Nottinghamshire Common Assessment Framework Handbook

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/)
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