There's been an ongoing struggle between police and children's services for awhile now around the use of the common assessment framework (CAF) and police resistance to the system appears to have continued, despite recent efforts from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
In July, Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale issued guidance to all forces "emphasising the importance of the CAF", an ACPO spokesperson said. The guidance did not make use of the system mandatory for police, but was a "recognition that we support the process".
But will anything actually change? Smells like a compromise to keep social services quiet to me.
Many in the social services sector say the CAF is the way to bring about effective coverage of child protection. Some are even using it as a way to assess the effectiveness of early intervention.
The police, on the other hand, are reluctant to impose a new system on top of the one they already have. Merlin, the Metropolitan Police's database of children who have come to the attention of forces, has had a pre-assessment checklist added to it, which is completed when police are concerned that a child or young person has an unmet additional need. In other words, it a cop version of a CAF. So as far as the police are concerned, nothing's broken so nothing needs to be fixed.
But would there be better joint working with social services if the police got on board with the CAF? According to the Metropolitan Police Authority, Merlin is compatible with CAF, so why bother the implementation of a new system? I can't help but think the resolution of this conflict is going to be complicated..
In July, Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale issued guidance to all forces "emphasising the importance of the CAF", an ACPO spokesperson said. The guidance did not make use of the system mandatory for police, but was a "recognition that we support the process".
But will anything actually change? Smells like a compromise to keep social services quiet to me.
Many in the social services sector say the CAF is the way to bring about effective coverage of child protection. Some are even using it as a way to assess the effectiveness of early intervention.
The police, on the other hand, are reluctant to impose a new system on top of the one they already have. Merlin, the Metropolitan Police's database of children who have come to the attention of forces, has had a pre-assessment checklist added to it, which is completed when police are concerned that a child or young person has an unmet additional need. In other words, it a cop version of a CAF. So as far as the police are concerned, nothing's broken so nothing needs to be fixed.
But would there be better joint working with social services if the police got on board with the CAF? According to the Metropolitan Police Authority, Merlin is compatible with CAF, so why bother the implementation of a new system? I can't help but think the resolution of this conflict is going to be complicated..
