Every Child Matters

1. Every Child Matters

2. What is Every Child Matters? • Is the approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19. • The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:

3. Be healthy • Stay safe • Enjoy and achieve • Make a positive contribution • Achieve economic well-being

4. What it means… • This means that the organisations involved with providing services to children - from hospitals and schools, to police and voluntary groups - will be teaming up in new ways, sharing information and working together, to protect children and young people from harm and help them achieve what they want in life. Children and young people will have far more say about issues that affect them as individuals and collectively.

5. Contact Point There are approx 75,000 students not currently registered or attending school – there are also only estimates of how many children there actually are currently in the UK – to address this from 2008 all children born or entering the country or in education or training will be registered with a unique reference number by the local authority on a definitive and central database called ‘Contact Point’ – it will provide detail of parents/carers, education provider and agency involvement (although mental/sexual health etc would be listed as ‘sensitive’).

6. The Common Assessment Framework – the rationale Related to this and stemming from recommendations relating to the investigation in to notorious Victoria Climbie case in 2000 (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2700427.stm) is the introduction of the CAF form being rolled out nationally now.

7. The Common Assessment Framework - the principle Children known to more than one specialist agency should have a single named professional to take the lead on their case and be responsible for ensuring a coherent package of services to meet the individual child’s needs In addition, every local authority is expected to identify a lead official with responsibility for ensuring information is collected and shared across services for children, covering special educational needs, Connexions, Youth Offending Teams, health, and social services. The aim is for basic information to follow the child to reduce duplication.

8. The Common Assessment Framework – in practice Where a child has the involvement from 2 or more agencies (school would count as one) a form, called a CAF needs to be completed (with consent of the parent and child) and a Lead Professional appointed to co-ordinate further multi-agency work (we would check with Barnet whether a CAF already exists or has been started by another agency)

9. The Common Assessment Framework – in Barnet Once complete the form is then emailed to Barnet where it is held centrally – it can be updated through their system as further intervention occurs. It means professionals should be better protected as evidence of action and intervention on individual cases is documented. The CAF would be subject to the usual data handling and information sharing procedures.

10. Targeted Services Services for children at high risk For example: • Adoption and fostering • Child protection Services for families with complex problems • For example: Children and Families’ Social ServicesTargeted Parenting Support

11. Targeted Services Services for children and families with identified needs For example: • SEN and disability • Speech and language therapy Services for all children in targeted areas • For example: Sure Start Children’s Centres

12. Targeted Services Services for all children and families For example: • Health – GPs, midwives, health visitors • Education – early years and schools • Connexions – 13–19