Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a common process enabling practitioners from all agencies working with children and young people to make an assessment of a child or young person’s needs.
The main aim of the CAF is to identify at the earliest opportunity, any specific needs of a young person that are not being met by the universal services and to provide timely and coordinated multi-agency support to meet those additional needs.
The CAF framework promotes efficient multi-agency working by supporting professionals to build a ‘team around the child’ where all agencies who are involved with the young person share information and present a coordinated response through one ‘lead professional’ (who can be from any one of the agencies involved with the young person) rather than the young person having to repeat information to a range of different agencies.
All Connexions Advisers are trained to use the CAF and will complete a Common Assessment when a young person has an additional unmet need that Connexions Staffordshire alone cannot meet and where a multi-agency response is required to meet that need.
Confidentiality
As a rule, throughout the Common Assessment process, any information provided by the young person or their family will only be shared with the family’s consent. There are, however certain circumstances where professionals will need to share information outside of the consent boundaries (for example, where a young person is at risk of harm). Further details can be found on the Every Child Matters website.
More information on the Common Assessment Framework can be found on the following websites:
Stoke-on-Trent Information Sharing and Assessment
Staffordshire Children’s Trust
