Capita Children’s Services
has launched its
One eCAF system, the online version of the
Common Assessment Framework (CAF) to help authorities
effectively evaluate children’s needs.
All authorities are required to have a fully operational online
system by the end of 2008, to improve information sharing on
children and to better assess when intervention is required.
The new system can be accessed online by authorised personnel, from
wherever is most convenient. A teacher or police officer, for
instance, will be able to log into a One eCAF system from their
place of work to investigate if there is an existing CAF for a
child they have recently been in contact with.
They can quickly see who they need to talk with to raise any
concerns about the child and contribute to the child’s assessment
by logging their own observations.
This information can then be accessed centrally, so those
individuals trained to assess a child’s needs can take any
necessary action immediately.
The One eCAF system will enable all key workers such as teachers,
social care practitioners and healthcare professionals to
effectively work together to build a comprehensive picture of a
child, which will help improve decision-making and the quality of
service delivery, said Capita.
The system provides a full audit trail of individuals who have been
in contact with a child and the services being provided. Data can
be shared across authority boundaries to ensure a child can be
properly assessed as they move from one authority to another.
Sensitive information can be shielded from those not authorised to
view it, so access to a child’s past mental health information, for
example, may only be available to specialist users.
eCAF integrates with Capita Children’s Services’ One information
management system, which is used by 126 local authorities across
the UK to manage data on all interactions, interventions and
service delivery for children.
This allows authorities to save time and reduce the risk of errors
as the eCAF record will be instantly populated with a child’s
existing data from One, said Capita.
More information on the One eCAF system
>>
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