Childcare help in pipeline

Sep 19 2008 Chester Chronicle

SIX thousand professionals working directly with children in Cheshire will create a support system to protect the young.

Teachers, doctors, social and welfare workers, nurses and police officers are being trained by a team drawn from key children’s services to operate the Common Assessment Framework. (CAF)

CAF offers earlier intervention: a holistic approach to identifying and dealing with problems before they reach crisis point and individual packages of support for each child.

AndŠthe new process which upholds the aims of the Every Child Matters agenda on safety, health, well-being and achievement will involve parents or carers at every stage.

“Cheshire has a good recordŠfor protecting its children but we must always strive to do better,” said director of children’s services Joan Feenan, also chairmanŠof Cheshire’s Children’s Trust.ŠŠ

“Our aim is to detect children’s difficulties early and provide support. If we can prevent a single child coming to harm or make life worth living for another, it will be well worth all the effort.”

CAF allows any practitioners to register concern about a child’s needs with fellow professionals; address those needs jointly and devise a strategy to meet them. Over time, it will reduce theŠnumbers of childrenŠwho need help.

“Parents will be working with the professionals for the benefit of their children and information will only be logged and shared with their permission or that ofŠcarers, so the best interestsŠof the child are protected” said CAF implementationŠmanager Jean Smith.Š

Cheshire is also establishing multi-disciplinary teamsŠserving specificŠlocal areas and drawn from all relevant organisations serving children. They will deal with concerns registered by local professionals usingŠCAF asŠtheir main assessmentŠmethod.

“Not only will they be able to combine expertiseŠand resources for the benefit ofŠindividual youngsters but possibly for groups of children, ifŠproblems like childhood obesity are common within a cohort,” said county children and families manager Sue Egersdorff.

Considerable progress has already been made training senior and middle managers.Š

“It is a major workforce development exercise which will never really end because new staff will be trained as they join the different services as part of induction procedures,” said Mrs Egersdorff.Š