CAF Services accept or avoid like the plague?

[hotmamalovespavlova]

Hello all,

Seeking your wisdom on CAF services.

DD almost 3 awaiting dx.

Can be extremley volitile and displays violence at home and nursery.

Nursery manager has suggested the Caf services please can someone tell me who and what they are specifically if the are social services?

From what i have gathered from google they can help bring all parties together which made help in the coming year with applying for school and statementing.

Thanks in advance

In my experience it depends on the LA/SSD. Some use it very helpfully as ti was ment to be some use it as a method to fob more work on the parents.

The Guidance is at:

www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/strategy/deliveringservices1/caf/cafframework/

If you do use CAF then do read all of the documents and see if what you receive is what you should actually receive.

Be particully careful about descriptions and carefully challange and document in writing what you disagree with.

Do not accept increased duties placed on you.

In our area, the CAF is used as an excuse to divert people away from access to statutory SEN services that they are entitled to.

So, for example, they can delay your route along the SEN pathway by suggesting a CAF which means that everyone focuses on a multi-disciplinary meeting where the obligations are unclear rather than pursuing access to Ed Psych and statementing.

It might be different in your area but that's what they do here

Thank you for your replies I have spoken at length with my HV this afternoon and she feels that it would not be the right way to go.
As it stands she feels everything is moving along as it should and in a timely manner we have our first appointment with the Paed this week and continue with Salt appointments.
Nursery provide 1 to 1 care and use the local inclusion team services to aid with learning techniques this will continue over the next year and they will link in with the primary school.

I think the Nursery manager must of realised she had come across wrong when introducing this to me earlier as she turned up on my doorstep at 6 clutching her course material on CAFS and reassuring me it wasn't SS involvement.

I wouldn't want to be diverted from the SEN path so think I will avoid.