Information for Parents / Carers

CAF Assessments are voluntary and are undertaken only with the consent of the parents/carers and, if age appropriate, the child/young person.

The CAF Assessment process should benefit you in assisting identification of additional needs and strengths, and in developing a support plan to enable you to work towards making positive changes. Where more than one agency becomes involved, a Lead Practitioner will be agreed and will benefit you by providing a single point of contact and reducing the need for you to repeat information to several agencies.

It is essential that you understand what information is recorded and what will happen to it. This information will be shared only with your consent. If you agree to receiving support, you must understand this means your information will be shared with agencies attending Team Around the Family meetings and CAF Panels - the information will be respected and only shared with the agencies/services who are providing help and support.

You will be invited to attend the Team Around the Family meetings, providing the opportunity to have your voice heard and to work in partnership with those involved in making decisions and delivering services. At the end of the meeting, a Review date will be set to monitor the effectiveness and progress of any services put in place, and this is an opportunity for you to feed back to the panel your thoughts and feelings about what is being done to help you and your child.