Family Services Document control Document title Document description Document author CAF Team Operational model This document explains the role and purpose of the CAF team & sets out the operational working model Michaela Carlowe Version control Document production date 22.09.2016 Document currency final Version 1.6 Clearance process Quality approver Name of person and title responsible for the quality and appropriateness of the document this should be service manager or above Release approver Name of person who approves the document to be added to the Document Bank this should be the Head of Service or above Date Karen Pearson Date Duncan Tessier 1
Contents 1. Introduction... 3 2. Process... 3 3. Additional CAF Team responsibilities... 23 4. Thresholds for decision-making... 24 5. Staffing... 24 6. Cover arrangements... 25 7. Annual leave arrangements... 25 8. Supervision... 25 9. Team Meetings... 26 10. Data Analysis... 26 11. Study Days... 26 12. Appraisals... 26 13. File Audits... 27 14. Information Sharing and Data Protection... 27 15. Governance and Decision-making... 27 2
1. Introduction The CAF team is located within the Early Years and Early Help Division of the Family Service. Its role is to ensure that all new referrals requiring a CAF or an early help response are progressed in a timely fashion. The Team s role is also to ensure that practitioners across the wider children s workforce are confidently using the CAF process, and provide a quality assurance role. They monitor that CAF action plans are SMART, are progressing and being reviewed regularly. The various routes for a CAF are from cases stepping-down from Children s Social Work Teams, those stepping across from the MASH and requests to start CAFs from community based lead professionals. The Team provides a duty function to triage all cases rated Green requiring a CAF or specific early help response via the MASH. The Team consists of: - A Team Manager and Deputy Manager - 4 s, who cover the 3 Children s Centre Cluster areas. These Team members work closely with pastoral care staff in schools and outreach workers in Children s Centers to use the CAF and e-caf confidently, and provide a support and quality assurance role. 0.5 of these roles will support the identification and tracking of Family First (Barnet s Troubled Families Programme) cases. - 1 Health to focus on supporting Health practitioners around the CAF process and who acts as a link for the CAF Team to a range of health practitioners across the borough. - 2 CAF Social Workers to support practitioners to apply thresholds and make appropriate referrals into the MASH ( Step-ups ) on CAFs where the needs have escalated. They also support the smooth step-down of cases from Children s Social Care in to the CAF arena and deal with the more complex early help contacts stepping across from the MASH. - 2 Safer Families Practitioners who deal with early help, domestic abuse related referrals via the MASH and will commission Safer Families Children s or Women s support Groups if required from the Youth and Family Support Service. - 1 CAF Social Work Assistant based within the MASH, who acts as the CAF representative and early help champion in the MASH. The Team will have an internal commissioning role, selecting appropriate interventions from the YFFS s basket of interventions to meet needs identified in the CAF plan. They also commission emergency early year s childcare packages (Early Years and Vulnerable Families Funding) via the Early Years Team. 2. Process The process for the CAF team has been developed in a series of workshops facilitated by the project team and attended by key professionals from involved and affected teams. One of the fundamental requirements for this process is that it will be owned by and work for all of the involved agencies. The next section shows the detailed processes for the CAF, which are described in the table below. In order for the table to be clear it must be read in conjunction with the flowcharts, however an overview of the basic functions are described in the initial flow chart. 3
CAF Team overview* MASH contact with consent for CAF or SF intervention Step down from CSC Request to start CAF from external practitioner Safer families practitioner See process map 3 CAF social worker See process map 1 CAF co-ordinator See process map 2 Offer brief advice and safety planning Facilitate step down process including attendance at meetings and developing robust plan Provide support to LPs re possible step ups See process map 5 Deal with complex step across contacts from MASH Confirm consent and assign to relevant LP in community Complete CAF and commission relevant services If on-going need, LP to be identified in community CAF completed by LP If further need, CAF to continue and LP identified in community to quality assure CAF & CAF reviews *At any point, cases can be NFA d, step-up or continue to next CAF review Process maps 1. CAF Social worker process 2. process 3. Safer families process 4. Stuck CAF s process 5. Step up to social care process 4
1. CAF SOCIAL WORKER PROCESS Ste p Description Explanation Responsibility 1A Stepping down from social care Cases which have had a level of assessment and support from Social care but have been agreed can be continued with a CAF, as there is still a level of need (below social care threshold), which requires multi-agency coordination and a plan. Allocated Social Worker 1B Ensuring Threshold for CAF is met Initial discussion between Allocated Social Worker and CAF Social Worker/Deputy Team Manager to ensure that the case is appropriate for a CAF, to consider ideas about transferring support from social care to CAF and to agree the initial meeting. Where a CAF is not appropriate, CAF Team can give advice about services available. Allocated Social Worker and CAF Social Worker/Deput y Manager 1C. Step Down Meeting CAF social worker attends the step down meeting and agrees the initial CAF plan with family and the Team around the family. A lead professional is agreed at this meeting and all parties agree their role and actions. 1D Case transfer Allocated Social Worker completes transfer to step case into EHM. The case should then close on LCS. CAF Social Worker Allocated Social Worker 1E Request to start a CAF Request from external practitioners using the E-CAF form where they have identified need Lead Professional/ MASH 1F. Request to start a CAF MASH contact and basic checks re no social care involvement. Contact is passed to the EH work- MASH 5
from an external practitioner tray in MASH (in LCS) 1G. Receive Contact in ICS CAF Duty Manager oversight and step-across to EHM CAF Manager 1H e-mash assessment completed MASH manager recommending a CAF assessment or early help intervention, following MASH checks. MASH 1I Management Oversight of EHM contact following MASH recommendation. CAF team duty manager to review contact in CAF Manager s Tray from the MASH in EHM. CAF Manager to decide on relevant work-tray to assign contact (ie. CAF SW, CAF Coordinator or Safer Families work-tray) CAF Manager 1J Contacts arrive in EHM work trays Cases arrive in EHM as Transfers in from ICS. System Transfer 1K. Contact Record Contact record is created in EHM by the duty CAF Manager. The contact includes the original referrer, MASH outcomes and CAF team management oversight, all manually copied from ICS contact. CAF social workers are allocated cases by CAF TM or DTM. CAF Manager 1L Contact closure (CAF Social worker or Coordinator) If following enquiries by CAF social worker, a CAF is no longer appropriate or consent is withdrawn, the contact may be closed. The CAF social worker writes a synopsis of enquiries and the support/advice offered and then reassigns to duty manager for oversight. CAF Social Worker/ CAF Manager 1M. Progress to CAF episode Once it is confirmed that a CAF is required the case is progressed to CAF episode. The CAF social workers assign to themselves. This process allows the key reason for CAF to be recorded by the CAF team. CAF Social Worker 1N. Consent record At this time verbal consent is recorded in the consent record. The record allows for professionals to CAF Social 6
be added giving certain accesses to the file. The family (Including children if appropriate) are also recorded to show who gives consent. 1O CAF assessment The CAF assessment is completed by the CAF Social worker to include views of the children, family and involved professionals in order to identify need and to consider how to meet the needs. A plan is drawn up which will meet needs identified with timescales for review or completion. The CAF assessment is sent for authorisation to the CAF Social Work Tray (Externally seen as MAST) Worker CAF Social Worker 1P. Management/CAF Coordinator Oversight 4/5 Stuck CAF/Step up to Social care 1Q Plan agreed and Proceed to Team Around the child All CAF assessments are quality assured by either the CAF Deputy /Team Manager. This quality assurance gives the opportunity to ensure the voice of the child is clear, that need is identified, that the plan is designed to meet the needs and that a review date is recorded. See separate processes- flow charts 4 and 5 The plan agreed with the family is considered SMART and meets needs identified in the CAF assessment. The CAF is finalised and the task to arrange the first Team Around the Child is triggered. CAF Manager CAF Social Worker CAF Social Worker 1R No Further Action With management oversight of closure The Assessment is completed with no identified needs, no clear plan or no consent for on-going support and so the CAF assessment is closed with no further action. The CAF episode is closed by the CAF duty manager. CAF Manager 1S Reassign to Community based Lead Professional following Social Work Assessment When the CAF Social Worker has agreed the CAF and plan with the family, the case can be reassigned to a community based lead professional who will take Lead role and arrange the Team Around the child meeting. A CAF social worker can continue to support this for complex cases however usually this is the point that the CAF social worker will close their involvement. CAF Social Worker/ Lead professional 1T The will take responsibility for the quality assurance of future CAF s and TAC CAF Co- 7
Oversight reviews and support for the lead Professional as required. ordinator 2. CAF CO-Ordinator process Ste p Description Explanation Responsibility 2A Request to start a CAF from an external practitioner MASH contact and basic checks re no social care involvement. MASH 2B Early Help within MASH work-tray (in LCS) Contact is passed to the EH work- tray in MASH (in LCS) MASH 2C Receive Contact in ICS Contact picked up within the Early Help within MASH worktray by CAF Duty Manager and following oversight is stepped-across to EHM to the relevant worktray CAF Manager 2D e-mash assessment completed MASH manager recommending a CAF assessment or early help intervention, following MASH checks. MASH 2E Management Oversight of EHM MASH Assessment following MASH recommendation. CAF team duty manager to review contact in CAF Managers Work Tray in EHM. CAF Manager to decide on relevant work-tray to assign contact (ie. CAF SW, CAF Coordinator or Safer Families work-tray) CAF Manager 8
2F Tray Transfer Task received from LCS to EHM received for the request to start a CAF is received by the CAF Coordinators 2G Contact Record Contact record is created in EHM by the duty. The contact includes the original referrer, MASH outcomes and CAF team management oversight, all manually copied from ICS contact. The duty reassigns to the appropriate. Duty CAF Coordinator 2H Contact closure (CAF Social worker or Coordinator) If following enquiries by, a CAF is no longer appropriate or consent is withdrawn, the contact may be closed. The writes a synopsis of enquiries and the support/advice offered and then reassigns to duty manager for oversight. 2I Progress to CAF episode Once it is confirmed that a CAF is required the case is progressed to CAF episode. This allows the to assign to the agreed community based lead professional. This process allows the key reason for CAF to be recorded by the CAF team. 2J CAF assessment The CAF assessment is completed community based lead professionals to include views of the children, family and involved professionals in order to identify need and to consider how to meet the needs. A plan is drawn up which will meet needs identified with timescales for review or completion. The CAF assessment is sent for authorisation to the CAF Social Work Tray (Externally seen as MAST) Lead Professional 2K Management/CAF Coordinator Oversight All CAF assessments are received from community based lead professionals and are quality assured by either the s. This quality assurance gives the opportunity to ensure the voice of the child is clear, that need is identified, that the plan is designed to meet the needs and that a review date is recorded. Lead Professional/ CAF Co-ordinator 4/5 Stuck CAF/Step up to Social care See separate processes- flow charts 4 and 5 9
2L Plan agreed and Proceed to Team Around the child The plan agreed with the family is considered SMART and meets needs identified in the CAF assessment. The CAF is finalised and the task to arrange the first Team Around the Child is sent to the lead professional to arrange. 2M No Further Action With management oversight of closure The Assessment is completed with no identified needs, no clear plan or no consent for on-going support and so the CAF assessment is closed with no further action. The CAF episode is closed by the CAF duty manager. CAF Manager 2N CAF continues The responsibility is back with the Lead Professional to continue the CAF until the next TAC Lead professional 2O TAC meeting outcomes received Receive completed TAC Meeting Outcomes from Community Based Lead Professional in the CAF Social Work Tray. 2P Oversight 4/5 Stuck CAF/Step up to Social care 2Q Plan agreed and Proceed to the next Team Around the child Team Around the Child Outcomes are reviewed by the relevant to ensure that the child s voice is reflected in the review, that the family and all relevant professionals are consulted and that the original plan is clearly reviewed. At this time new tasks can be added to the review which will need to be SMART. See separate processes- flow charts 4 and 5 The CAF continues, with a new TAC meeting task assigned to the lead professional. TAC s are usually 3 monthly. An alert should go to and Lead professional for those TAC s which are overdue. 2R No Further Action With management oversight of closure The CAF will close if the actions are complete, CAF episode needs re-starting due to long CAF episode, if consent is withdrawn, if the case steps up to social care or the family move to another Local Authority. The episode closure is completed by CAF Team Duty manager. CAF Manager 10
3. SAFER FAMILIES PRACTITIONERS Step Description Explanation Responsibility 3A MASH assessment of e-mash form completed MASH triage completed and recommendation following consent for CAF or Safer Families Support. MASH 3B MASH pass Contact to EHM-CAF Manager s work-tray CAF Managers oversight from CAF Manager s work-tray in EHM, and then pass to Safer Families Worktray. CAF Manager 3C Contact received and worked on from Safer Families Worktray in EHM Contact received in Safer Families Worktray in EHM, and decision made whether to offer safety planning, signposting and advice at Contact stage or whether to proceed to CAF episode. If to be offered support at contact stage, this work to be undertaken. Safer Families Practitioner 3D Contact Closure Following these discussions it may be deemed that no further action is required by the CAF team and so the contact will be closed with a clear synopsis of the assessment completed and actions taken. The contact is then reassigned to duty manager for oversight. Safer Families practitioner/ CAF Manager 3E Progress to CAF episode Once it is confirmed that a CAF is required the case is progressed to CAF episode. Safer Families practitioners assign CAF episode to themselves. This process allows the key reason for CAF to be recorded by the CAF team. Safer Families practitioner 3F Consent record At this time verbal consent is recorded in the consent record. The record allows for professionals to be added giving certain accesses to the file. The family (Including children if appropriate) are also Safer Families practitioner 11
recorded to show who gives consent. 3G CAF assessment The CAF assessment is completed by the Safer Families practitioner to include views of the children, family and involved professionals in order to identify need and to consider how to meet the needs. A plan is drawn up which will meet needs identified with timescales for review or completion. The CAF assessment is sent for authorisation to the CAF Social Work Tray (Externally seen as MAST) Safer Families practitioner 3H Management/CAF Co-ordinator Oversight All CAF assessments are quality assured by either the CAF Deputy /Team Manager. This quality assurance gives the opportunity to ensure the voice of the child is clear, that need is identified, that the plan is designed to meet the needs and that a review date is recorded. CAF Manager 3I Plan agreed and Proceed to Team Around the child 3J No Further Action With management oversight of closure The plan agreed with the family is considered SMART and meets needs identified in the CAF assessment. The CAF is finalised and the task to arrange the first Team Around the Child is triggered. The Assessment is completed with no identified needs, no clear plan or no consent for on-going support and so the CAF assessment is closed with no further action. The CAF episode is closed by the CAF duty manager. Safer Families practitioner CAF Manager 3K Commissioning Services The Safer Families Practitioners may commission specialist domestic violence services including the Women s Group through Youth and Family Support (YFSS). Safer Families practitioner 3L Safer Families Complete initial TAC. Safer Families Practitioner will complete a TAC, which may be by telephone if only a brief intervention. Safer Families practitioner 4/5 Stuck CAF/Step up to Social care See separate processes- flow charts 4 and 5 Safer Families practitioner 3M Reassign to Community based When the Safer Families Practitioner has agreed the on-going plan with the family, the case can be reassigned to a community based lead professional who will take Lead role and arrange further Safer Families practitioner 12
Lead Professional following Social Work Assessment 3N No Further Action With management oversight of closure 3O Oversight Team Around the child meetings. The TAC is completed with no further identified needs, no clear plan or no consent for on-going support. The CAF episode is closed by the CAF duty manager. The will take responsibility for the quality assurance of future CAF s and TAC reviews and support for the lead Professional as required. CAF Manager 13
4. Stuck CAF s Step Description Explanation Responsibility 4A. Practitioner has immediate/urgent safeguarding concerns about an open CAF 4B. Practitioner has concerns about open CAF 4C Initial discussion with CAF Coordinator For immediate/urgent safeguarding concerns, practitioner should follow their own agencies safeguarding policies for referral to MASH via E-MASH form. A lead professional in the community has concerns about an open CAF which may be in relation to chronic issues which are not being resolved or effectively supported to have a positive impact. It could be that there are concerns about family not fully engaging or they may need advice on how to move things on. The Lead professional and will have discussions to understand the issues. Discussions are recorded on EHM in Case notes as a reflection of discussion. Lead Professional Lead Professional Lead Professional/ 4E Advice offered and issue resolved Following discussions with, the issue is resolved and the lead professional is able to continue their work with the family. Lead Professional/ 4F Refer to CAF Social worker 4G Lead professional and CAF Coordinator take case to CAF Support Where social care threshold may be met, a referral form is completed to the CAF social workers, which offers a brief synopsis of the case and the issues resulting in the referral. This referral form is a word document which is uploaded to the case file and assigned to the CAF social work tray. For stuck cases without immediate safeguarding concerns, Lead professional and CAF Coordinator take case to CAF Support Panel for support and resolution. To be able to share details of the case openly, consent is required. Should a family decline to give consent then the case can be shared anonymously. Lead Professional/ 14
Panel 4H Duty Manager to assign to CAF Social worker CAF Duty manager assigns to a CAF social worker to make enquiries and offer the support requested. CAF Manager 4I CAF social worker to offer support CAF social worker to offer support (e.g Assessment, Advice, Attending TAC, 1:1 Support or home visit) CAF Social Worker 4J Duty Assessment team to be invited to TAC where step up may be required 4/5 Step up to Social care. 4K NFA With management oversight of closure 4L Plan agreed and Proceed to Team Around the child 4M Oversight If it is possible that the case may require a planned step up to social care then a duty assessment Social worker should be invited to the TAC to hear information for family and professionals for a smoother transition. See separate processes- flow charts 4 and 5 The CAF episode is closed by the CAF duty manager. The plan agreed with the family is considered SMART and meets needs identified in the Review. Once CAF is back in the community with the lead professional, resumes oversight of the process. CAF Social Worker CAF Social Worker CAF Manager CAF Social Worker 5. Step up 15
Step Description Explanation Responsibility 5A Step up to Social Care Concerns from CAF Team that a case needs to be stepped up to Social Care CAF Team Member 5B Discussion between CAF Team member and Duty Assessment Team Duty Manager When the CAF team have concerns about a case which they feel has reached the threshold for social care, a discussion should be had with the duty Assessment duty manager to consider the case for step up. This discussion helps to understand the reasons behind the stepping up. This discussion should be recorded on EHM General notes. Any disagreements with plan to step up should be resolved by Service managers. CAF Member Team 5C Case steps up to Social Care for Assessment Once it is agreed to step case up to social care, the EHM process should be completed with the most recent CAF and TAC outcomes included in the transfer. DATS 5D NFA With management oversight of closure The CAF episode is closed by the CAF duty manager. CAF Team Manager 5E Agreed to close CAF or to hold a Team Around the Child (TAC) meeting, with Duty Social Worker present The discussion between CAF team and Duty Assessment team may result in a review TAC being held with DATS attending or that the case doesn t meet threshold for social care but there is not a further role for a CAF. CAF Team to Coordinate 5F Case steps up to Social Care for Assessment Once it is agreed to step the case up to social care, the EHM process should be completed with the most recent CAF and TAC outcomes included in the transfer to ICS. CAF Member Team 5G CAF to continue CAF to continue with amended plan to address concerns. Lead professional 5H Oversight Once CAF is back in the community with the lead professional, CAF Co- 16
resumes oversight of the process. ordinator 17
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3. Additional CAF Team responsibilities Item Explanation Responsible role Early Identification / pre-caf work and multi-agency promotion s to encourage each priority setting/school to have a Team Around the Setting type process in place to ensure that these settings are pro-actively identifying early help cases, and those requiring a CAF. s to deliver inset training and briefings to settings and teams about early help and how to embed the CAF within their service, as prioritised by Manager. Partnership Building and Network Events s to facilitate CAF Practitioner Group Meetings to enable cross-sector peer support and sharing of best practice re use of the CAF/Early Help s to attend key multi-agency/networking events to promote the use of the CAF and early help. Expertise in Early Intervention All team members to keep abreast of other teams / resources across the borough to ensure the Team are expert in knowing about multi-agency resources and can disseminate this knowledge. All Attend key working groups/forums Provide advice and guidance on CAF and Early Help issues CAF Team Manager / Deputy Manager Specific interventions to support immediate and emergency work with Social Care threshold cases in Duty and Assessment CAF Consultation Line Families First programme Professionals requiring general advice on whether to start a CAF or make a referral to the MASH can telephone the CAF line and discuss a case without giving details of the child. The conversation will be recorded in the CAF Log book with the professional s details. The CAF SW / Coordinator will advise the professional to make a referral or start a CAF if appropriate. This advice line affords professionals an opportunity to discuss support needs/ concerns without recording a child s details unnecessarily. To provide oversight of CAF cases meeting the Families First criteria, and assist with the identification and tracking of these cases Safer Families Support Practitioner CAF Social Worker 23
4. Thresholds for decision-making Thresholds for decision made within the CAF Framework have been developed in accordance with current Social Care and CAF Thresholds. The BRAG ratings are used to identify the priority with which action should be taken by the M.A.S.H. Team to refer to the appropriate Intake and Assessment team. Any professional disagreements about decisions made within the M.A.S.H. will be initially discussed between the M.A.S.H. Manager and the relevant team manager for the professional team, with escalation through line management. 5. Staffing There are seven roles within the CAF team CAF Team Manager R118 - CAF Team Manager (revised) FIN CAF Deputy Team Manager R32_-_CAF_Deputy_ Team_Manager_FINA CAF Social Worker R82 - CAF Social Worker (revised) FINA R98 - CAF Co-ordinator FINAL.p Health (2 year secondment from NHS) Health CAF Coordinator JD (Final) Safer Families Support Practitioner 24
R29 - Family Support Practitioner (revised). CAF/MASH Practitioner (based in the MASH, acting as the full-time Early Help representative in the MASH, with access to EHM) MASH and CAF Team Support Practitioner.p 6. Cover arrangements The manager and deputy manager need to ensure a manager is available to cover CAF Duty during operational hours. Therefore the Manager and Deputy Manager cannot be on leave at the same time. If unexpectedly both the Manager and Deputy Manager are not at work one of the other Team Managers in Intake and Assessment as agreed by the Head of Service will be expected to provide management cover for the CAF Team. 7. Annual leave arrangements The CAF Team Manager and CAF Deputy Team Manager cannot be on leave at the same time. Only one CAF Social Workers / two s can be on leave at a time Only one Safer Families Support Practitioner can be on leave at a time 8. Supervision It is the expectation that a Supervision agreement will be signed by all members of staff and this will outlined the frequency of supervision to be undertaken with the team members. Supervision will be undertaken in line with the Barnet s Supervision Guidance and Protocol: AYSE weekly for the first three months then fortnightly Social workers / s with less than two years experience fortnightly Experienced members of staff supervision to held four weekly for staff without case management responsibility, and three weekly for those holding cases. Supervision should be for approximately 1.5 hours and undisturbed 25
9. Team Meetings Management meetings will be undertaken with all the Early Years and Early Help Team managers with their Head of Service every month, to be scheduled to include Head of Service briefing to Team Managers on that months Performance and Service Improvement Meeting. Team meetings will take place once a month and include updates from SMT, Duty issues, performance data and offer an opportunity for reflective case discussion. 10. Data Analysis The CAF Team / Deputy Manager will regularly check and use the Boxi data reports to analyse the data sets in the team and use this to identify areas for action and improvement and for discussion in team meetings. Team Managers will use the detail in Boxi data reports in individual supervision with staff to highlight and track areas of good practice and areas for development All staff will be expected to ensure that data requested on the child s file is fully completed to ensure there is a full understanding of demographics, patterns of risk, etc. Data reports received from IT and LCS will be checked for accuracy when received and appropriate action taken when errors (including missing information) are identified. 11. Study Days A maximum of five study days will occur over the course of one year these are a combination of Team Study days, CAF Study days and whole service study days. 12. Appraisals Appraisals will be completed on a yearly basis and reviewed every six months. Appraisals will outlined areas of development and areas of difficulties will be identified and addressed. All appraisals will be rated as per the Barnet Council Guidance 26
13. File Audits CAF Team Manager / Deputy will be expected to complete one file audit every month as per the guidance set out. 14. Information Sharing and Data Protection Basic info-sharing with consent is integral to the CAF process and is clear within the wording of the CAF documentation. The only time CAFs can be shared without consent is when there are safeguarding issues. If practitioners ask the CAF Team to provide them with information about children and families from ICS or EHM systems, the only information that Team members can share, is whether there is already an open CAF episode, or whether the case is currently allocated to a social worker, in which case the practitioner will be advised to contact the current Lead Professional or allocated social worker. No other information may be shared, unless there is evidence that the parent/young person has provided consent. An ISA which will cover the process is currently being written by the Data team. All staff are required to observe the Barnet Information & Governance Policies and additional confidentiality agreement when dealing with MASH data or entering the MASH room. All information recorded by the CAF Team will be held in the EHM System and/or Wisdom. 15. Governance and Decision-making Decisions made by the CAF Team will be governed by the departmental Scheme of Delegation. Additionally the following Governance arrangements will be in place: Unmet and emerging needs arising from CAFs to be reported to the Early Intervention Board, which sits under the BSCB (these issues are initially logged at the CAF Support Panel and used to inform future commissioning) Concerns around professional practice in relation to CAF work to be initially challenged by the /CAF Social Worker with the 27
Lead Professional, but if not resolved to be escalated up the Management line. Stuck CAFs, which cannot be resolved by CAF Team member or their manager to be taken the CAF Support Panel. Membership: chaired by the Head of Early Years and Early Help, with representatives from the CAF Team, Schools, Early Years, Educational Psychology Service, Family First Lead, Educational Welfare Service, CAMHS, Primary health, Barnet Homes, The Youth and Family Support Service, CommUnity Barnet with additional linked members as required from Adults Adult Mental Health. Frequency 6 weekly, Lead Professionals to be invited to present case, but if unable to attend, to present. CAF Quality Assurance - to be overseen by Quality Assurance Team, within Safeguarding and Quality through the Departmental Quality Assurance Framework. As part of this process, monthly file audits are carried out of randomly selected Early Help cases. CAF Users Group to meet twice a year to gain partner s feedback regarding the local CAF process and to share key changes. 28