Wiltshire Pathways... helping children & young people get the help they need in Wiltshire.
A-Z Index and Glossary
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CAF
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[See: Common Assessment Framework]
CAFCASS
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The functions of Child and Family Court Advisory Service (CAFCASS) are set out in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, and relate to family proceedings where the welfare of children is (or may be) in question. CAFCASS advises the court so that any decisions they take are in the best interests of children.
Specifically, its role is to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child; advise the court about any application made to it; make provision for children to be represented; and to provide information, advice and support for children and their families. The main types of cases in which the courts ask CAFCASS to help are when parents are separating or divorcing and have not reached agreement on arrangements for the children; when children may be removed from their parents care for their own safety; and when children could be adopted.
CAMHS
Care order
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A care order is a court order (made under section 31 of the Children Act 1989) that places a child compulsorily in the care of a designated local authority, and enables the local authority in whose favour the order is made to share parental responsibility with the parent(s).
The court may only make the order if it is satisfied that the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; and that the harm (or likelihood of harm) is attributable to the care given to the child, or likely to be given to the child, if the order was not made, or is attributable to the child being beyond parental control.
When a care order is made, it places a responsibility on the local authority to look after the child and to provide him with accommodation and care. The local authority is responsible for meeting the full range of the child's needs for the period that the order remains in force.
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Case conference
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This term is used in a number of contexts and by a number of agencies. It describes a formal meeting attended by all those involved in the provision of care or services to a child or family, often but not necessarily involving the individual or family members, in order to reach a shared agreement on how best to move forward. The child protection case conference is a key feature of the child protection process. It is a formal meeting involving a wide range of practitioners and a child's family (the child or young person may attend as well as their family), held when a child is thought to be at continuing risk of significant harm.
[See also: “Team around the child” Meetings]
Child
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For the purposes of the Children Act 2004, 'child' means a person under the age of 18 - and also any person aged 18, 19 or 20 who has been in care (since the age of 16) or who has a learning disability. This definition accords with that set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that 'every human being below the age of eighteen' is a child.
However, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 defines a child as a person under the age of 14 and a young person as someone aged 15 to 17 (this same distinction between 'child' and 'young person' is also in the Children and Young Persons Acts of 1933, 1963 and 1969). There is an increasing tendency to use of the term 'children and young people' as a 'catch-all' phrase and this is preferred by many teenagers who strongly dislike being referred to as children.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
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The term CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services) (as opposed to Specialist CAMHS) refers to all services that contribute in some way to the mental health care of children and young people, whether provided by health, education, social services or any other agency. This embraces universal services, such as those provided by GPs and school nurses for example, as well as more specialist services dedicated solely to the treatment of children with mental health problems. However, most of these service providers would not recognise themselves under the title of CAMHS.
[See: Specialist CAMHS]
Child protection
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Child protection is the general term commonly used to describe work with children who have been identified as suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm - in other words, children requiring protection from harm. Social Services have lead responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, but under section 11 of the Children Act 2004, key people and organisations have a responsibility to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children when carrying out their functions. All agencies are required to comply with local child protection procedures.
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Childcare
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Childcare (or childcare services) is the general term used to refer to all forms of day-to-day care arrangements made for children when their parents cannot care for them directly, usually because they are out at work.
Childcare services therefore include nurseries, crèches, childminders, and out-of-hours care in schools, for example.
Within Social Services, however, 'child care' (two words) is a broad term that is often used to refer to services for looked after children, child protection services and family support services.
Children & Young People’s Trust
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The Children & Young People’s Trust is made up of all the services for children & young people in the County – health services (like Health Visitors and School Nurses); Education Services (like nurseries, schools and colleges); “Social” Services (like leisure and voluntary organisations); and others. Together they aim to make life better for children, young people and their families.
Links:
www.WiltshirePathways.org/Trust
Children & Young People’s Trust Board
Children and Young People’s Plan
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The Children and Young People’s Plan is a statutory plan setting out how it is proposed to improve the wellbeing of children & young people in the area – and specifically to help ensure that all children & young people (including those who are vulnerable) achieve the five “Every Child Matters” outcomes.
Links:
Children and Young People’s Plan
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Children in need
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The term 'child in need' has a specific meaning defined by the Children Act 1989. Under section 17 of the Act, a child or young person is said to be in need if: 'he [or she] is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by a local authority' 'his [or her] health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision of such services.' 'he [or she] is disabled.' These are children & young people with needs at level 3 and above (see Levels of need).
While social services departments have the lead responsibility for assessments of children in need and ensuring the provision of appropriate services, the Act also places a duty on other agencies - including local authorities, health authorities, NHS trusts and housing departments - to cooperate with social services in fulfilling these functions. See also Children with additional needs and Levels of need.
Children missing education (CME)
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This is a term used to refer to all children of compulsory school age who are not on a school roll, nor being 'educated otherwise' (eg at home, privately, or in alternative provision) and who have been out of any educational provision for a substantial period of time (usually agreed as four weeks or more). Children missing education covers children who have left provision with no known destination, as well as children who are waiting to access new provision.
Children needing additional help
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Children needing additional help are those children & young people who require more than simply universal services in order to achieve the five “Every Child Matters” outcomes. They are children with needs at level 2.
See Levels of need.
Children's Centres
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Children’s Centres are being established in all the Community Areas of Wiltshire. Their core offer is:
• early years provision
• family support and parental outreach
• child and family health services
• parental involvement
• links with Jobcentre Plus
Links:
Children’s Centres
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Children's NSF
Children's trusts
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Children's Trusts bring together all services for children and young people in an area, underpinned by the Children Act 2004 duty to cooperate, to work to improve outcomes for all children and young people.
Links:
Wiltshire’s Children’s Trust
Children's workforce
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The children's workforce includes everyone whose work is mainly with children, young people and families - whether professionally, on an employed or self-employed basis, or in a voluntary capacity, whether for a statutory, private, or voluntary sector employer.
Links:
Workforce Strategy
Commissioning
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Commissioning is a cycle of activity (see circle diagram in the link below). It is the process whereby partners who have responsibility for specifying, securing and monitoring services make decisions about the needs of their population, and how they should be met.
Links:
Commissioning Strategy Framework
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Common Assessment Framework
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The Common Assessment Framework is a standard national assessment framework for use by all children & young people’s services. The framework provides a series of headings (“assessment factors”) which act as a checklist to ensure that all aspects of a child or young person’s needs are considered. Diagrammatically, this framework can be represented as a triangle. Information collected for the assessment is recorded in a standard national form, which includes conclusions, what needs to change and an action plan.
Links:
“What to do”
Common Core
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The Common Core describes those areas of expertise that everyone who works with children, young people and their families (including those who work as volunteers) should be able to demonstrate. It defines skills and knowledge across six areas of expertise: effective communication and engagement with children, young people and families; child and young person development; safeguarding children and promoting the welfare of the child; supporting transitions; multi-agency working; and sharing information.
Compact, The
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The Compact is a set of principles developed to improve joint working arrangements and understanding between the statutory sector
and voluntary & community sector. It includes four codes of practice covering (a) communication and consultation, (b) volunteers, (c) funding and procurement, and (d) equality and diversity.
The Compact Board, a member of the Wiltshire Family of Partnerships, has representatives from the voluntary & community sector as well as representatives from the Council and the Primary Care Trust.
Conduct disorder
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Conduct disorder is a diagnosis that psychiatrists use to describe a pattern of persistent and serious misbehaviour in children and young people. For a diagnosis to be made, the misbehaviour must be much worse than would normally be expected from other children of a similar age, and be clearly distinguishable from the sort of routine naughtiness or adolescent rebellion which is characteristic of most children's and young people's development.
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Contact
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Contact (formerly known as access) is the term used to cover the formal arrangements by which a looked after child or young person is able to keep in touch with parents, other family members and significant others. Contact may be direct (ie face to face, phone calls, texts or e-mails) or indirect (ie letters or cards). The local authority decides the frequency and venue of contact, and whether it is supervised or not. Current practice assumes a strong principle, supported by legislation, that contact is a right of the child, is generally beneficial and should be promoted, unless it is not in the child's best interests.
We are always trying to improve our glossary so if you can add to or correct a definition that we have provided or want to suggest another term to include in the glossary, please contact us
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