CAF form - parental input

[donkeyderby]

DS has got his (year 9) Transition Annual Review tomorrow. I have just received an assessment form 'based on' the CAF.

What is worrying me is that:

1. there is almost no space for parental input and the assessment is based on professionals views, some of which I don't entirely agree with and which I consider to be assumptions, not facts
2. I have no idea who is in charge of this form and how much importance is attached to it.

Any ideas about how influential a CAF is and whether you can question what's on it?

hiya, my ds is only 4 but weve done a caf, the bit they show you is the template you can write what you like and it gets typed into the parents views bit which gets as big as necessary to fit it in etc

from what ive gathered the caf helps to get services involved that are not already involved and the contents of the form get sent to them with your permission and to everyone contributing to the caf.

as for who is in charge of the form, you should have a caf keyworker - the professional who sees your child most, and a caf lead professional who coordinates things and leases with the other professionals ie kicks them into shape and chases them up when they dont do as they said they would etc

this is my understanding et of it from what weve been through with it etc hope thats of some help

oh and also at the end of the caf form you can put further views and a mark out of ten as to how you feel the form reflects the issues you have etc so you can put on there if you do not agree with things. if it helps i can find out our caf and email it to you to see though as ds is only 4 not sure if it will be of any help?!

Thanks Meerkat! Annual review just a couple of hours away - very helpful. Don't worry about emailing CAF, I will follow up your points.

hope it goes well xx

wish i had seen this earlier. You should always know who is the lead in a CAF, and you should have room at the end to put points in, it may seem small, but I always type mine into them, so boxes get bigger if needed.
Hope it went it

Thanks for your advice. The meeting went well in that we met our Transition worker who was very knowledgeable about housing/residential options when DS leaves school. What the hell happens to him after he leaves school has been my chief worry since he was a baby, and it was great to meet someone who encouraged us to think about it now and who can offer good advice. She said you can be very creative about his options with an individualised budget. Watch this space.....

I was assured the CAF is a live document which can be changed and we can put our pennyworth on it, like you both said. However, the CAF can't be accessed from a central computerised point by education, SS, Health etc., which means they have to update it, print it out and send it to each other. Stooopid.