Integrated Working and CAF Processes

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a process which helps practitioners to assess and address the needs of a child or young person.  The CAF is a key tool for integrated working as it is a generic and holistic early assessment of a child or young person’s strengths and needs that is applicable across all children’s services and the whole children and young people’s workforce. 

The CAF is an assessment of what the family and services can do jointly to support the child and young person’s needs. Where a multi-agency response is required, the Team Around the Child (TAC) brings together practitioners from across different services to work together to co-ordinate and deliver an integrated package of solution focused support to meet the needs identified during the common assessment process.

Integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging the children and young people’s workforce in the public, private and third sectors to work together effectively to deliver frontline services. This requires everyone supporting children and young people to work together effectively to put the child or young person at the centre of everything they do, meet their needs and improve their outcomes.