Electronic Common Assessment Framework (eCAF)

CAF, eCAF and ContactPoint are core components of the Government’s Integrated Working agenda, which is an initiative under the Every Child Matters programme.

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) for children and young people is a
standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child’s additional needs. CAF is a key part of delivering frontline services that are integrated and focused around the needs of children and young people. The national eCAF system is the electronic enablement of this framework.

The national eCAF system will allow a practitioner to electronically create, store and share a CAF securely. The national eCAF system will give practitioners, who have explicit consent from the child, young person or parent/carer, appropriate access to a child’s CAF information. Practitioners from different sectors will have access to key information concerning the assessment to allow them to plan, participate and coordinate the delivery of the most appropriate services to children, young people and families.

eCAF and ContactPoint will support improved integrated working in children’s services, but they are both separate systems which exist for different and specific purposes.

In the future, when a common assessment has been logged in the eCAF system, it will automatically notify ContactPoint that a common assessment has been carried out, along with contact details for the practitioner who completed or updated it.
ContactPoint will only display the contact details so that another practitioner looking up the child will discover immediately whether a common assessment has already been carried out and if one has been completed, the person to contact regarding the assessment. This will speed up communications, avoid duplication and facilitate contact between practitioners across a range of organisational and geographical boundaries. There will be no access to the CAF assessment from ContactPoint.

For children, young people and families eCAF will help to:

• Reduce the need for multiple assessments
• Create a complete picture of the their needs
• Encourage early identification and response to their needs

For practitioners eCAF will help to:

• Support cross-border and multi-agency working
• Increase the transparency of work performed by other agencies
• Free up practitioner time
• Support a consistent approach and more efficient working practices