CAF for professionals and practitioners

News

Budget Holding Lead Professional (BHLP)

A pilot has been set up in Herefordshire to trial the concept of the budget-holding lead professional. The aim is to test whether better support packages and outcomes for children and families could be delivered by giving lead professionals a budget with which to quickly procure goods and commission services directly from providers.

The BHLP funding can only be accessed with a CAF, via one of the 8 MAGs, and the Lead Professional requesting the funding must also have attended a BHLP briefing session. For more information on BHLP and the BHLP briefings, please contact the Information & Assessment Team.

The forms needed to access the BHLP funding can be found on the right.

MAG Schedule for 2012

The full list of MAG meeting dates for 2012 is now available to view in the MAG resource box. Please be aware that as some meetings may be subject to change, it is advisable to double-check times/venues before attending with the relevant I&A Co-ordinator.

CAF & MAG eBulletin

The latest edition of the CAF & MAG eBulletin for November 2011 is available to read in the resource box on the right. This regular eBulletin provides a regular update on any developments with CAF & Multi-Agency Groups across the county.

Delivery Plan & Review Form - Replacing TAC Forms

The Delivery Plan & Review Form has now replaced the old Team Around the Child Forms (Initial & Review Forms) which were used to outline how outstanding needs were addressed through TAC meetings. The new form encompasses both TACs and MAGs and can now be used to summarise how needs and actions are met at both types of meetings.

The new form can be found in the resource box down the right hand side of the page. Please contact your Information & Assessment Co-ordinator if you need some support in moving across to these new forms.

MAG Meeting Locations

North:

Bromyard

- Bromyard Multi-Agency Office, c/o Hope Family Centre, Hereford Rd, Bromyard, HR7 4QU

Hereford City North

- Widemarsh Children's Centre, Widemarsh Common, Hereford, HR4 9NA

- Blackfriars Education Centre, Blackfriars St, Hereford, HR4 9HS

Kington & Weobley

- Kington Multi-Agency Office, c/o Lady Hawkins' School, Kington, HR5 3AR

- The Rookery, c/o Weobley High School, Weobley, HR4 8ST

Leominster & Wigmore

- Leominster Multi-Agency Office, c/o Earl Mortimer College, Leominster, HR6 8JJ

South:

Hereford City South

- Greencroft Multi-Agency Office, c/o Greencroft Children's Centre, Hereford, HR2 7NT

Kingstone & Golden Valley

- The Portacabin, c/o Kingstone High School, Kingstone, HR2 9HJ

Ledbury

- Ledbury Multi-Agency Office, c/o Ledbury Primary School, Ledbury, HR8 2BE

Ross-on-Wye

- Ross Multi-Agency Office, c/o Ryefield Children's Centre, Grammar School Close, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 7QD

Integrated Working Training

Running in parallel with the role out of the Multi-Agency Groups, a new Integrated Working training course is available to professionals attending MAGs and those people engaged in the CAF process. The training takes in the key elements of the Every Child Matters agenda, to help those who work with children to deliver services which are co-ordinated and built around the needs of the child, young person or family. The training brings together the central themes surrounding CAF, MAGs and Information Sharing to help examine how we can provide more effective early intervention.

The first phase of training for 2011 has now being completed but more dates are planned for the autumn. For more information about how you can access Integrated Working Training, please contact Marj Bevan or Anne-Marie Kemp on 01432 260842/260858.

CAF Newsletter

The first edition of the Herefordshire CAF Newsletter is now available to view by opening the PDF file in the CAF Newsletter Resource Box on the right hand side.

This newsletter provides CAF Practitioners and Lead Professionals with all the up-to-date information regarding any changes in CAF, both in Herefordshire and nationally, and also outlines any new developments in the Multi-Agency Groups currently running throughout the county.

The second edition of the newsletter is currently under construction and should be disseminated in the near future. If there are any issues or topics that you feel should be included on this, or future newsletters, please get in touch.

CAF, Locality Working and Multi-Agency Group (MAG) Meetings

Herefordshire Council is building on the initial developments it has made in creating multi-agency locality teams.  Locality teams enable the Council and its partners to deliver services in a more integrated way, so children, young people and families can access them more easily and with a greater response. A number of co-location sites across the county form the basis for these multi-agency team hubs.

As we develop the delivery of children's services through Locality Teams we need to work with our colleagues and partners to develop robust, practical models to operate CAF, which engage a broad range of agencies to work together in communities to meet needs more effectively and earlier, and to build confidence in our lead professionals to coordinate and deliver excellent packages of support.

One response to help deliver services more effectively, was to create a number of Multi-Agency Group (MAG) Meetings around the county. These locality Multi-Agency Group (MAG) meetings bring together the key agencies and professionals in a local area to consider the needs and responses for several children, families or groups, and offer an alternative to the individual Team around the Child meetings. This way of working also has the benefit of being able to integrate the support provided to different family members by different services that previously may not have known about or understood each others' involvement. It also means that new, innovative solutions can be found for identified needs as the variety of agencies involved in the meetings bring a wealth of different experience and knowledge, and can provide support on what services are available locally.

MAGs are now up-and-running and offering support in all 8 locality areas. If you would like information about how you could be involved in your area, please contact your Information & Assessment Coordinator.

Please contact your local I&A Coordinator for details on each MAG via Locality Services on 01432 260 261.

MAG Guidance

Attendees at all MAG meetings should be aware of the MAG Guidance document, in the resource box on the right. This document provides all the background to how the groups will function, who should attend and the importance of how information is shared. It also includes the Multi-Agency Group Terms of Reference and Group Agreements.

All professionals attending Multi-Agency Groups should ensure they have signed and returned a copy of their Multi-Agency Group Agreement. This can be found at the back of the MAG Guidance document.

CAF e-Learning Modules

We are now able to offer three, free to access, online e-Learning modules. These modules will allow professionals new to CAF an opportunity to gain some insight into the theory and processes surrounding CAF in Herefordshire.
The modules also give current practitioners and Lead Professionals the chance to revisit the CAF theme and gain some insight into the role of the Lead Professional and Integrated Working practices. The titles of the three modules are:

- Common Assessment Framework

- The Role of the Lead Professional

- Integrated Working

In order to access all of these courses:

• Go to http://www.kwango.com/ to register.
• The first time you login, click Create an Account (underneath the Username and Password boxes on the right hand side) and fill in the details as requested.
• Then enter your Username as your first name and surname with no gaps e.g. joebloggs.
• Enter the Organisation Code as heref143

CAF Time-scales For Good Practice

In order to ensure that CAF remains a tool for early intervention we advise that, when undertaking a CAF, you adhere to the following time-scales:

• CAF Forms should be completed within 20 working days of a CAF being logged with the CAF Registry.
• If the process leads to a Team Around the Child meeting, the initial meeting should be held as soon as is convenient, but no more than 15 working days after the completion of the assessment.

Remember if you have any questions or require help at any time, be it face-to-face or on the phone, please contact your Information & Assessment Co-ordinator.