Children's Services

Common Assessment Framework

The Common Assessment Framework is a new, standardised approach to assessing children and young people's needs for services. It aims to help those who work with children and families to identify children with additional needs and intervene much earlier to help them.

The Common Assessment Framework is intended to be simple to use, and is geared towards the practical delivery of support to children and young people. The Common Assessment Framework will be fundamental to the Every Child Matters agenda of integrated services, co-located multi-agency teams, Children's Centres and the development of Children's Trusts.

The Common Assessment Framework has to be fully implemented in all areas and all agencies working with children and young people and their families by the end of 2008, and we are expected to start making arrangements now.

More information can be found on the Every Child Matters website.