What is the limitation when considering risks factors for child abuse?
There is no causal link, with families providing excellent parenting in very difficult circumstances
What can the risk factor for child abuse be divided into?
- Parent characteristics
- Child characteristics
What parental factors are risk factors for child abuse?
- Domestic violence
- Mental health problems in the parent
- Drug misuse in the parent
- Alcohol misuse in the parent
- Child of a teenage pregnancy
- Parent has a long history of being in care
What child factors are risk factors for child abuse?
- More than one child abused
- Serious illness
- Drug or alcohol misuse in the child
- Mental health problems in the child
Who uses the common assessment framework?
All professionals (was initially just used by social workers)
What is the purpose of the common assessment framework?
Forms the basis of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) form used to make referrals to social care
Where is the CAF used?
Across all children’s services and all local areas in England
What is the aim of using the CAF?
Helps early identification of children and young people’s additional needs and promotes coordinated service provision to meet them
What categories are looked at in the CAF?
- Child’s development needs
- Parenting capacity
- Family and environmental factors
What is looked at in the ‘child’s development needs’ category in the CAF?
- Health
- Education
- Emotional and behavioural development
- Identity
- Family and social relationships
- Social presentation
- Self-care skills
What is looked at in the ‘parenting capacity’ category of the CAF?
- Basic care
- Ensuring safety
- Emotional warmth
- Stimulation
- Guidance and boundaries
- Stability
What is looked at in the ‘family and environmental factors’ category of the CAF?
- Community resources
- Family’s social intergration
- Income
- Employment
- Housing
- Wider family
- Family history and functioning
What can be determined by looking through the factors listed in the CAF?
Vulnerability factors can be identified
What vulnerability factors come under the ‘child’s developmental needs’ category?
- Premature and low birth weight
- Separated from the mother/primary caregiver
- Disabled and/or chronic ill health, including physical and mental health
- Unwanted/unplanned or different to expectations, e.g. the ‘wrong’ sex
What vulnerability factors come under the ‘parenting capacity’ category?
- Drug and alcohol misuse
- Domestic violence
- Mental health problems
- Learning disability
- Personal history of abuse and neglect
What vulnerability factors come under the ‘family and environmental factors’ category?
- Frequent moves or homelessness
- Social isolation or weak supportive networks of family and friends
- Socio-economic problems, e.g. poverty and unemployment
- Living in a gang associated area
- Strong cultural beliefs leading to FGM, forced marriage, or honour killing
