Children’s Services in Leeds want every child and young person, with the support of their parent/carer and family, to reach their full potential. The values, principles and activities that underpin these aspirations are identified in the Children and Young Peoples Plan.
Our aspiration is for every practitioner in contact with children and families to notice whenever a child is not progressing as well as he/she could, and when that happens, to do something to help. Where a child may have additional needs that are not apparent, or where more than one agency needs to be involved, an assessment will be completed and action taken to achieve agreed goals. In the majority of cases the common assessment framework (CAF) will be used to ensure clarity, consistency and accountability in the recording, reporting and sharing of relevant information.
This toolkit has been produced to support all practitioners delivering services to children and families in Leeds. In the contents it provides information and guidance on the use of common tools and processes including the Common Assessment Framework.
The toolkit is in the early stages of development. Accessed online, all the underlined passages have links that should be available. If using a local network, DVD or other means of viewing the information not all links may be functioning.
Practitioners can scroll through the toolbar on the left hand side or click on the underlined hyperlinks within the text to find the more information.
Comments to help improve the toolkit are welcome, and can be forwarded to the Common Assessment Team who can also be contacted for additional support about any aspect of the common assessment process. The telephone number for the team is 0113 247 6830 and comprises administrative support and Integrated Processes Coordinators (IPCs) who are colleagues from across partner agencies with a wide variety of knowledge and experience as managers within Children Services.
Guidance to support this integration are embedded within the Children Act 2004.
A significant barrier to integrated working is the different standards, processes, language, thresholds and eligibility criteria, used by different agencies and services. Levels of Need and Service Response guidance which identifies common definitions of levels of need and typical pathways for delivery of services, will help to remove such barriers.
Other local guidance that supports multi agency, integrated front-line working can be accessed by following the links below.
CAF and Early Support
Leeds Local Safeguarding Children Board
Electronic Service Directory (Family HUB)
Working with Inclusion Equality and Diversity