does not want a CAF?
4. What if a family disagree and one person gives consent and another refuses?
5. Who needs to be involved in CAF completion?
6. How long does a CAF take to complete?
7. What if I complete a CAF and identify support needs but I don’t know which
support services should be involved to meet those needs?
8. Is the same form used across all areas?
9. Is the form available in other languages?
10. How do we deal with family members who are unable to communicate in
spoken English, either because English is not their first language or because
of disabilities?
11. How do we manage form completion for parents/carers who have difficulties
in reading or writing?
12. Where do I store a completed CAF and how long do I keep it?
13. How do we know if anyone else has completed a CAF for a child/young person?
14. Do we record families who refuse a CAF?
15. How do we find out if someone in another local authority area has completed a
CAF for a child/young person?
16. What is Parental Responsibility and who has Parental Responsibility?
17. If a young person consents to a CAF and doesn’t wish their parent’s to be
involved, do their parents (with parental responsibility) have a right to see the
information on the CAF without the young person’s consent?
Multi-Agency Family Support Meetings and Lead Professional Working
18. Must we always complete a CAF before we start a multi-agency action plan?
19. Can we have one multi-agency action plan for a family covering
several children?
20. If more than one child in a family has a CAF, can one person be lead
professional for the whole family?
21. If a multi-agency action plan is for a whole family, must every child in the family
have a CAF assessment?
22. What venues can we use for meetings with the family?
23. Is a multi-agency meeting intimidating for parents/carers
or children/young people?
24. Does a practitioner need any particular qualifications to be a lead professional?
25. How will becoming lead professional affect practitioners’ work load?
26. How is the work of lead professionals monitored?
27. What if we can’t agree on a lead professional?
17

3.2
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Using the CAF
1. Why is a CAF for one child, instead of a whole family approach?
Every child or young person is different and has unique strengths, needs and goals.
The CAF process considers the whole family but focuses on how this affects one child
or young person. Sometimes more than one child or young person in a family may have
a CAF assessment. Following on from this, it may be sensible to produce a combined
action plan for work with the whole family, but this will be based on an assessment of
what support each individual child or young person needs.
2. Who can give consent to a CAF being completed?
Whether to do a CAF is a decision that you should make jointly with the child or young
person and/or their parent(s)/carer(s). To complete a CAF, you need the consent of either
a parent/carer or of a child or young person who is competent to give consent. National
guidance states that a young person aged 16 or over, or a child under 16 who has the
capacity to understand and make his/her own decisions, may give (or refuse) consent for
the assessment to take place and may decide how much to involve his/her parents. In all
situations, children and young people should be encouraged to involve their parents or
carers as appropriate.
3. What if a family does not want a CAF?
The family’s views are an essential part of the CAF assessment and national guidance
states that you cannot do a CAF unless the child or young person and/or a parent/
carer agree. The CAF is entirely voluntary. If a family do not want a CAF, then you must
find other ways to work with them and support them. They may agree to a CAF at a
later stage, after you have done more work with them. If a CAF is refused and you are
concerned about the safety or welfare of a child you should follow NSCB child protection
procedures.
4. What if a family disagree and one person gives consent and another refuses?
The best way to resolve this is to work with the family to seek the agreement of all
involved. It is possible to do a CAF with the consent of only one parent/carer, or of a
competent child/young person as detailed in question two above.
5. Who needs to be involved in CAF completion?
The child or young person must be involved, unless the CAF is for an unborn child.
In most circumstances a parent/carer must be involved. The practitioner leading on
completing the CAF must meet with the family to complete the assessment. Other
practitioners may take part in meetings with the family or may be asked to contribute
information to the assessment (with family consent to information sharing). A parent/
carer or a child/young person may choose to involve a friend, supporter or advocate in
the CAF assessment.
6. How long does a CAF take to complete?
This will vary, depending on the needs and preferences of the family and the resources
available. The CAF can be completed at one meeting, or over a series of meetings with
the family.
7. What if I complete a CAF and identify support needs but I don’t know which
support services should be involved to meet those needs?
This is one reason why we are introducing the CAF alongside integrated locality working.
The local JAT (Joint Access Team) is a multi-agency group meeting regularly in areas
where integrated locality working is established. If you are unsure which services to
18

involve, contact your local JAT representative to ask the JAT team to discuss this at their
next meeting. The JAT will provide advice on which services could support the child/young
person. Further information is available from www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/jointaccessteams.
8. Is the same form used across all areas?
All local children and young people’s partnerships in England are implementing the same
national guidance, which includes a form for recording CAF assessments. Many areas,
including Nottinghamshire, have decided to amend the appearance or the content of
the form slightly to meet local needs, but forms for all areas are similar. You can use a
CAF form from another area to plan work in Nottinghamshire, provided that there have
been no significant changes in the child/young person’s strengths or needs since it was
completed.
9. Is the form available in other languages?
At the moment, the form is available only in English. It is not just a matter of having a
form available, but also thinking about how we communicate with families who do not
speak or read English (please see the next two questions).
10. How do we deal with family members who are unable to communicate in spoken
English, either because English is not their first language or because of disabilities?
If your service provides translation or interpretation services, then make use of these. You
may need to discuss on a multi-agency basis who can provide these services. If you need
advice on what is available to support families locally, talk to your manager or contact
your local JAT team.
11. How do we manage form completion for parents/carers who have difficulties in
reading or writing?
You may need to think about providing information in other formats if parents are unable
to deal with written language. This might mean making information available as voice
recordings using electronic media.
12. Where do I store a completed CAF and how long do I keep it?
You store the original of the CAF in your records for a child or young person. You must
give a copy to the family member who gave consent for CAF completion and may give a
copy to anyone else who the family member agrees should have a copy. You follow your
service guidance on storing information and on how long you keep information within
records, but you must keep the original of the CAF in your records for at least six years.
From October 2009 a copy of all completed CAFs must be sent to the CAF Team (see
Section 1.11).
13. How do we know if anyone else has completed a CAF for a child/young person?
The Integrated Services Team for Nottinghamshire, have access to a secure database
recording all children in Nottinghamshire who have a CAF or a lead professional. Before
starting to complete a CAF, contact the Integrated Services Team to check if anyone else
is already working with the family (see Section 1.12).
14. Do we record families who refuse a CAF?
As soon as you agree with the parent, child or young person to start a CAF, you contact
the Nottinghamshire Integrated Services Team (IST) to check if another practitioner is
already working with the family. If the family withdraw consent after this initial enquiry,
then this will be recorded. If a family DOES NOT consent to starting a CAF, this will not
be recorded by the IST (but may be noted within an agency’s own records for a child/
young person). Information may need to be shared in other ways, with each individual
agency following its current policies and procedures on information sharing.
19

15. How do we find out if someone in another local authority area has completed a
CAF for a child/young person?
All Children’s Trusts are establishing systems for recording who has a CAF. The
Nottinghamshire Integrated Services Team knows how to contact other local authority
areas to get this information.
16. What is Parental Responsibility?
While the law does not define in detail what parental responsibility is, the following list
sets out the key roles:
n providing a home for the child
n having contact with and living with the child
n protecting and maintaining the child
n disciplining the child
n choosing and providing for the child’s education
n determining the religion of the child
n agreeing to the child’s medical treatment
n naming the child and agreeing to any change of the child’s name
n accompanying the child outside the UK and agreeing to the child’s emigration,
should the issue arise
n being responsible for the child’s property
n appointing a guardian for the child, if necessary
n allowing confidential information about the child to be disclosed.
Who has Parental Responsibility?
In England and Wales, if the parents of a child are married to each other at the time
of the birth, or if they have jointly adopted a child, then they both have parental
responsibility. Parents do not lose parental responsibility if they divorce, and this applies
to both the resident and the non-resident parent.
This is not automatically the case for unmarried parents. According to current law,
a mother always has parental responsibility for her child. A father, however, has this
responsibility only if he is married to the mother when the child is born or has acquired
legal responsibility for his child through one of these three routes:
n (from 1 December 2003) by jointly registering the birth of the child
with the mother
n by a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
n by a parental responsibility order, made by a court
Living with the mother, even for a long time, does not give a father parental responsibility
and if the parents are not married, parental responsibility does not always pass to the
natural father if the mother dies.
All parents (including adoptive parents) have a legal duty to financially support their
child, whether they have parental responsibility or not.
17. If a young person consents to a CAF and doesn’t wish their parents to be involved,
do their parents (with parental responsibility) have a right to see the information on
the CAF without the young person’s consent?
The parents do not have the automatic right to see the information held on a child/young
person (even if they do have parental responsibility). Even if the child is under the age
of 12 and it is a parent with parental responsibility, the request should still be vetted to
ensure that the release of the information does not put a child or adult at risk.
A person only has the rights under the Data Protection Act to access their own records
unless they have written signed authorisation from the person to whom the records
belong. Obviously when records are released there is also an analysis of whether the
release of such documents would put a child at risk or could facilitate a crime (we can
choose to hold back a record if we think this is the case).
20

Multi-Agency Family Support Meetings and Lead Professional Working
18. Must we always complete a CAF before we start a multi-agency action plan?
Action planning should be based on a thorough assessment of a child or young person’s
strengths, needs and goals, which can be shared with the family and all practitioners
who are working with them. If there is already a suitable assessment in place, this can be
used. If not, complete a CAF assessment.
19. Can we have one multi-agency action plan for a family covering several children?
Yes, if this meets the needs of all children and young people in the family and the family
agrees to this approach. The CAF assessment is for an individual child or young person,
so that we understand their unique strengths, needs and goals. If more than one child or
young person in a family has a CAF, an action plan that follows on from the CAF can be
for the whole family.
20. If more than one child in a family has a CAF, can one person be lead professional
for the whole family?
Yes, if this meets the needs of all children and young people in the family and the family
agrees to this approach. It is important to check that one lead professional can meet
the needs of all children and young people, especially if there is a large age difference
between them. If there is more than one lead professional working with a family, they will
need to work closely together and share information (with consent where appropriate).
21. If a multi-agency action plan is for a whole family, must every child in the family
have a CAF assessment?
If an action plan covers a whole family, then some or all of the children may have a CAF
assessment. If any child or young person in the family needs additional support, a CAF
assessment should be considered. There may be other children or young people in a
family who do not require additional support, or who already have another assessment
completed. These other children or young people would not need a CAF assessment,
but might still be included in the action plan as part of the family. Use professional
judgement to decide who needs a CAF assessment, discussing this with the family, and
with other practitioners (with the family’s consent). Record any decisions made, and the
reasons for making them, in your records for the child or young person.
22. What venues can we use for meetings with the family?
Whatever is available where the family are comfortable. Local venues such as Children’s
Centres, Community Centres, Youth Centres, Connexions Centres or School premises may
be suitable. You could meet in the family home, if the family are happy with this.
23. Is a multi-agency meeting intimidating for parents/carers or children/young people?
Meetings should be set up to welcome parents/carers and children/young people and
ensure they feel comfortable. This includes: choosing a suitable venue, explaining the
purpose of the meeting and who will be there, and at all times using plain English and
avoiding jargon. It is our responsibility to work in ways which welcome family involvement.
The multi-agency family support meeting is not about us judging parents, but for parents
and children/young people to work with us to decide what support we can offer them.
24. Does a practitioner need any particular qualifications to be a lead professional?
No, more important than any specific qualification is the ability to engage with children/
young people and with parents/carers and to empower them to take an active role
in planning support to meet their needs. A lead professional must also understand
information sharing and confidentiality. If you act as a lead professional you need access
21

to regular supervision arrangements, where you can discuss the work that you do to
support individual children, young people or families. Supervision could be with your
manager or with another colleague in children’s services. If you are unsure whether you
could take on the role of lead professional, discuss this with your manager.
25. How will becoming lead professional affect practitioners’ work load?
Experience from other areas is that sometimes being the lead professional is more work
in the short-term, but that it is worth it as the family is better supported. The function of
the lead professional is to liaise with families and support them through the process as
well as to be a point of contact for other practitioners working with the family. It is a joint
responsibility for the Team around the Child to develop and deliver the agreed actions
and to contribute to taking minutes and chairing meetings. If all practitioners are working
in a more coordinated way because of the lead professional role then this reduces time
spent finding out what others are doing or in duplicating work. If you have any concerns
about your personal workload, then discuss these with your manager.
26. How is the work of lead professionals monitored?
Lead professionals are accountable to their own service for the quality of their work.
Local administration arrangements record who is acting as lead professional and
how often multi-agency meetings happen, but does not detail case information about
individual children, young people and families.
27. What if we can’t agree on a lead professional?
The experience of those who have used CAF is that, in many situations, they can agree
who would be best placed to be lead professional, by considering:
n who is working most closely with the family
n the predominate needs of the child/young person
n the preference of the parents/carers or child/young person.
If it is not possible to decide who will be lead professional, then discuss the situation with
your line manager, and agree what to do next. In areas where there is integrated locality
working supported by a JAT, one option is to ask the JAT team to discuss this at their next
meeting and advise on who might be a lead professional.
22

Section 4
Information Sharing within Integrated Early
Intervention Work in Nottinghamshire
This section provides clear direction for sharing information with other
professionals based on the national guidance for Information Sharing.
24

4.1
Purpose of this section
This document provides advice on information sharing for practitioners engaged in early
intervention work and for their managers. This includes practitioners using the Common
Assessment Framework or acting as lead professionals. This document should be read
together with information produced by the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children
Board, available at http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/nscb
4.2
Nottinghamshire advice on information sharing
about individual children and young people
within integrated locality working
The decision to share or not to share information about an individual child or young
person should always be based on professional judgement, supported by the cross-
Government Information Sharing: Practitioners Guide (updated in October 2008) and
informed by training. The safety and welfare of a child or young person should always be
considered paramount.
The Nottinghamshire Children’s Trust has not produced further local information sharing
guidance for front-line practitioners. The Children’s Trust considers that the cross-
Government guidance provides comprehensive advice to practitioners on the professional
judgements that they need to make when sharing information about individual children.
Practitioners should be aware of this cross-Government guidance and use it to support
their professional judgement when making decisions about information sharing. It is the
responsibility of each organisation within the Children’s Trust to ensure that its employees
receive appropriate training in information sharing, and that practitioners have access
to managerial advice about information sharing. Multi-agency training can support
organisations in meeting these responsibilities. Examples of such training are Common
Assessment Framework (CAF) and lead professional training, and safeguarding training.
Information sharing protocols and agreements are not required before frontline
practitioners can share information about a specific child, as stated in advice from the
DCFS in March 2009: ‘The decision to share or not to share information about a child
should always be based on professional judgement…The lack of an ISA [Information
Sharing Agreement] between agencies should never be a reason for not sharing
information that could help a practitioner deliver services to a child.’ Statement on
Information Sharing Agreements and Protocols (DCFS, August 2008).
There are a number of information sharing agreements and protocols existing between
partner organisations in Nottinghamshire, covering situations where business processes
require data to be shared, including where it is shared electronically. These agreements
and protocols will continue to exist, and will be further developed as necessary.
Information sharing agreements and protocols are not about frontline practitioners
sharing information about individuals while working with children and families.
25

4.3
Context: Summary of National Guidance and
Advice on Information Sharing
Cross-Government national guidance for practitioners on information sharing is
contained within the document Information Sharing: Practitioners Guide (DCFS
October 2008), and the associated documents: Information Sharing: Further Guidance
on Legal Issues (DCFS, 2008) and Information Sharing: Case Examples (DCFS, 2008).
The guidance has been endorsed by the following national bodies:
n The Information Commissioner
n Association of Chief Police Officers
n Association of Directors of Social Services, (Children & Families Committee)
n Barnardo’s
n Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
n General Medical Council
n Local Government Association
n Nursing and Midwifery Council
n Royal College of General Practitioners
n Royal College of Midwives
n Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Information sharing is key to the Government’s goal of delivering better, more efficient
public services that are coordinated around the needs of the individual. It is essential
to enable early intervention and preventative work, for safeguarding and promoting
welfare and for wider public protection. It is important that practitioners understand
when, why and how they should share information so that they can do so confidently and
appropriately as part of their day-to-day practice.
It is important to note that the lack of an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA)
between agencies should never be a reason for not sharing information that could help
a practitioner deliver services to a child.
This approach is supported by the Information Commissioner’s Office:
“All organisations can accomplish information sharing lawfully by
adhering to governing legislation and the principles of the Data
Protection Act whether an Information Sharing Protocol is in place
or not. An Information Sharing Protocol is a useful tool in some
circumstances. It is not a legal requirement.
An Information Sharing Protocol is a useful tool with which to
manage large scale, regular information sharing. It creates a
routine for what will be shared, when and with whom and provides
a framework in which this regular sharing can take place with
little or no intervention by practitioners.
It is not a useful tool for managing the ad hoc information sharing
which all practitioners find necessary. Most importantly it is not
intended to be a substitute for the professional judgment which
an experienced practitioner will use in those cases and should
not be used to replace that judgment.”
— Information Commissioner’s Office, Statement on Information
Sharing Agreements and Protocols (DCFS, August 2008)
26

4.4
Information Sharing and Confidentiality
The diagram below provides a helpful illustration of what practitioners should consider
when thinking about sharing information.
Figure 3: What to consider when sharing information
You are asked to or wish to share information
Is there a clear and legitimate purpose for
sharing information?
No
Yes
No
Does the information enable a living person to
be identified?
Yes
No
Is the information confidential?
Yes
Not Sure –
Seek Advice
Yes
Do you have consent?
No
You can
share
Yes
Is there sufficient public interest to share?
No
Do not
share
Share information:
n Identify how much information to share.
n Distinguish fact from opinion.
n Ensure you are giving the right information to the right person.
n Ensure you are sharing the information securely.
n Inform the person that the information has been shared if they were
not aware of this and it would not create or increase risk of harm.
Record the information sharing decision and your reasons.
27

4.5
Seven Golden Rules for Information Sharing
1. Remember that the Data Protection Act (DPA) is not a barrier
to sharing information.
2. Be open and honest with the person or family.
3. Seek advice if you are in any doubt.
4. Share with consent where appropriate.
5. Consider safety and well-being.
6. Necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure.
7. Keep a record of your decision and reasons.
4.6
Seven Key Questions for Information Sharing
1. Is there a clear and legitimate purpose for sharing information?
2. Does the information enable a living person to be identified?
3. Is the information confidential?
4. Do you have consent?
5. Is there sufficient public interest?
6. Are you sharing appropriately and securely?
7. Have you properly recorded your decision?
* From: Information Sharing Guidance for Practitioners (DCFS 2008)
28

Section 5
Nottinghamshire CAF Quality Assurance Framework
This section outlines the Nottinghamshire Quality Assurance Framework
for the Common Assessment Framework which consists of six stages:
self assessment and quality supervision, feedback from children/young
people and/or parents/carers, audit of the CAF process, evaluation of
the audit results, with feedback and recommendations as a result of the
evaluation leading to the final stage, improvements to the CAF Process.
The Quality Assurance Framework will provide examples of best practice
which will be shared with the wider workforce and used to improve
training and supervision.
30

5.1
Nottinghamshire Quality Assurance Framework
for the CAF
Introduction
All local authorities, working with their other partners in the Children’s Trust, are
responsible for introducing arrangements to ensure that the CAF process 1 is being
conducted in a high quality way across all children’s services.
In Nottinghamshire we have chosen to adopt and implement the nationally developed
Quality Framework for CAF along with a selection of local supporting tools to monitor
and improve the quality of the CAF process to help to improve outcomes for children and
young people.
Quality Framework (QF)
The framework covers six stages:
n self assessment & quality supervision throughout CAF process (Appendices H and I)
n feedback from the child/young person and/or parent/carer
(Appendices J, K, L and M)
n audit of the CAF process (Appendix O)
n evaluation of the audit results
n feedback and recommendations as a result of the evaluation
n improvements to the CAF process.
The diagram below shows how this process should work.
Figure 4: Quality Framework Process – leading to quality/service improvement
Seek guidance
Practitioner Self
Assessment
Quality Supervision
Coaching and feedback
Improvements to
the CAF Process
Feedback from Child/
Young Person and/or
Parent/Carer
Feedback and
Workforce
Development
Recommendations
Audit Process
Evaluation Process
1
The CAF process should be taken to mean the four-step process outlined in national
guidance for managers and practitioners:
Step1. Identify needs early; Step 2. Assess those needs; Step 3. Deliver integrated
services and Step 4. Review progress. (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/
strategy/deliveringservices1/caf/cafframework/)
31

To deliver this quality assurance framework we have the following structures
in place in Nottinghamshire.
a) CAF Team: Situated in the local authority, this team is responsible for co-ordinating
the audits, including collating feedback from the child/young person/family both during
and after the CAF process.
b) Nominated Auditor(s): Each service that uses the CAF should nominate a minimum
of one CAF Auditor depending on the size of the service. Heads of Service should
nominate their service’s auditor. Nominated Auditors need to be operational managers or
team leaders from within that service area. The Nominated Auditor(s) should be wholly
independent from the assessments they are auditing. The Auditor must be CRB checked.
c) CAF Quality Assurance Group: Members of the CAF Quality Assurance Group need
to be senior operational managers representing all partners (e.g. Health, Children’s
Social Care, Sure Start Children’s Centres, schools, etc.) and the lead CAF contact. The
group needs to have representation from all agencies using the CAF. This will ensure that
lessons learnt are built into workforce development and service improvement. The terms of
reference for this group are included as Appendix O.
Stage 1: Self-assessment and Quality Supervision
A practitioner should be aware, from their CAF training, of what constitutes as a ‘good
quality’ CAF process and should be mindful of this throughout. The regular feedback
from child/young person and/or parent/carer throughout the CAF process will also help
practitioners assess how well the CAF process is going from the family’s point of view.
This should take place at the end of the assessment and at each review (recommended
to be every three months as a minimum). Where a practitioner encounters a problem
outside of their control they should raise this with their line manager.
This stage is also part of a line manager’s general supervision, coaching and feedback
discussions and should be on an ongoing basis. This can therefore take place at any
time during the CAF process. It is recommended that the first two to three Common
Assessments undertaken by a practitioner have quality supervision regularly throughout
the process. After this a decision should be made about the level of quality supervision
and support the practitioner needs thereafter.
Tools:
n self-assessment checklist – in Nottinghamshire we are utilising the nationally
developed checklist (Appendix H)
n quality supervision checklist – in Nottinghamshire we are utilising the nationally
developed checklist (Appendix I).
NB The checklists are only intended as a prompt for practitioners and line managers
and are therefore optional. The key point is for the practitioner to be aware of the
quality criteria when going through the CAF process and for the line manager to provide
supervision against the same quality criteria.
Stage 2: Feedback from the Child/Young Person and/or Parent/Carer
It is good practice for practitioners completing CAFs to send out regular feedback
forms to the child/young person and/or parent/carers during the CAF process. It is
recommended that feedback is sought after every assessment, at least every six months
thereafter, and again six months after the CAF episode has closed. Any feedback
received during the CAF process should be shared with their Line Manager to support
them in their coaching and feedback, as well as the CAF team.
Tools: Nottinghamshire have developed a selection of appropriate feedback forms for
children, young people and parents/carers (Appendices J, K, L and M).
32

Stage 3: The Audit of the CAF Process
The objective of the audit is to explore how far each stage of the CAF process has been
carried out effectively. When first implementing this quality framework or during the early
stages of implementing the CAF, it is recommended that one in every ten closed CAF
episodes should be audited. The paperwork the Auditors should review in undertaking
this function are: the CAF assessment form; all the CAF delivery plans and review forms
completed during the CAF process; and any feedback forms from the family.
You may be approached by a member of the Nottinghamshire CAF Team to advise you
that a CAF you have completed is being audited. The CAF quality assurance process
respects the confidentiality of the CAF form and associated paperwork. A member of
the CAF team will know the name of any child/young person selected for audit, but will
not pass this information on to anyone else. All identifying information will be removed
before the CAF form and any associated paperwork is reviewed by the CAF Quality
Assurance Group.
The audit process should record:
n the quality of the CAF process records;
n the participation of the child/young person and/or parents/carers in the process
and their satisfaction with the process and services provided; and
n the effectiveness of the actions taken in meeting the aims identified.
The Audit must not be carried out by any person who has had any involvement in the
particular assessment being audited.
Tools: Quality Review Form. In Nottinghamshire we are utilising the nationally developed
checklist (Appendix O).
Stage 4: The Evaluation of the Audit Results
The evaluation process will be conducted by a multi-agency CAF Quality Assurance
Group, which includes CAF Auditors and the local authority CAF lead. A bi-monthly
evaluation meeting will take place to ensure that the lessons learnt are built into
workforce development and service improvement.
Line Managers (and by definition practitioners from all children’s services) are able to
feed their views/concerns into this forum through their representative on the group or via
a member of the CAF team (e.g. difficulties engaging a service, a service does not exist
to meet the needs identified, suggested improvements for training, etc). Additionally any
statistics (e.g. who is undertaking CAFs, who has been trained, who is taking on the lead
professional role, etc.) or surveys will be fed into this meeting by the CAF team.
The CAF Quality Assurance Group will also be provided with the scores from the audited
CAFs identified by service areas. If any scores fall below a pre-determined figure, set by
the CAF Quality Assurance Group, the reasons should be investigated by the CAF Quality
Assurance Group and corrective action agreed, implemented and reviewed.
The CAF Quality Assurance Group will decide on appropriate action to take in the
case of persistent poor quality of assessment completions and limited improvement in
outcomes for the child or young person concerned. Additionally, where a cross authority
CAF has been audited and has been identified as either poor quality and/or with limited
outcomes, the two authorities should consider how more effective cross authority working
can be achieved.
Stage 5: Feedback & Workforce Development Recommendations
Stage 5: Feedback & Workforce Development Recommendations
The CAF Quality Assurance Group should feed back the results of the evaluation process
to the local authority’s Early Intervention Working Group.
33

The CAF Quality Assurance Group should also feed back the results of the evaluation
process to line managers/service managers/ heads of service to help them in:
n identifying the training needs for their practitioners
n monitoring the CAF process
n identifying issues for supervision
n identifying support or development needs in services for local authority
CAF teams
n identifying support or development needs in services across the Children’s Trust to
enable all services to achieve the Regional Minimum Standards for the Common
Assessment Framework (CAF) within Integrated Working Practices in the East
Midlands (see Appendix P)
n performance management of services within Children’s Trusts
n establishing more effective cross authority working
n identifying gaps in the service provision and/or disparities in the supply
and demand of the service provision.
The CAF Quality Assurance Group will make any recommendations to workforce
development leads/training managers/CAF Project Managers to highlight identified
areas for improvement to existing CAF training and any additional items that need
attention or inclusion.
The CAF Quality Assurance Group will feedback any issues or concerns relating to gaps
in service provision and problems around service engagement to the Children’s Trust
commissioners.
Step 6: Improvements to the CAF Process
The improved training, supervision and service supply as a result of the Quality
Framework and the resultant improved outcomes for children and young people
completes the cycle of the Quality Framework.
Governance of the Quality Framework
The Children’s Act 2004, as amended by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and
Learning (ASCL) Act 2009, places a duty on all ‘relevant partners’ to work together
within the Children’s Trust co-operation arrangements. The ASCL Act also requires that
every area should have in place a Children’s Trust Board by April 2010 which will have
responsibility for preparing the Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP). As part of
developing the CYPP, the local authority working with their partners in the Children’s
Trust, take the lead in developing and integrating processes to enable staff in the
different agencies to work together as a Team around the Child or family — this
includes CAF.
34

Section 6
Appendices
This section includes all the appendices referred to in this document
which will support practitioners when using the Common Assessment
Framework process.
36

Appendix A
Common Assessment Framework
Guidance
Taken from The Common Assessment Framework for children and young people:
Supporting tools
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/resources-and-practice/IG00146
The purpose of this document is to provide practitioners completing a common assessment with guidance on areas to
explore with children, young people and their families.
Health
Development of the infant, child or young person
General health: The infant, child or young person’s current health condition (for example, conditions of relevance to an
infant, child or young person including growth, development, physical and mental well-being). How far the infant, child or
young person appears healthy and well, is growing and developing normally and is accessing health services (such as GP,
dentist or optician) appropriate to their age.
Physical development: The infant, child or young person’s means of mobility, level of physical or sexual maturity/delayed
development. How far the infant, child or young person’s physical skills seem to be developing normally for their age, for
example whether they are crawling, walking and running as expected and whether their vision and hearing seems
normal.
Speech, language and communications development: The ability to communicate effectively, confidently and
appropriately with others. How far for their age the infant, child or young person seems able and willing to speak,
communicate, read and write, and express their feelings.
Emotional and social development
The emotional and social response the infant, child or young person gives to parents and carers and others outside the
family. How well the infant, child or young person copes with everyday life, e.g. their disposition, attitudes and
temperament, any phobias or psychological difficulties.
Behavioural development
The behaviour of the child or young person. How well behaved the infant, child or young person is and, for example, any
anti-social or aggressive behaviour.
How the child or young person feels about his / her self
The growing sense of self as a separate and valued person. How far the infant, child or young person seems to be
developing the right measure of confidence and self-assurance, and how far they have a sense of belonging.
Family and social relationships
The ability to empathise and build stable and affectionate relationships with others, including family, peers and the wider
community. How far the infant, child or young person is building stable and affectionate relationships with others,
including family, peers and the wider community.
Self-care skills and independence
The acquisition of practical and emotional competences to increase independence. How independent the infant, child or
young person is for their age – how far they can do routine tasks for themselves and make their own decisions.

Learning
Understanding, reasoning and problem solving: The ability to understand and organise information, reason and solve
problems. How well for their age the infant, child or young person is able to understand and organise information, reason
and solve problems.
Participation in learning, education and employment: The degree to which a child or young person has access to and is
engaged in education and/or work based training and, if he/she is not participating, the reason for this. How far the
infant, child or young person is engaged in and attending learning appropriate to their age, whether through play, early
years settings, school or college/employment.
Progress and achievement in learning: The child or young person’s educational achievements and progress, including in
relation to their peers. The infant, child or young person’s educational achievements and progress, including ability to
read and write, compared with what would normally be expected from someone of their age.
Aspirations: The ambition of the child or young person, whether their aspirations are realistic and they are able to plan how
to meet them. Note there may be barriers to a child or young person’s achievement of their aspirations, for example the
child or young person’s other responsibilities in the home.
Basic care, ensuring safety and protection
Parents and Carers
The extent to which an infant, child or young person’s physical needs are met and they are protected from harm or
danger, including self-harm. How far the infant, child or young person is safe from harm or sexual exploitation, is well-fed
and cared for, and living in a safe, warm and clean home.
Emotional warmth and stability
Provision of emotional warmth in a stable environment, giving the infant, child or young person a sense of being valued.
How far the infant, child or young person is loved, in a stable environment, and in contact with those who are important
to him/her.
Guidance, boundaries and stimulation
Enabling the infant, child or young person to regulate their own emotions and behaviour while promoting the infant, child
or young person’s learning and intellectual development through encouragement and stimulation and promoting social
opportunities. How far the infant, child or young person is subject to, and provided with, appropriate guidance and
discipline at home and elsewhere, and helped to learn.
Family history, functioning and well-being
Family and Environment
The impact of family situations and experiences Who lives in the household and how they relate to the infant, child or
young person, including any changes since the child's birth; family routines; and anything about the family history, such
as family breakdown, illnesses (physical or mental) or problems with alcohol or other substances that are having an
impact on the child’s development.
Wider family
The family’s relationships with relatives and non-relatives. Whether there is an appropriate level of help for the infant,
child, young person or parents/carers from relatives and others.
Housing, employment and financial considerations
What are the living arrangements? Does the accommodation have appropriate amenities and facilities? Who is working
in the household, the pattern of their work and any changes. Income over a sustained period of time. Whether the
accommodation has everything needed for living safely and healthily, and the effect on the infant, child or young person
of the work and financial situation of the family or household.
Social and community elements
Explores the wider context of an infant, child or young person’s neighbourhood and its impact on them, including local
services and facilities available. Impact on the infant, child or young person of the local area, including crime levels,
availability and quality of shops, schools/colleges etc. This includes how well the child or young person fits in with
neighbours, friends and others.

Appendix B
Nottinghamshire Common
Assessment Framework (CAF)
Safeguarding
If at any time during the course of this assessment you feel that
a child or young person has been harmed or abused or is likely
to be harmed or abused, you must follow Nottinghamshire
Safeguarding Children Board (NSCB) policies and procedures.
Before starting this assessment please ring the
Integrated Services Team on 01623 433291
Child or young person: CONTACT INFORMATION
If unborn baby, write name as ‘unborn baby’ and mother’s name, for example ‘unborn baby of Ann Smith’
Name
Also known as/previous names
Address
Date of birth
(or expected delivery date)
Contact phone number
Gender
Male/Female/Unknown
Date CAF started
Child or young person : ETHNICITY
White British Caribbean Indian White & Black Chinese
Caribbean
White Irish African Pakistani White & Black African Any other ethnic
group*
Any other White Any other Black Bangladeshi White & Asian Not given
background* background*
Any other Asian Any other mixed * If ‘other’ please describe
background* background*
Religion (if given)
Parents/Carers : CONTACT INFORMATION
Name
Address
Also known as/previous names
Postcode
Contact phone number
Relationship to child or young person
Name
Address
Parental responsibility?
YES/NO
Also known as/previous names
Postcode
Contact phone number
Relationship to child or young person
Parental responsibility?
YES/NO
Does the child, young person, parents or carers have any disability/communication/diversity issues (please give
details/requirements)

Family and home situation Use this space to record any other information about the family that may be helpful. This might
include information about brothers, sisters or other relatives.
Assessment information
Why is this assessment being completed?
People who have contributed to this assessment
Practitioner completing assessment and taking the lead role at this stage
Name
Address
Contact phone number
Email
Role
Organisation
Services working with this child /young person
Universal Services Details of Services Phone Number
GP (family doctor)
Midwife, Health Visitor or School
Nurse
Early Years, Education or Training
Provision
Other services

Assessment of Strengths and Needs - Development of Child/ Young Person
For guidance on completing the assessment factors please refer to Appendix A
(There is no need to comment on all factors. If there are no issues please state this on the form)
Health
Emotional and social development
Behavioural development
How the child or young person feels about his/her self
Family and social relationships
Self-care skills and independence
Learning

Assessment of Strengths and Needs - Parents and Carers
Basic care, ensuring safety and protection
Emotional warmth and stability
Guidance, boundaries and stimulation
Assessment of Strengths and Needs - Family and Environment
Family history, functioning and well-being
Wider family
Housing, employment and financial considerations
Social and community elements

Action Plan
Child/Young Person’s Goals Parent’s/Carer’s Goals Practitioner’s Goals
What does the child or young person
want to achieve?
What do parents/carers want for
their child?
What is the worker hoping to achieve
by completing this assessment?
Agreed Actions
What needs to be done?
Why are we doing this?
How does this relate to agreed
goals and next steps
Who will do this?
By when?
How will we know when the action has been successful? What will be different?
How and when will action be reviewed?

Child/young person’s comments on the assessment and actions identified
Parent’s/carer’s comments on the assessment and actions identified
Practitioner’s comments on the assessment and actions identified
Child/ Young Person I agree that this is an accurate record of our discussion
Signed Name Date
Parent/Carer I agree that this is an accurate record of our discussion
Signed Name Date
Practitioner completing assessment I agree that this is an accurate record of our discussion
Signed Name Date
Consent for information sharing and information storage
I am the child/young person named in this form
I understand the information recorded in this form. I know that it will be used to provide services to me and may be stored
electronically. A copy will be held securely with Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Department
and may be used for monitoring purposes, where all identifying information will be removed.
The reasons for information sharing have been explained to me. I understand those reasons.
I agree to the sharing of information between the services that will contribute to the delivery of this action plan. These
services are listed below:
I agree to the sharing of agreed information with these members of my family (for example, parents)
Signed Name Date
Consent for information sharing and information storage
I am a parent/carer of the child/young person named in this form
I understand the information recorded in this form. I know that it will be used to provide services to me and may be stored
electronically. A copy will be held securely with Nottinghamshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Department
and may be used for monitoring purposes, where all identifying information will be removed.
The reasons for information sharing have been explained to me. I understand those reasons.
I agree to the sharing of information between the services that will contribute to the delivery of this action plan. These
services are listed below:
I agree to the sharing of agreed information with these members of my family (for example, partner/ex-partner)
Signed Name Date

Appendix C
Common Assessment Framework
for Children and Young People
Pre-assessment checklist
Notes for use: If you are completing form electronically, text boxes will expand to fit your
text where check boxes appear, insert an ‘X’ in those that apply.
Identifying details (For unborn baby, infant, child or young person; include contact name for parent/carer)
Name
Date of birth or EDD 1
Contact name
Contact tel. no.
Address
Checklist (Record evidence and comments in the white boxes below, where relevant)
Does the unborn baby, infant, child or young person appear to be:
• Healthy Yes No Not sure
• Safe from harm? Yes No Not sure
• Learning and developing? Yes No Not sure
1
Expected date of delivery

• Having a positive impact on others? Yes No Not sure
• Free from the negative impact of poverty? Yes No Not sure
If you answered ‘No’ to any of the previous questions, what additional services are needed for the unborn baby, infant, child
or young person or their parent(s), carer(s) or families?
Can you provide the additional services needed? Yes No
If you answered ‘No’ or ‘Not sure’ to any of the previous questions, or it is not clear what
support is needed, would an assessment under the Common Assessment Framework help? Yes No
If you answered ‘Yes’ to the previous question, who will do this assessment?
I will
Name of practitioner/agency
Another practitioner will
Date completed form

Appendix D
Nottinghamshire Common
Assessment Framework (CAF)
Review/Action Plan
Personal details
Child/young person’s name
Address
Review date
Gender
Male / Female / Unknown
Postcode
Date of birth/expected delivery date
Lead professional details
Name
Address
Agency/relationship
Contact number
Email
Postcode
People present
Review progress and goals
Can the CAF be closed:
Reason for closure

Review progress and goals
Action Why are we doing this? Who will do this? By when? Progress & comment Date closed Which ECM Outcome is
this contributing to?
Child or young person’s comment on the review and actions identified
Parent or carer’s comment on the review and actions identified
Signatures
Young person Date Agreed review date
Parent/carer Date
Lead professional Date

WHY WE NEED TO KNOW IF YOU
USE THE CAF
We need to keep a central record of all
CAFs initiated so we can:
• make sure that there is only one CAF in
place for a child or young person at any
one time
• use our information to evaluate how
effectively we are using the CAF.
HOW WE KEEP
INFORMATION SECURE
Nottinghamshire County Council holds
CAF information on behalf of the Children
and Young People’s Trust. Information is
held on a secure database. This holds the
minimum information needed to identify
a child or young person and the lead
professional working with them. It does not
contain details about work carried out with
the family.
Workers will telephone the Integrated
Services Team for a number of reasons.
They can call to find out if a CAF has been
completed for a child or young person they
are working with, to give updates on work
carried out, and to close the CAF when
necessary. The Integrated Services Team
follows security procedures to confirm a
worker’s identity before giving out any
information about a child or young person.
Information held on the database may
be used to monitor the use of CAF
within Nottinghamshire. All identifying
information will be removed from
reports. They may also contact the lead
professional to find out more about work
carried out.
To find out more
information about the
CAF process:
E-mail: caf@nottscc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01623 433181
Appendix E
Using the
CAF ?

To ensure that there is only one
CAF in place for a child or young
person at any one time, the
Integrated Services Team holds a
central log of all CAFs initiated by
practitioners.
Once you have decided to
undertake a Common Assessment
Framework, please contact the
Integrated Services Team on 01623
433291 to see if a CAF is already
in existence for the child or young
person you are working with.
If there is a CAF in place, the
Integrated Services Team will
call you back to provide you with
the contact details of the lead
professional so you can contribute
to the ongoing support being
offered to the child or young
person. The Integrated Services
Team will always verify who you are
before giving out any information.
If there is not a CAF in place, you
will be asked to provide some basic
details about yourself and the child
or young person in order for the
CAF to be logged centrally.
When you log a CAF, the Integrated
Services Team will ask you for the
child or young person’s:
• Name
• Date of birth
• Address
They will also ask for the following
information about you:
• Name
• Role
• Address
• Phone number
• E-mail address
At this point you will be recorded as
the temporary lead professional.
The original CAF form should
remain within your service. Please
give a copy to the family and to any
practitioners that the family have
consented to.
A copy of the CAF form should
be sent in line with your agency’s
Information Sharing Governance to:
Claire Flexney
CAF Project Manager
Integrated Services
Meadow House
Littleworth
Mansfield NG18 2TB
It is important to keep our CAF central
records up to date. Please call back on
the following occasions:
• When you have completed the
CAF assessment. Please inform
us of the completion date and
outcome of the assessment e.g.
support provided by a single
service, multi-agency support
needed, or no further action.
• When you have the dates of
Team Around the Child (TAC)
meetings. Please let us know if
TAC meetings will continue or if
needs are being met by a single
service.
• If there is a new lead professional
at any stage, please provide their
contact details and their role.
• When a CAF is closed. The
family may withdraw consent,
the child or young person’s
needs may have been met, or a
referral to a specialist service e.g.
Children’s Social Care may have
been made.

Appendix F
Example of a CAF Team Around
the Child Meeting Agenda
Agenda Items
• House Keeping
• Agree a minute taker — this does not have to be the person who called the meeting
• Introductions and apologies
• Group Agreement — including, time, confidentiality, data sharing
• Purpose of the meeting — this is usually to see what support can be offered to child/
young person / family or to review progress on support which has already been offered at
a previous meeting
• Share CAF — If the CAF has not been shared until this point allow people time to read
through this
• Go over the main strengths and needs which have been highlighted in the CAF
• Parents contributions — supported by Lead Professional
• Agency contribution
• Agree action points/review action points and record these — If all needs can not be
met, action the ones that can and seek further advice from the JAT
• Agree lead professional
• Agree next meeting date and venue

Appendix G
Team Around the Child Meeting
Date and Venue
Name Role Organisation E-mail Telephone

Name Role Organisation E-mail Telephone

Appendix H
Nottinghamshire Common
Assessment Framework (CAF)
CAF Self-Assessment Checklist
Step 1: Identify needs early
Valid:
Is there a clear reason for undertaking the CAF (i.e., concerns about the child’s
or young person’s progress towards the five ECM priority outcomes without
additional services)?
Inclusive: Have you had a discussion with child/young person and/or parent/carer about
your concerns?
Efficient: Have you checked to see who else is working with the child/young person and whether
a common assessment already exists?
Transparent: Do the child/young person and/or parent/carer understand the purpose of the CAF
process, why and how their information will be recorded, what it will be used for and
who else will see it?
Voluntary: Do you have agreement/consent from child/young person and/or parent/carer to
undertake a common assessment?
Equal opportunity: Are any special arrangements needed for the assessment (e.g., interpreter, access etc)?
Yes
No
Step 2: Assess those needs
Complete:
Valid:
Accurate:
Have you completed all mandatory fields?
Have you assessed both the strengths and needs of the child/young person and family
and explored these holistically?
Have you provided an accurate representation of the discussion and highlighted what
is fact and what is judgement or opinion (including whose judgement/opinion)?
Solution-focused: Does the assessment focus on what the child/young person and their parents/carers
want to achieve?
Clear:
Is the assessment clear, concise and understandable by all those involved and any
practitioners who may get involved or take responsibility for the child/young person’s
case at a later stage?
Inclusive: Have you represented the views and opinions of the child/young person and/or parent/carer?
Have the child/young person and/or parent/carer had their comments included on the form?
Do they understand/agree with who the form will be shared with and have they signed the
consent statement?
Equal opportunity: Have you ensured the assessment is not biased and gives positive expression to the
opinions and experiences of the child/young person and/or their parents/carers without
prejudice or discrimination?
Professional:
Is the assessment non judgemental and does it follow your organisational codes of
practice for recording/writing public documents?
Yes
No

Step 3: Deliver integrated services
Complete:
Voluntary:
Inclusive:
Inclusive:
Efficient:
Comprehensive:
Solution-focused:
Logical:
Informative:
Transparent:
Are the mandatory fields on the delivery plan complete and accurate, and have actions
from the CAF action plan have been brought forward?
Where a multi-agency/disciplinary response is required, has consent been gained from
the child/young person and/or parent/carer to share information?
Where a multi-agency/disciplinary response is required, have you organised a Team
Around the Child (TAC)?
Where a multi-agency/disciplinary response is required, have you agreed and recorded
who the lead professional will be?
Are the child/young person and/or their parent/carer part of the TAC, have you sought
and recorded their views, and used them to inform next steps in delivery?
Are you involving the child/young person, their parent/carer (and others affected by the
plan) in the decisions taken, and encouraging them to take on actions themselves
where appropriate?
Have you/the TAC taken into account value for money (in terms of time and resource)
in developing a support package?
Have you considered all significant options and impacts?
Do all the short term decisions taken support long-term goals?
Are all actions linked to an ECM aim?
Does each step lead to the next within a broad strategic framework of SMART
objectives and solution-focused outcomes?
Were the decisions taken understood by all the people involved?
Does everybody involved understand how the process works?
Yes
No
Step 4: Review Progress
Timely:
Complete:
Holistic:
Inclusive:
Progressive:
Are reviews taking place at appropriate intervals based on the child/young person’s
needs (every three months as a minimum)?
Are the mandatory fields on the review form complete and accurate?
Have existing actions been reviewed and closed or updated, and where appropriate
have new actions been agreed and recorded?
Have you discussed and recorded the child/young person’s progress against the
original aims?
Were the child/young person and/or parent carer present at the review and were their
views sought and utilised in planning the next steps and their comments recorded?
Have you recorded any newly identified needs and strengths and used them to inform
the next steps in delivery?
Is progress being made between reviews? Have outcomes (as opposed to outputs)
been met?
Have you recorded and escalated any difficulties in engaging/commissioning a service,
or in services not delivering on agreed actions?
Yes
No

Appendix I
Nottinghamshire Common
Assessment Framework (CAF)
CAF Quality Supervision Checklist
Step 1: Identify needs early
Valid:
Is there a clear reason for undertaking the CAF (i.e., concerns about the child’s or young
person’s progress towards the five ECM priority outcomes without additional services)?
Inclusive: Has a discussion with child/young person and/or parent/carer about the
practitioner’s concerns taken place?
Efficient: Has the practitioner checked to see who else is working with the child/young person
and whether a common assessment already exists?
Transparent: Has the practitioner explained to the child/young person and/or parent/carer the
purpose of the CAF process, why and how their information will be recorded, what will
it be used for and who else will see it?
Voluntary: Has greement/consent been gained from the child/young person and/or parent/carer
to undertake a common assessment?
Equal opportunity: Where appropriate, have any special arrangements been organised for the assessment
(e.g., interpreter, access, etc.)?
Yes
No
Step 2: Assess those needs
Complete:
Valid:
Accurate:
Has the practitioner completed all mandatory fields?
Have both the strengths and needs of the child/young person and family
been explored holistically?
Has an accurate representation of the discussion been provided, highlighting what is
fact and what is judgement or opinion (including whose judgement/opinion)?
Solution-focused: Does the assessment focus on what the child/young person and their parents/carers
want to achieve?
Clear:
Is the assessment clear, concise and understandable?
Inclusive: Has the practitioner represented the views and opinions of the child/young person and/or
parent/carer?
Has the child/young person and/or parent/carer had their comments included on the form?
Does the form clearly state who the information will be shared with and is there a signed
consent form?
Equal opportunity: Are you content that the assessment is not biased and gives positive expression to the
opinions and experiences of the family without prejudice or discrimination?
Professional:
Is the assessment non judgemental and does it follow your organisational codes of
practice for recording/writing public documents?
Yes
No

Step 3: Deliver integrated services
Yes
Complete: Are the mandatory fields on the delivery plan complete and accurate, and have actions
from the CAF action plan have been brought forward?
Voluntary: Where a multi-agency/disciplinary response is required, has consent been gained from
the child/young person and/or parent/carer to share information?
Inclusive: Where a multi-agency/disciplinary response is required, have you organised a Team
Around the Child (TAC)?
Where a multi-agency/disciplinary response is required, have you agreed and recorded
who the lead professional will be?
Are the child/young person and/or their parent/carer part of the TAC, have you sought
and recorded their views, and used them to inform next steps in delivery?
Inclusive: Are you involving the child/young person, their parent/carer (and others affected by the
plan) in the decisions taken, and encouraging them to take on actions themselves where
appropriate?
Efficient: Have you/the TAC taken into account value for money (in terms of time and resource) in
developing a support package?
Comprehensive: Have you considered all significant options and impacts?
Solution-focused: Do all the short term decisions taken support long-term goals?
Are all actions linked to an ECM aim?
Logical:
Does each step lead to the next within a broad strategic framework of SMART
objectives and solution-focused outcomes?
Informative: Were the decisions taken understood by all the people involved?
Transparent: Does everybody involved understand how the process works?
No
Step 4: Review Progress
Yes
Timely:
Are reviews taking place at appropriate intervals based on the child/young person’s
needs (every three months as a minimum)?
Complete: Are the mandatory fields on the review form complete and accurate?
Have existing actions been reviewed and closed or updated, and where appropriate have
new actions been agreed and recorded?
Holistic: Have you discussed and recorded the child/young person’s progress against the original
aims?
Inclusive: Were the child/young person and/or parent carer present at the review and were their
views sought and utilised in planning the next steps and their comments recorded?
Have you recorded any newly identified needs and strengths and used them to inform
the next steps in delivery?
Progressive: Is progress being made between reviews? Have outcomes (as opposed to outputs)
been met?
Have you recorded and escalated any difficulties in engaging/commissioning a service,
or in services not delivering on agreed actions?
No

Appendix J
CAF
My Feelings Colouring Chart
Name.......................................................Age.............
How happy
are you?
Thinking about everything we’ve talked about, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 is being as happy as
you could be… where are you now?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

CAF
My Feelings Number Line
Date........................
Name.......................................................Age.............
How happy are you?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CAF
My Feelings Number Line
Date........................
Name.......................................................Age.............
Thinking about everything we’ve talked about, on a scale of 0 to 10, where
10 is being as happy as you could be… where are you now?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

CAF
My Feelings Feedback Record
Form for practitioners to record child/young person’s views and ideas
Child/young person’s name...............................................................................
DOB..................................
Where are you now? Are you generally happy at home? Sad at home? Or somewhere in between?
What makes you feel like this?
If things were better what would they look like?
What could you do or someone else do that could make this better?
Where are you now? Are you generally happy at school? Sad at school? Or somewhere in between?
What makes you feel like this?
If things were better what would they look like?
What could you do or someone else do that could make this better?

CAF
My Feelings Feedback Record
Form for practitioners to record child/young person’s views and ideas
Child/young person’s name...............................................................................
DOB..................................
Where are you now? Are you generally happy about your family? Sad about your family?
Or somewhere in between?
What makes you feel like this?
If things were better what would they look like?
What could you do or someone else do that could make this better?
Where are you now? Are you generally happy about yourself? Sad about yourself?
Or somewhere in between?
What makes you feel like this?
If things were better what would they look like?
What could you do or someone else do that could make this better?

CAF
My Feelings Feedback Record
Form for practitioners to record child/young person’s views and ideas
Child/young person’s name...............................................................................
DOB..................................
Where are you now? Are you generally happy about your hobbies? Sad about your hobbies?
Or somewhere in between?
What makes you feel like this?
If things were better what would they look like?
What could you do or someone else do that could make this better?
Where are you now? Are you generally happy about your friends? Sad about your friends?
Or somewhere in between?
What makes you feel like this?
If things were better what would they look like?
What could you do or someone else do that could make this better?

CAF
My Feelings Feedback Record
Form for practitioners to record child/young person’s views and ideas
Child/young person’s name...............................................................................
DOB..................................
On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 means that we have captured all your ideas,
how would you rate the work we have just done together?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Appendix K
Nottinghamshire Common
Assessment Framework (CAF)
Getting child/young peoples view for the
CAF: some notes of guidance
The My Feelings Colouring Chart and Number Line Tool have been designed to support practitioners
in capturing the views and ideas of children and young people when using the Common Assessment
Framework. These tools should be used at the beginning of the CAF process to gain an understanding
of their strengths and needs, then at the end to measure the impact of the changes made. It is
essential that the views of children and young people are listened to at all times.
The My Feelings Colouring Chart and Number Line sheets should be completed by the child or
young person, with their views and ideas regarding each section noted by the practitioner on the
Feedback Record.
When using the CAF questionnaire you may want to consider some of the following as a possible
introduction:
“My job today is to help you to answer the question ‘How happy are you?’ The things we talk about will
be used in the CAF (explain what this is) which is being carried out, and it is really important that your
thoughts are included.
Asking someone how happy they are is a very big question, and together we need to understand what
being happy means to you. There are a couple of ways of doing this; one uses a target picture, and the
other uses lines. Which would suit you best?
The target/lines show some of the different ways in which people can be happy or sad. For example,
someone might be happy at home but not at school; they may feel ok about their family but not at all
happy with themselves.
For each number line or segment of the colouring chart, I want you to think which of the three options
best fits: so, for example, when you think about school:
• are you generally happy there, sad there, or somewhere in between? (colour in the right part if the
segment or circle the number)
• what makes you feel like this?
• if this were better, what would it look like?
• what could you do or someone else do, that could make this happen?”
The answers the child gives will provide the qualitative evidence to complement the quantitative
evidence of their colouring in sections on the target or circling where they are on the lines.
If you would like any further information regarding using the CAF with children, young people and
their families, please contact the CAF team on 01623 433291 or by e-mail at: caf@nottscc.gov.uk

Appendix L
Common Assessment
Framework-Young
Person Questionnaire
House Number of Family: ___________ Postcode of Family: _______________
Organisation: _____________________________________________________
Common Assessment Framework–Young Person Questionnaire
We would really like to find out about your experience of the Common Assessment Framework
(CAF) and the support you received, to help us see what difference it has made to the lives of
children, young people and their families in Nottinghamshire. Would you please take five minutes
to answer the following questions and return it to the CAF Team by post to the address overleaf?
Your feedback is really important to us and will help us shape how the Common Assessment
Framework and the role of Lead Professional are developed in the future. Many thanks.
1. Did the worker clearly explain what was involved in the CAF process? ❍ YES ❍ NO*
2. Do you know who your lead professional was? ❍ YES ❍ NO*
3. Were you involved in choosing who would be the lead professional? ❍ YES ❍ NO*
4. Did you feel supported by the lead professional? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
5. Did you feel you were listened to? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
6. Did anything change for you as a result of being listened to? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
7. Did you attend the Team Around the Child meetings? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
8. Were you clear about what actions were expected
from you to achieve the changes you wanted? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
9. Did workers carry out their actions to support you? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
10. Did you feel supported in the process? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
What worked well with completing the CAF form?
How did you agree what would happen next?

Common Assessment Framework–Young Person Questionnaire – Page 2
House Number of Family: ___________
Postcode of Family: _______________
Organisation: ________________________________________________________
What difference have the services put in place made to you?
What would have made it better?
Any other comments?
Overall how would you rate your experience of the Common Assessment Framework?
Very Unhelpful OK Really Helpful
❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7 ❍ 8 ❍ 9 ❍ 10
Please return the completed questionnaire to:
Vicki Melling – Integrated Services
Nottinghamshire County Council
Meadow House
Littleworth, Mansfield
Nottinghamshire NG18 2TA
Or e-mail: caf@nottscc.gov.uk

Appendix M
Common Assessment
Framework-Parent/
Guardian/Carer Questionnaire
House Number of Family: ___________
Postcode of Family: _______________
Organisation: ________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian/Carer Questionnaire
We would really like to find out about your experience of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and the
support you received, to help us to see what difference it has made to the lives of children, young people and
their families in Nottinghamshire. Would you please take five minutes to answer the following questions and
return it to the CAF Team by post to the address overleaf?
Your feedback is really important to us and will help to shape how the Common Assessment Framework and
the role of the Lead Professional are developed in the future. Many thanks.
1. Did the worker clearly explain what was involved in the CAF process? ❍ YES ❍ NO*
2. Do you know who your lead professional was? ❍ YES ❍ NO*
3. Were you involved in choosing who would be the lead professional? ❍ YES ❍ NO*
4. Did you feel supported by the lead professional? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
5. Did you feel you were listened to? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
6. Did anything change for you as a result of being listened to? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
7. Did you attend the Team Around the Child meetings? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
8. Were you clear about what actions were expected
from you to achieve the changes you wanted? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
9. Did workers carry out their actions to support you? ❍ YES ❍ NO ❍ SOMETIMES*
What worked well with completing the CAF form?
*Please tick your answer
How did you agree what would happen next?

Common Assessment Framework-Parent/Guardian/Carer Questionnaire-Page 2
House Number of Family: ___________ Postcode of Family: _______________
Organisation: ________________________________________________________
What difference have the services put in place made to your child/teenager?
What difference have the services put in place through the CAF process made to you?
Any other comments?
Overall how would you rate your experience of the Common Assessment Framework?
Very Unhelpful OK Really Helpful
❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7 ❍ 8 ❍ 9 ❍ 10
Please return the completed questionnaire to:
Vicki Melling – Integrated Services
Nottinghamshire County Council
Meadow House
Littleworth, Mansfield
Nottinghamshire NG18 2TA
Or e-mail: caf@nottscc.gov.uk

Appendix N CAF Quality Review Form
Section 1–Recording of the CAF Process
Unique Reference Number
Agency assessment conducted by
Audited by
Type of Audit
Type of sample (e.g., random, specific group, type of need, etc.)
Question
Identifying Details Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1 Comments by Quality Auditor
Has the date the assessment started been recorded?
Are the mandatory identifying details entered in full on the CAF form
(i.e. name, gender, address, postcode, date of birth, contact tel. no)?
If only partially completed score 0
Is the first language of the child or young person and, where appropriate,
the parent/carer recorded on the CAF form?
Have details of any disability of the child/young person been entered onto
the CAF form?
Have details of any special requirements of the child or young person
been recorded?
Is the ethnicity of the child/young person entered onto the CAF form?

Assessment information Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1 Comments by Quality Auditor
Does the CAF form record all the people present at the assessment?
Has the reason for the assessment been recorded on the CAF form?
Where appropriate 1 , have the personal details of the parent/carer
been recorded?
If only partially completed score 0
Has the current family and home situation been recorded (i.e. family
structure, siblings, other significant adults living/not living with the child)?
If only partially completed score 0
Where appropriate, have the details of the lead professional
been recorded?
Have all the services (including cross border) working with the
child/young person been recorded (including contact details)?
If only partially completed score 0
CAF assessment summary: strengths and needs Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1 Comments by Quality Auditor
Have the child/young person’s strengths and needs been recorded
in terms of their development?
Has the parent/carers ability to provide guidance and support been
recorded in terms of strengths and needs?
Have the family and environmental strengths and needs been recorded?
1 When working with a young person who does not want their parent/carers involvement in the process, they may not want their parent/carer’s personal details recorded.

Conclusions, solutions and actions Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1 Comments by Quality Auditor
Have the aims that need to be addressed been recorded?
Have the conclusions derived from the assessment been recorded,
both in terms of strengths and needs?
Have the changes wanted by the practitioner, the child/young person
and/or parent/carer been recorded?
Have the views on how change can happen (inc. practitioner,
child/young person and/or parent/carer been recorded?
If only partially completed score 0
Has an action plan been recorded for the people present at the
assessment, together with responsibilities for carrying out actions
and dates by when they are to be completed?
Has the review date been agreed and recorded?
Have indicators of successful improvement been recorded in the
‘goals’ section?
Has the child/young person recorded their comments on the assessment
and identified actions?
Has informed consent for information storage and information sharing
been obtained and recorded?
Has the assessment form been signed by the child/young person or
parent/carer
Has the assessment form been signed by the assessor(s)?

Delivery Plan(s) & Reviews Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1 Comments by Quality Auditor
If more than one delivery plan and review form has been completed they should be assessed as one (i.e. if the information is only partially completed, or not on every form, score)
Have all the personal details fields been completed?
Have a delivery plan actions been recorded for the people present at the
TAC(s), together with responsibilities for carrying out actions and dates
by when they are to be completed? If only partially completed score 0
Have the desired outcomes been recorded alongside each action, along
with which of the ECM aims it contributes to?
Have the progress and comments fields been completed?
Review Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1 Comments by Quality Auditor
Has the date of the review(s) been completed?
Have the names of the people present at the review(s) been recorded?
Have the next steps been recorded?
Has a review date(s) been agreed and recorded or a reason
for closure given?
Have notes on the review(s) been recorded?
Has the child/young person recorded their comments on the review and
actions identified?
Has the parent/carer recorded their comments on the review and
actions identified?
TOTAL
A
B
Effectiveness of the CAF process (A x 100)
_. . (39 - B) =
%

Section 2–In Depth Review
Not completed = 0 Poor = 1 Satisfactory = 2 Good = 3
Section should have been
completed but was left empty
No evidence
Insufficient information
Unclear why being assessed
Unclear why requesting
another service
Level of need inappropriate
Needs focus on service
involvement required rather
than on outcomes
Brief comments but
clearly stated
Correct level of need
Focused on outcomes
Comments are clear and
purposeful and linked well
to evidence
Correct level of need and
good evidence
Strong picture of outcomes
needed with appropriate
action steps
CAF Purpose, analysis, delivery planning & review
CAF Section Not completed = 0 Poor = 1 Satisfactory = 2 Good = 3
Reason for assessment
Conclusion, solution and action
Delivery plan and review
Domain Completion
CAF Section Not completed = 0 Poor = 1 Satisfactory = 2 Good = 3
Development of child or young person
Parent/carer support
Family and environment

Analysis
CAF Section No = 0 Poor = 1 Satisfactory = 2 Good = 3
Information sourced/evidence based,
non-judgemental
Strengths/positives included (and, where
appropriate utilised in action planning)
Parent/carer engagement in process
(where not appropriate score 3)
Child/young person’s engagement in
process or needs of child/young person
appropriately represented
Outcomes focused on impact on
child/young person
ECM Outcomes Being Staying Enjoy and Positive Economic TOTAL
(Yes = 1, No = 0) Healthy Safe Achieve Contribution Well-being
Does the CAF focus on any of the
ECM outcomes?
Have the actions identified helped
to improve outcomes?
A
B
Overall comment
Effectiveness against EMC
outcomes =
(B x 100)
_. . A
%

Section 3–Evaluation of the Participation of the Child/Young Person and/or their Parent/Carer
The success of the Team Around the Child (TAC) process is dependant on the agreement, participation and co-operation of the child/young person
and/or their parent/carer. It is therefore necessary to take this into consideration when evaluating the outcomes of the delivery plan. As the key member
of the TAC, the child/young person and/or parent/carer will have understood and been a party to deciding what actions they feel would provide them with
the right support as well as any actions they themselves can undertake, building on the strengths identified within the assessment.
Where the child/young person and/or parent/carer have returned feedback forms, these should be utilised as part of this evaluation. Where the feedback
forms have not been returned we recommend that the sections of the CAF form and the CAF review form for child/young person and parent/carer
comment are utilised.
About the Common Assessment Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1
Was the child/young person present at the assessment?
Was the parent/carer present at the assessment?
Were the child/young person’s strengths identified and utilised as part of the CAF process?
Were the parent/carer’s strengths identified and utilised as part of the CAF process?
Was the child/young person’s comments recorded on the CAF form?
Was the parent/carer’s comments recorded on the CAF form?
Did the child/young person and/or their parent/carer understand what would happen
to the information on the CAF paperwork, and did they sign the consent statement?
Did the child/young person and/or parent/carer receive a copy of their CAF form?

About the TAC (in terms of both delivery planning and review) Y = 1 N = 0 n/a = 1
Did the child/young person attend the TAC meeting(s)?
Did the parent/carer attend the TAC meeting(s)?
Did the child/young person have their say in what help they needed?
Was the child/young person’s comments recorded on the CAF review form(s)?
Was the parent/carer’s comments recorded on the CAF review form(s)?
Did the parent/carer have their say in what help their child needed?
Did the child/young person and/or parent/carer receive copies of their delivery plan and review form(s)?
Did the child/young person know who their lead professional was?
Did the parent/carer know who the lead professional was?
Did the child/young person feel comfortable and supported by the lead professional?
Did the parent/carer feel supported by the lead professional?
Did the child/young person complete his/her agreed actions in order to achieve the required change?
Did the parent/carer complete his/her agreed actions in order to achieve the required change?
Does the child/young person believe their needs have been met?
Does the parent/carer believe their child’s needs have been met?
Did the child/young person feel supported by the process?
TOTAL
A score of 17 or less indicates non-effective participation on the part of the child/young person and/or their parent/carer

Section 4–Measurement of the Effectiveness of Actions
As part of the CAF process, aims are identified and actions agreed in order to met those aims. The extent to which actions prove to be effective in
meeting the identified aims is a measure of the quality and effectiveness of the CAF process.
Evaluation of Effectiveness of Actions
The effectiveness of each action can be classified as one of the following:
1. Not effective –the action taken has not resulted in any noticeable/measurable change.
2. Partially Effective –the action taken has resulted in a small noticeable/measurable change, but there is still much to do
to achieve the identified aims.
3. Mostly Effective –the action taken has achieved most of the identified aim(s), or action has been effective but not considered sustainable
without on-going support.
4. Completely Effective – the action has met the identified aim(s) and this is likely to be maintained without further support.
(Add more rows if required)
Action Not Partially Mostly Completely Action Score Total Possible
Effective Effective Effective Effective Score
(Score 0) (Score 1) (Score 2) (Score 3)
Overall action scores
A
B

Evaluation of the Achievement of the Identified Aims
The extent to which each of the identified aim(s) has been met can also be classified as one of the following:
1. Not Met –the relevant circumstances are the same as they were before the action took place.
2. Partially Met –there has been some noticeable improvement in the relevant circumstances, but much more change is required.
3. Moderately Met –there has been considerable improvement in the relevant situation, but aim(s) not fully met.
4. Fully Met –the targeted aim(s) have been fully achieved.
(Add more rows if required)
Identified Aim Not Met Partially Mostly Fully Met Aim Score Total Possible
Met Met Score
(Score 0) (Score 1) (Score 2) (Score 3)
Overall action scores
C
D
Effectiveness of actions score (A + C x 100)
_. . (B + D)
%

Appendix O
Common Assessment Framework
Terms of Reference– May 2010
Overall Purpose: To support the strategic implementation of the Nottinghamshire CAF Quality Assurance Framework and
contribute to the development and implementation of future policy and strategy relating to CAF Quality Assurance and
related activity at local, regional and national level.
The CAF Quality Assurance Group will support the achievement of the Nottinghamshire’s Children’s Trust Vision to ensure
that “we will work together to provide integrated services for all children and young people in Nottinghamshire to improve
their life chances and help them to maximise their potential”.
Aims
1. To provide opportunities for partners across the Children’s Trust to come together to support the implementation of
Nottinghamshire CAF Quality Assurance Framework to improve the outcomes for children and young people in
Nottinghamshire through providing a consistent approach to the CAF across the Children’s Trust.
2. To advise the Early Intervention Working Group on the implementation of national, regional and local strategies
and guidance.
3. To monitor and oversee the implementation of the East Midlands Regional Standards for CAF and Integrated Working
Practices and the Nottinghamshire CAF Quality Assurance Framework.
4. To undertake a systematic and rigorous approach to performance management, involving both quantitative and
qualitative data analysis utilising the Nottinghamshire Quality Assurance Framework (see appendix 2).
5. To have an overview of how the CAF is being implemented across Nottinghamshire aiming to improve early ntervention
and preventative working arrangements.
6. To inform and influence the strategic direction of the Children’s Trust through the Early Intervention Working Group to
ensure that early intervention and preventative working arrangements are improved.
7. To act as a conduit for information, guidance, policy and practice on early intervention and preventative working
arrangements between the Children’s Trust Board, it’s Executive, sub groups and themed partnership groups.
8. To proactively listen to and engage with children, young people and families on an ongoing basis as is necessary and
ensure that issues are considered and responded to.
9. To strengthen accountability and partnership arrangements for using the CAF.
10. To consider the outcomes of each audit, including any feedback from practitioners, children, young people and their
families that have been part of the quality assurance process, and identify any further action.
11. To recognise elements of best practice through the Quality Assurance process and capture the learning for
disseminating to members of the Children and Young People’s Workforce.
12. To ensure that all policies, strategies and joint commissioning activity is in line with equality and diversity legislation
e.g., ensuring that Equality Impact Assessments are a routine component of all guidance, policies issued.
13. To ensure that the safeguarding of children is given the fullest consideration in the development of early intervention
and preventative working arrangements.
14. To strengthen joint commissioning and planning activity to reflect the need to identify children and young people at risk
to enable earlier interventions to prevent poor outcomes and the need for specialist interventions at a later date.
15. To act as a conduit for the development and implementation of the Children’s Trust Workforce Strategy in relation to
early intervention and preventative working arrangements.

Relationship with Children’s Trust
• The CAF Quality Assurance Group is a sub group that will report directly to the Early Intervention Working Group
• The CAF Quality Assurance Group will report to the Early Intervention Working Group through the CAF and Lead
Professional Development Manager who is a member of the Early Intervention Working Group
• The Early Intervention Working Group is a working group of the Children’s Trust Executive.
Relationship with the Regional CAF and Integrated Working Practices Quality Assurance Group
• The Nottinghamshire Quality Assurance Group will share good practice and local priorities with the Regional CAF and
Integrated Working Practices Quality Assurance Group through the CAF and Lead Professional Development Manager
who is the chair of the Regional CAF and Integrated Working Practices Quality Assurance Group
• The Regional CAF and Integrated Working Practices Quality Assurance Group will oversee the arrangements for the East
Midlands Minimum Standards for CAF and Integrated Working Practices as part of the Regional Improvement Plan.
Frequency of Meetings
• Meetings will be held bi-monthly
• Additional task and finish groups may be established to undertake individual agency audits and may need to meet more
frequently to complete tasks given to them by the CAF Quality Assurance Group.
Chairing
• The group will be chaired by ________________________________________________
Administration
• Administration will be led by Nottinghamshire County Council Integrated Services
• Administration arrangements will be reviewed annually
• Relevant papers for the meeting will be sent at least 1 week before the meeting is due to take place
• Copies of CAF’s to be audited will be anonymised and presented during the meeting
• Copies of relevant audit tools will be provided at each meeting
• Copies of the CAF audits will be typed and forwarded to the practitioner and their line manager.
Membership
• All members of the group will identify an appropriate person within their service to attend where the primary
representative is unavailable
• Additional co-opted members will be invited when a particular issue requires additional input
• Co-opted members will be added to the circulation list and will receive papers for information.
Review
The terms of reference and function of the group will be reviewed in 6 months after the terms of reference have been
approved and then annually.

Appendix P
Common Assessment Framework
Proposed minimum regional standards
for the Common Assessment Framework
(CAF) within integrated working
practices in the East Midlands
Standards for the CAF process
A. Needs identification
1. A CAF assessment should be undertaken where a child/young person has additional needs, except in cases of child
protection where practitioners should follow the Local Safeguarding Children Procedures.
2. Principle: Both the identified needs as well as the strengths of the child/young person and their family should be explored
as part of the common assessment and utilised as part of the action planning and delivery stage.
3. A CAF assessment cannot be undertaken without the agreement of the child/young person (and their family for under
12s) and they should be involved at every stage of the CAF process, especially the Team around the Child/Family.
4. All completed CAF assessments should be logged on a central IT system and practitioners should always check
whether a CAF exists for a child/young person.
B. Assessing needs and planning support
1. Where more than one service is required to meet needs, the consent of the child/young person and their family
should be gained to share the common assessment, a Team around the Child/Family should be formed and a
Lead Professional agreed.
2. The date of the first TAC/TAF meeting should be set and notified to the family quickly and should always take place
within 20 working days of the initial CAF assessment being completed.
3. All Children’s Trusts’ CAF forms will reflect the national CAF form.
4. The practitioner undertaking a common assessment should always explore wider areas with the child/young person and
family and, as appropriate, either supply sufficient evidence to make a judgement in every box on the CAF form or
indicate a plan to obtain it.
5. Practitioners should not promise services/actions on behalf of another service.
6. Where a referral is made to social care or other statutory body, the lead professional remains in the lead until the initial
assessment is completed and/or responsibility is assumed by that organisation.
C. During the delivery phase
1. The CAF delivery/action plan should be first reviewed within three months of the first TAC/TAF meeting and thereafter
every three months.

D. Closing a CAF case
1. A sign-off TAC/TAF meeting should always be held to agree the closure of a CAF and the reasons for this.
2. For all children/young people leaving social care or the care of another statutory body where continuing multi-agency
support has been agreed, the final statutory meeting becomes the TAC/TAF meeting that transfers back into CAF
processes with the previous Lead Professional where possible.
3. Once a CAF is closed a central copy of the CAF information should remain accessible for one year and thereafter
flagged on the system and archived for a further six years.
E. Regional standards for CAF Quality Assurance
Review processes: All Children’s Trusts will ensure that the following themes are embedded within their quality assurance:
a. Identifying training needs
b. Monitoring CAF processes
c. Identifying supervision issues
d. Identifying support needs
e. Performance management of services
f. Effective cross authority working
Supervision All practitioners supporting CAFs are entitled to specific feedback and on-the-job support. CAF review should
become embedded with ongoing supervision arrangements.
Self Review All practitioners will evaluate their effectiveness in each CAF against an agreed regional checklist (still to be
developed in the regional toolkit, below)
Accountability There must be clear lines of accountability within each Children’s Trust organisation to support the Lead
Professional when a member of the TAC/TAF does not fulfil their agreed actions on the delivery plan.
CAF Data Children’s Trusts will routinely analyse CAF data to identify case characteristics and emerging trends. An agreed
minimum common data set will be shared on a regional basis.
CAF Audit All Children’s Trusts will audit a proportion of closed CAFs (suggested one in ten) for the quality of process and
impact on outcomes. The Children’s Trust will develop audit processes with partner organisations.
Evaluation Children’s Trusts will analyse their CAF Data and CAF Audit information (both above) every three months
to ensure implementation of all service improvements, commissioning implications and workforce development measures
are addressed.
Regional support for quality assurance
• A regional QA group will review the implementation and effectiveness of these minimum standards and consider the
regional implications of each Children’s Trust’s evaluations.
• A regional toolkit will be developed to provide resources to support all of the above.
F. Regional standard for initial training and induction
Children’s Trusts will ensure that training is always available in at least the following areas for those requiring it:
a. What it means to be part of a Team around the Child
b. What is required to undertake a CAF assessment
c. What it means to be a Lead Professional
d. eCAF where and when applicable
e. Information sharing protocols

Section 7
Resources
This section includes details of websites which contain useful
information and resources to support practitioners working with
children, young people and their families.

CAF guidance and training materials
www.ecm.gov.uk/caf
Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce
www.ecm.gov.uk/commoncore
Endorsement of the Information Sharing Guidance (DCFS 2008), available online at
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/informationsharing
Information Sharing: Case Examples (DCFS 2008) available online at
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/informationsharing
Information Sharing: Further Guidance on Legal Issues (DCFS 2008), available online at
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/informationsharing
Information Sharing: Practitioners Guide (DFES, October 2008), available online at
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/informationsharing
Integrated Working Fact Sheets
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice
Multi-Agency Working Toolkit
www.ecm.gov.uk/multiagencyworking
Nottinghamshire CAF Guidance and Training Materials
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
Statement on Information Sharing Agreements and Protocols (DCFS August 2008),
available online at:
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/informationsharing

For further information contact:
Nottinghamshire County Council
Children and Young People’s Services
County Hall
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 7QP
Telephone: 08449 80 80 80
Email: caf@nottscc.gov.uk
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/commonassessmentframework
CYP.2908.2010