Common Assessment Framework (CAF) information for families

If your child needs extra help, the CAF will help them receive the right support at an early stage. Because the CAF is a shared assessment, you and your child will not have to repeat the same details to different workers.

There are two parts to the CAF process. The first part is the assessment conversation with a worker where together you map out what's working well, what you and your child are worried about, and what is causing difficulties. At the end of the conversation and mapping process, you and the worker may agree that they are the best person to work with your family to find a solution to the difficulties. This means that no other service will get involved.

The professional may use a number of tools during their conversation with you to make sure that the assessment includes the views of the child/young person and family. These are examples of the tools:

• Scaling Question YouTube video
• Good Questions – Scaling (PDF, 785KB)
• Using 3 Houses or Wizard & Fairy (PDF, 2.9MB)
• Using the Wizard or Fairy (PDF, 244KB)
• An example of 3 Houses (PDF, 1MB)

If it becomes clear that you do need extra help, the next step is that with your agreement the worker will make a CAF referral using the Suffolk Children and Young People's Portal. The portal is a secure space where the public and professionals complete and submit various forms relating to children and families in Suffolk, directly to the relevant children's services at the County Council.

The CAF is voluntary – you and your child, or a young person can choose to be involved, and can withdraw at any time. You can also choose which service providers you want your information to be shared with. The CAF referral process does not guarantee that a service will be provided, but it does provide evidence of a need for further information and support. The CAF can also help provide evidence where there may be gaps in the provision of services.

If there are several people are providing support for your child they will usually agree to meet all together with you as part of what is called a 'family's network meeting'.

One of the people attending the meeting may be appointed as a lead professional. The lead professional will become your main contact and coordinate the different services you are involved in.

If a child/young person is experiencing a range of difficulties it may be useful to explore this further by completing a CAF assessment.  The best way to do this is involve their educational setting or an involved health professional who will be able to explore this further.  If necessary the professional will be able to get further advice from the Early Help service.  Parents can complete a CAF assessment without a professional involvement, however this support may be useful to help define some of the issues and seek solutions..

Making a CAF referral as a parent/carer

If you've not been able to access support through your child's educational setting or from a health professional to make a CAF referral, as their parent or carer you can make the referral yourself using the Suffolk Children and Young People’s Portal. The Children and Young People’s Portal is a secure space where you complete and submit various forms relating to children and families in Suffolk, directly to the relevant children's services at the County Council.

The first time you complete a form you will be prompted to create a new portal account. Registering for an account is quick and easy, and you only need to do it once. To ensure the information you submit is secure, you will be required to log into this account every time you access the portal.

When you submit a CAF referral through the portal, it will be entered on to the system and checks made on the information to ensure we can offer the best advice and support.  Following consideration, a decision will be made on whether further support is required from the County Council's Early Help Service, in which case it will be passed to the relevant Early Help Team.  Cases which do not require support from the team will be given advice and guidance, which may include other agencies or virtual resources.

Go through to the Children and Young People’s Portal to submit a CAF referral.

Further support including a user guide and walk through videos are available on the portal overview page.

If you are concerned that a child or young person has been significantly harmed or abused or is at risk of being harmed or abused, you must follow the Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership procedures. If you have any concerns about a child, please phone 0808 800 4005.

If you would like to discuss whether the situation you are concerned about should be the subject of a safeguarding referral, please contact the MASH Consultation Line on 0345 606 1499.

Please see the referral information on the Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership children's website. You can find advice on how to complete a Multi-Agency Referral form, often referred to as a MARF or MAR form, using the new secure Children and Young People's Portal.