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It is Monday morning. A primary school teacher glances around the groups of children waiting to file in. One child in particular raises her concern. Looking closer, she sees a black eye and bruises on the child’s face. One of her immediate dilemmas is to decide what to do now. Are the bruises the result of boisterous play or something more worrying that needs to be looked in to?

From 2008, teachers and other key workers such as police, social services and health workers will be able to raise an eCAF – the online version of the Common Assessment Framework. Any child at risk can be highlighted through the completion of an electronic form, and then prioritised for follow up. The aim is to ensure that the many clues that often signal there is cause for concern with a particular child are not overlooked.

The Dilemma
With potentially thousands of professionals able to use the system, local authorities must first address some dilemmas. When exactly should an eCAF be raised? Do you log all unusual bumps and bruises on the system? Who decides what an unusual injury is? Is there an agreed timeframe for monitoring the child before completing the eCAF? Or can the process be kick-started from the first moment of suspicion?

The Data
There are also questions relating to the data collected. What will authorities do with all the additional data they will have on children? How will they process it? And how will they identify when a child needs to be investigated; when one eCAF has been raised or two?

The Users
What about training and access to computers? With many authorities having close to 10,000 potential users, how will they manage training personnel on how to raise an eCAF? Will the training set out when to raise an eCAF and what language to use? A social worker may have a very different vocabulary to describe a child’s situation than a teacher and this needs to be addressed. Will these 10,000 users all need access to computers to complete the eCAF? What are the cost implications for the IT and training needed to cope with the eCAF requirements?

The Deadline
With only 18 months or so until eCAF is with us, it is vital that local authorities and all their agencies that come into contact with children, ask themselves these questions now. Any decisions need to be taken well before the eCAF deadline to ensure that eCAF will deliver on the vision of a joined-up service accurately assessing the needs of all children at risk.

www.capita-cs.co.uk