Edited 17/02/2021
Anyone experience of CAF form (common assessment framework)?
pooletj
February 20, 2013 10:53
I am posting to ask if anyone has had any experience within a secondary school of undergoing a review for a CAF (common assessment framework) form and its procedures.Our adopted daughter is 12 ý and in yr 7 at secondary school and is finding it difficult to settle into the school environment with disruptive behaviour in class, not listening and concentrating, not doing homework, etc. She has said she does like her school, but doesnââ¬â¢t like school and the expectations of her behaviour. Sheââ¬â¢s been on report for the past 3 weeks and her behaviour at home is challenging, moreso during term times. Sheââ¬â¢s lying and taken to hoarding and stealing food form our kitchen; I use the term ââ¬Ëstealingââ¬â¢ lightly, as she is welcome to whatever food she needs, she just doesnââ¬â¢t ask and hides it.I called our adoption services, where support structure appears to have changed and they donââ¬â¢t come out to support like they did 2 years ago when we required support for her (and us). They were helpful with advice on the phone and this is where they suggested the CAF form to be completed by the school, along with the GP referral to CAMHS again. Iââ¬â¢m loathe to go back to CAMHS as didnââ¬â¢t have a very helpful or productive experience with them when she was 5 years old.I have never heard of the CAF form before. The school have and I have a meeting with them this week to discuss it and maybe what other services they can offer our daughter outside the CAF form (mentoring and counselling). I would be interested to hear of others experiences of the CAF process if they have been through it and what to expect / what can be offered to help her and what I need to ask for?Thanks for any feedback.
Dusty
February 20, 2013 21:31
It is basically a chance for all the professionals to meet with you and discuss the child with yourself. The professionals should all do a report prior to the meeting, but a lot do not. It gives a chance to pull together lose ends and share ideas and thinking.Statementing annual reviews tend to be a little like a CAF meeting.To be honest we have always found Core Assessments to be more helpful as they look into everything including the support you need. Core Assessments also have a legal time frame to be completed following a request by yourself and from experience get results quicker. However they are very invasive but I guess having adopted you are likely to be prepared for the kind of questioning assessments bring.Although not sure if CAF meetings also have legal time frames.
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Haze
February 21, 2013 19:49
Also many local authorities are moving away from the CAF or TAC (Team around Child)meetings. Mine is.Have you formally asked for an assessment of need from your post adoption team? I sympathise with what you are experiencing; we have been through this kind of situation though for us it began in Year 6 & got worse thereon.
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phoebe67
February 28, 2013 20:22
pooletj,So sorry your dd is struggling. IT's the whole issue of so many different staff to get to know and not feeling safe. I juggled my ds for the first 2 yrs but now have had to get a statement to try and get him support to stay in school. I wish I'd done it sooner. I would involve your virtual school too, they can be really helpful in working with school. Sadly, as an experienced teacher and mum, in my experience most secondary schools can't cope with attachment issues!I know you've had a problem in the past, but I'd give CAMHS another go- they may be able to support home situation as well as school. If your PAS team aren't working directly with you, get them to refer you somewhere like Chrysalis for a full assessment of family support needs. They might pull their fingers out then! Good luck,Phoebe x
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pooletj
July 23, 2013 09:36
Thanks for your replies.At the time I posted and had the meeting with dd's secondary school, they suggested that we try internal school services before completing a CAF form. I agreed with counselling and social skills support for her. The counselling has happened and she has had 10 sessions and that is complete now. The social skills form was completed and sent in March 2013 and as of July 20th, I still had not heard anything.I chased this up yesterday with the Vice Principle and apparently, this service is outsourced to the local authority and the cost of the sessions was ã70 per session with our dd and she would need between 5 and 10 sessions. The school declined it due to the cost and neglected to tell us.They have said that they would put a Pastrol Care plan in place upon her return in September 2013 (Yr and get someone to work with dd individually, but they have individuals who do this on maternity until Dec and from Oct, so will be a bit intermittent.My questions are, if anyone knows:1. Am I able to request funding for this social skills training from elsewhere as the school won't pay?2. If I did push for the CAF form and get all services involved, then would more help be offered for her and paid for?Thanks.
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kstar
July 23, 2013 19:06
I have been involved in several CAFs professionally and I would doubt whether anyone will be forthcoming with funding to be honest. The meetings tend to be more about sharing ideas then actually doing anything in my experience!! However it can be valuable because sometimes bouncing ideas off each other throws new things to light.
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Teletubbies
July 30, 2013 22:00
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/integratedworking/cafyou can see what is involved. I completed CAFs for BD & AD when many professionals were involved but we needed to all sing from the same hymn book. The CAF co-ordinators helped to pull it all together so we found it helpful.
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Milly
August 7, 2013 22:54
We have found the CAF helpful so far. My dd has also just completed year 7. The senco organised the CAF and applied for a statement via it. The request for a statement was turned down, which was no surprise as we know dd doesn't meet the criteria, but the positive has been involvement of a dynamic ed psych who is trying make sure dd has the right support at school and has suggested other routes for us to try to get more help for her. But it could be we have just been lucky with the ed psych (have had two involved with dd before who were fairly ineffective). Also this was only recently so don't know how it will pan out.
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Milly
August 7, 2013 23:01
Don't know tre funding. Our dd had some social skills work provided within school. She has been under Camhs for years and has just completed three years psychotherapy there - basically wouldn't engage so that's why it stopped. We only keep going as dd has to have reviews for her ADHD, but you might find yours can offer more now your dd is older. At 6 dd was offered nothing but at 9 it was art therapy or psychotherapy. (Not sure if you have followed up on that). My feeling is it is helpful to keep these links going, rather than that we get anything brilliant from them, although had a Camhs review today that turned out, unexpectedly, to be helpful in a minor way.
Edited 17/02/2021
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