Transcript Slide 1

Multi Agency Practitioner Forum (April 2014)
Early Help & the Common Assessment
Framework
Karen Elliott – Operations Manager, Children’s Services
Karen Shopland – Service Manager, SCIL
Jonny Woodthorpe – Troubled Families Coordinator
Programme Outline
1) What is Early Help? National context and drivers for change in Somerset
2) Delivering Early Help across Somerset
- Key principles,
- Structure
- Understanding the Early Help offer
3) The Common Assessment Framework (CAF).
- What it is & why it is important
- Myth busting
-----BREAK -----4) Family Focus & its integration with Early Help
5) Workshop
6) Q&A
1) What is Early Help?
Early Help - Help in the early years of a child or young person’s life and/or
early in the emergence of problem.
– Support given to a child or young person when their needs are not
met by routine universal services, but do not meet the threshold for
specialist services such as Children’s Social Care.
– Assumption that it is better to identify and deal with problems early
rather than respond when difficulties have become acute and
demand intervention that is often less effective and more expensive.
– It is not just for very young children, as problems may emerge at any
point throughout childhood and adolescence.
Early Help on the Continuum of Need
The focus of Early Help will be 2a & 2b
National & Local Drivers for Early Help
Munro Report (2011)
• Recommendation that all local authorities provide an “Early Help Offer”
Somerset’s OFSTED – 24th June 2013
• “The overall effectiveness of the arrangements to protect children in
Somerset County Council was judged to be inadequate”
• Requirement to develop an Early Help Offer
Referrals to Somerset’s Children’s Social Care
• A significant number of referrals that have an Initial Assessment will have
no further action
AND…
• Children’s Centres review and improvement plans
• Review of family and youth support
• Learning from the Troubled Families Programme
• The pupil premium and early years places for 2 year olds
• Welfare reforms …
2) Delivering Early Help In Somerset
Some Key Principles of getset
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Importance of identifying problems and providing support early
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Need is best met when seen in the context of the whole family
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Importance of effective multiagency working.
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The best way of helping people is to improve how they help themselves.
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Importance of listening to children and families and involving them in
service design.
Core services should be delivered consistently across the whole county,
but with some flexibility to respond to local need
Services should be accessible to all
Importance of performance management & evidence based
commissioning
What is getset?
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Coordination of services at the early help level. Getset is largely
about delivering existing services in a more joined up and coordinated way
It is not a single Service, but a number of services that provide
support at an early stage
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It is for all ages, not just 0 – 4 year olds.
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Hub based delivery but not limited to buildings.
What are getset Services?
Current Early Help provision that will be part of getset…
• Family Focus Workers
• Parent and Family Support Advisers [PFSAs], who are employed and
managed by schools.
• Children’s Centre staff and Health Visitors who provide targeted and
universal services for children aged 0 to 5 and their families.
• Children’s Social Care Early Intervention Pods.
• Targeted Youth Support who provide support for young parents and
adolescents.
• A wide range of provision supplied by private providers and the voluntary
and community sector including: Homestart, Youth Centres, Independent
Domestic Violence Advisors, Promise Mentors, Team 4, Barnardos
Pathways to Independence etc ...
Early Intervention Pods
TFSWs are moving into the getset services in
the 5 areas over the next month
The Structure of getset Services
Countywide
Strategic
Commissioner
Operations Manager
Getset
Service Manager
District Level
X5
Early Help Officers
Play Workers
Deputy Early Help
Officers
Family Support
Workers
Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
The CAF provides a standardised approach for assessing needs at
an early stage and deciding on what action to take. It is designed to
enable practitioners across all agencies to follow the same process
and achieve more consistent assessments.
Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
The CAF is the preferred assessment in all
of Somerset’s multi – agency partnerships,
including to provide both targeted and
universal services for children and their
families.
What is CAF?
Using the CAF will help us develop a common understanding of
strengths, as well as needs and how to work together to meet them.
The CAF will help us assess children
and young people’s additional needs
for services, earlier and more effectively.
The CAF is a shared assessment and planning framework to help us
in our work with children, young people and families.
The CAF principles
Focused on strengths
as well as needs
Holistic
Voluntary and
only undertaken
with consent
A standardised
process supported
by a form
Child and
young person
centred
Able to improve
links to specialist
assessments
Coordinated
(only ever one active CAF episode per
individual)
When it may not be necessary to use the CAF
•The child, young person or their family does not have any additional needs
•There is clarity about the child and family’s needs which can be met by your own agency
•The child/family have not given their consent for a CAF to be carried out
•Children in care
•Children subject to a child protection plan
•Care leavers
•Children with known complex disabilities or known complex health needs and a recent complex assessment
has been completed
•Children with significant mental health problems
•Children involved with the Youth Offending Team
OR
When a child is at risk of being abused or
neglected, in which case, you must follow your
agency’s Child Protection Procedures.
If you are not sure speak to Somerset Direct
on
0845 345 9122
CAF Coordinator
Louise Page is the CAF Coordinator and can be emailed
on the global email.
There is also a dedicated CAF Telephone Number
All these details can be found on the Somerset County
Council Website – Search for CAF
Information available online: www.somerset.gov.uk/CAF
CAF Myths
Myth
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You cannot do a CAF
Yes you can
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I have to be trained before I can do a CAF
No you don’t
Myth
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I have to do a Pre-CAF first
No you don’t
Myth
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I have to write a lot in every section of the CAF
No you don’t
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I need to complete the CAF form before I register it
No please don’t wait
Myth
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I must do a CAF before making a referral to CSC
No you do not need to if making a safeguarding referral to
CSC.
Step up – Step down
There should be a simple way of stepping up and stepping
down from and to CSC. We are in the middle of developing
this process so that children and their families are not left
with no one to support them if they still need support.
It should be a simple no complicated process and one that
everyone is aware of.
Should this be a
referral to CSC or not ?
Early Help on the Continuum of Need
The focus of Early Help will be 2a & 2b
Continuum of Need -Thresholds
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Does this meet CSC Threshold
What are you worried about ?
What specifically are you worried about ?
Why are you worried about this ?
What does this worry mean for the child ?
Where does this fit on the Threshold Document?
So.... Is this for CSC ??
BREAK
Background to the Troubled Families Programme in
Somerset
Background to Troubled Families
David Cameron identifies 120,000 ‘Troubled Families’ (December 2010)
£450 million is made available to English local authorities to improve outcomes for
Troubled Families by 2015
There are 870 ‘Troubled Families’ in Somerset, costing the public sector £62m per
annum
Somerset is paid up to £4000 to support these families, on a payment by results
basis.
What is a Troubled Family?
The Government's definition of a Troubled Family is a family that meets at least 3
of the following characteristics:
1) Have an adult on out of work benefits,
2) Have children not in school (i.e. exclusion or absenteeism),
3) Be involved in crime or anti-social behaviour,
4) Discretionary filter (to be determined by the local authority)
i) Health
ii) High Cost
Implementation of Troubled Families
West
Somerset
Taunton
Deane
Sedgemoor
Programme Board
& central coordination
South
Somerset
Mendip
Troubled Families: April Update
Somerset
• Classified by Government as a Top Performing Authority
• 580/870 families have achieved positive outcomes (67%).
[National target is currently 30-40%]
• SCC has drawn down £506,800 from Government in ‘success money.’
All funding is being reinvested back into the project.
National
• Five year programme extension to 2020
• Somerset will be asked to support circa 3000 more families
Five Intervention Factors
A distinct Troubled Families methodology …
1) A dedicated worker for each family
2) An holistic view of the whole family
3) Practical hands-on support
4) An assertive and challenging approach where appropriate
5) An agreed plan and common purpose among all professionals
… The challenge now is to embed this way of working across getset services
Mapping the Customer Journey
From
2003
…to
2012
Police
Health
Housing
Benefit
Children
Centre
Social
Care
Housing
Barnardo’s
Education
Attendance
Workshop Activity
Any Questions? …