CAF and Early Support…Integrated Working in practice

Early Support is part of the Government agenda to achieve better co-ordinated services for young children with disabilities and their families. The philosophy being to ensure that where a family would benefit from a co-ordinated approach, professionals work with them to jointly devise a plan to support the family and meet the additional needs of the child. Families with a disabled child are particularly likely to face the confusion that comes from having the involvement of a number of professionals. We are currently in the early stages of introducing Early Support into professional practice and ensuring that families are made widely aware of the excellent information and materials that are available in the Early Support ‘Family Pack’.

It is the Governments intention that Early Support sits under the umbrella of Integrated Working and for CAF and Early Support to complement each other and adopt a common process. In September, The IWP Board formally agreed that the CAF Project Team and the Early Support Development Group (chaired currently by Chris Parker, Service Development Manager for Children with Disabilities and Complex Health Needs) would work closely together to develop these processes. We are currently researching the training requirements for Early Support and will be rolling this out along side the CAF training.

This is really good news and will hopefully lead to better clarity for professionals and thus a better service for families. Watch this space for future developments.