Guest Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I have a child you needs to be assessed he has been with me for 3 terms, He is nearly 3 years old (very young I KNOW) when he has one to one attention he is a delight he interacts well with you - however when the attention turned away he will push , pinch, pull hair of other children throw everything on the floor make loud noises runs around ( could be any nearly 3 year old) however when I talk to him about the unkindness. He just says sorry and smiles. And does it again. I have spoken to mum and she has the same at home. Do I complete a referal form or a caf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 depends on your LEA i suspect and how you access assessments and services. Check with your advisor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks for your reply I will phone them tomorrow - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upsy Daisy Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 There's no point in completing a CAF form unless there are already several agencies assessing or supporting him. A CAF is basically a way of getting everyone involved together to coordinate an approach. The parent needs to see her GP or health visitor and ask for a referral to a community paediatrician who can complete a developmental assessment and anything else which they deem appropriate. In the meantime you need to contact your Early Years advisor to ask for funding to help you offer him the support he needs while in your setting. Do you have an area SENCo who can come in, observe him and advise you on how best to support him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 We use the outreach team from a local special needs school can offer support/strategies while waiting for assessments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 There's no point in completing a CAF form unless there are already several agencies assessing or supporting him. A CAF is basically a way of getting everyone involved together to coordinate an approach. The parent needs to see her GP or health visitor and ask for a referral to a community paediatrician who can complete a developmental assessment and anything else which they deem appropriate. In the meantime you need to contact your Early Years advisor to ask for funding to help you offer him the support he needs while in your setting. Do you have an area SENCo who can come in, observe him and advise you on how best to support him? really interesting upsy daisy...not what happens in our area at all! CAF's in our area tend to be used to get services on board and referrals are done through a different pathway....as to funding for sen forget it! anyway i think we are both correct to ask advice from the ey advisor...after all that's what they are there for isn't it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 We're just being passed from one place to another at the moment like a hot potato...ey consultant told us to contact portage..who told us a pre-caf was needed first and outreach should do this..contacted them ...they said no and sent me a link to do pre- Prob all about funds and no one wants the buck stopping with them .....which is not getting us anywhere with supporting the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upsy Daisy Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 CAF's in our area tend to be used to get services on board and referrals are done through a different pathway. I thought the whole point of the CAF process was that it was consistent throughout the country and was used to keep agencies who were involved with the same child talking to each other. Does the CAF coordinator approach agencies who are not involved or is that the job of a professional who is already working with the family? I have been told that in my county it is about supporting multi-agency cooperation and to reduce story-telling for the parents. If the CAF does the coordinating and getting other agencies on board what does the community paediatrician do? Or do you not have them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upsy Daisy Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) We're just being passed from one place to another at the moment like a hot potato...ey consultant told us to contact portage..who told us a pre-caf was needed first and outreach should do this..contacted them ...they said no and sent me a link to do pre- Prob all about funds and no one wants the buck stopping with them .....which is not getting us anywhere with supporting the family. By 'pre CAF' do they mean someone completing the form? Is anyone in your setting trained to do this? That's not acceptable Mouse! Could you call a multi-agency meeting at your setting so the buck can't keep getting passed? Another useful approach can be to email everyone together telling the whole story, including the buck-passing and end it with what you think should be done to support the family. Give them all a deadline to make comments after which you understand x, y and z will happen. Make sure you name the people who need to do it. Detail the effect you feel further delays will have on the well-being of the child and the family as a whole. Ask that any communication is copied to everyone on the list so you are all informed of progress. Seeing their actions (or lack of them) highlighted for all to see can have an electrifying effect on some of the less motivated professionals. I have done this on more than one occasion as a parent to great effect. As a professional you'll have to be a bit more politically correct with the wording than I was but it will still put a rocket under them all. Edited October 11, 2012 by Upsy Daisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I thought the whole point of the CAF process was that it was consistent throughout the country and was used to keep agencies who were involved with the same child talking to each other. Does the CAF coordinator approach agencies who are not involved or is that the job of a professional who is already working with the family? I have been told that in my county it is about supporting multi-agency cooperation and to reduce story-telling for the parents. If the CAF does the coordinating and getting other agencies on board what does the community paediatrician do? Or do you not have them? Oh i i wish you were right about the consistency...but sadly not. I work with 3 authorities(we are on the border) my nearest LEA will only do ecaf ...to which we have no access! in my lea the caf is used to get the peadiatrician involvement (at the moment!...it changes constantly) the caf co-ordinator is only there to ensure the caf's are registered and are being dealt with. The lead professional usually completes the caf(not always!) and as to reducing the story telling...Well!! in my area i have not found any of the professionals involved have changed the way they work so the parents repeat and repeat and repeat. I have just spoken to the new co-ordinator about this and am keeping my fingers crossed but it seems to me that the left and right hands dont talk. My lea were 'told off'last year for not having enough caf's, i suspect really that our previous setup was working quite well so there was no need but now i am being asked to complete them for very little reason. I've never heard of our peadiatricians referred to as community peadiatricians... they operate from the local childrens hospital here and at the moment are as rare as diamonds iam the keyworker for 2 children and it is up to me to co-ordinate all the agencies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upsy Daisy Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I've never heard of our peadiatricians referred to as community peadiatricians... they operate from the local childrens hospital here and at the moment are as rare as diamonds iam the keyworker for 2 children and it is up to me to co-ordinate all the agencies. People tell me that I'm lucky with the SEN services we have in our county. I find it hard to believe when I am fighting tooth and nail, mustering every last bit of energy, to get appropriate provision for my children and then I hear about other areas and realise it is true. My experience is that referrals are made by the first professional to come into contact with the family and that usually includes a Community Paediatrician whose job it is to oversee the case holistically, see the child every few months and summarise progress in writing to all the agencies involved. Our Community Paed sees us in a local health centre and has been an important ally in our battles for provision. CAFs are implemented when there is an issue caused by lack of communication between the agencies too many agencies involved to enable effective communication or there is a major difference of opinion (these are the reasons I am aware of CAFs being kicked off). It is an exercise in coordination and communication and serves to ensure that everyone has the same information and is accountable for their actions. Is there a multi-agency panel for diagnosis of ASD in your area? I can't imagine how hard it must be for parents having to deal with the service you have described 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 (edited) If only it was all so black & white as every county having the same lines of support available ( community paedeatrician sounds great) and everyone was able to use the same structure, the problems are just escalating with vulnerable 2yrfunding......children aren't allocated this for no reason in our county at present, the time spent on form filling and phoning different agencies this half term has been ridiculous., and I know we all do it because we want what's best for our children and to help them, but am beginning to wonder how we can keep supporting them with no extra funding to provide what they need.....just seems like the agency that referred them for funding gets them into a setting and they've done their bit....over to you Edited October 12, 2012 by mouse63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Help. I am just taking on role of Senco. Does anyone have any proformas to share. I would like to start from scratch. I have a child who is biting and whilst I recognise it as developmental, age etc others do not. I want to talk to the parent to see what is going on at home and need some way of recording this meeting. I understand about action and action plus but wondered if people would share a few of their recommended approaches. After all, as parents we don't like being told our child is different and we feel our personal lives are under scrutiny. This then worries me when you start thinking safeguarding and that other things rear their ugly heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Hi kimco - welcome My first suggestion is for you to contact your support advisor for info - training, proformas etc. In our area every setting has a folder with EVERY piece of paper you are likely to need in it as Masters for photocopying, also available at the website. Your area should/might have the same? Check on this, then get back if you have problems? Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 In our area we can contact an outreach worker from the local children's centre hub who will come out to a setting to do a CAF pre-assessment to see if a CAF is needed (apparently) not had to do this in practice though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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