1. HOPE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PROGRAMME: Child Protection Decision Making using the Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework (SAAF)
Stephen Pizzey

2. Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and Planning Intervention
Stage 1 Identification of harm and initial safeguarding Consider the referral and aims of the assessment Stage 2 Gather assessment information on the child’s developmental needs, parenting capacity, and family and environmental factors Collect information from available sources using an appropriate range of methods and approaches Create a chronology of salient information Stage 3 Establish the nature and level of impairment of the child’s health and development Organise information using the Assessment Framework and identify strengths and difficulties in all dimensions

3. Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and Planning Intervention
Stage 4 Analyse the patterns of harm and protection Consider the chronology of salient information Processes and impact Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning: The Safeguarding Analysis Profile of harm and impairment of development Predict the likely outlook for the child: the risks of re- abuse or likelihood of future harm (the systemic analysis) Determine the prospects for successful intervention Summary of safeguarding analysis Stage 6 Develop a plan of intervention Stage 7 Identify outcomes and measures for intervention

4. CHILD’S DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Assessment Framework A map of relevant data to be collected
Health
Basic Care
Education
Ensuring Safety
Emotional &
Behavioural Development
Emotional Warmth
PARENTING CAPACITY
CHILD’S DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS
CHILD
Safeguarding &
promoting
welfare
Identity
Stimulation
Family & Social
Relationships
Guidance &
Boundaries
Social Presentation
Stability
Self-Care Skills
Assessment Framework triangle is a map for gathering and ordering data/info
How you gather information is not prescribed by the Assessment Framework
We (C&FT) offer tools that help the gathering and assessment process
Also offer model for analysis and planning – will discuss later
The triangle:
The Child’s Developmental Needs Domain of the Assessment Framework triangle maps Strengths and Impairment or Harm to child’s health and development
The Parenting Capacity Domain is concerned with Attributability of harmful actions
Where there is no observable or measurable impairment, the Parenting Capacity and Family and Environmental Factors Domains are relevant to the Likelihood of Impairment or Future Harm .
 Note that the nature of any impairments is also relevant to attributability e.g. Autism is genetic, Cerebral Palsy is congenital in most instances.
6. The work of Bentovim at al (2009) was geared to extension of the Assessment Framework triangle into the child protection context
What you will find in your Seminar Booklet on page XXXX are some of the ways of doing that – which we will look at in more detail later
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Community
Resources
Family’s Social
Integration
Income
Employment
Family History
& Functioning
Housing
Wider Family 4

5. Working with the Assessment Framework
The Child’s Developmental Needs Domain maps Strengths and Impairment in Development
The Parenting Capacity Domain is concerned with Attributability
Where there is no observable or measurable impairment, the Parenting Capacity and Family and Environmental Factors Domains are relevant to the Likelihood of Impairment
Note that some impairments may not be attributable to parenting - e.g. Autism is genetic or Cerebral Palsy is congenital in most instances - but make greater demands which parents may not be able to meet.

6. Resources for gathering assessment information
The HOME assessment of parenting and family life
Family pack of questionnaires and scales
Apps for communicating with children and young people
Assessing Families in complex child care cases
Communicating with children using the In My Shoes Interview
The Attachment Style Interview in child care cases

7. Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and Planning Intervention (Child Protection)
Stage 1 Identification of harm and initial safeguarding Consider the referral and aims of the assessment Stage 2 Gather assessment information on the child’s developmental needs, parenting capacity, and family and environmental factors Collect information from available sources using an appropriate range of methods and approaches Create a chronology of salient information Stage 3 Establish the nature and level of impairment of the child’s health and development Organise information using the Assessment Framework and identify strengths and difficulties in all dimensions

8. CHILD’S DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Organise Information using the Assessment Framework Identify Strengths and Difficulties
Health
Basic Care
Education
Ensuring Safety
Emotional &
Behavioural Development
Emotional Warmth
PARENTING CAPACITY
CHILD’S DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS
CHILD
Safeguarding &
promoting
welfare
Identity
Stimulation
Family & Social
Relationships
Guidance &
Boundaries
Social Presentation
Stability
Self-Care Skills
Assessment Framework triangle is a map for gathering and ordering data/info
How you gather information is not prescribed by the Assessment Framework
We (C&FT) offer tools that help the gathering and assessment process
Also offer model for analysis and planning – will discuss later
The triangle:
The Child’s Developmental Needs Domain of the Assessment Framework triangle maps Strengths and Impairment or Harm to child’s health and development
The Parenting Capacity Domain is concerned with Attributability of harmful actions
Where there is no observable or measurable impairment, the Parenting Capacity and Family and Environmental Factors Domains are relevant to the Likelihood of Impairment or Future Harm .
 Note that the nature of any impairments is also relevant to attributability e.g. Autism is genetic, Cerebral Palsy is congenital in most instances.
6. The work of Bentovim at al (2009) was geared to extension of the Assessment Framework triangle into the child protection context
What you will find in your Seminar Booklet on page XXXX are some of the ways of doing that – which we will look at in more detail later
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Community
Resources
Family’s Social
Integration
Income
Employment
Family History
& Functioning
Housing
Wider Family 8

9. Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and Planning Intervention (Child Protection)
Stage 4 Analyse the patterns of harm and protection Consider the chronology of salient information Processes and impact Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning: The Safeguarding Analysis Profile of harm and impairment of development Predict the likely outlook for the child: the risks of re- abuse or likelihood of future harm (the systemic analysis) Determine the prospects for successful intervention Summary of safeguarding analysis Stage 6 Develop a plan of intervention Stage 7 Identify outcomes and measures for intervention

10. Chronology of Salient Information
When examining processes consider:
the time relationships between impairments in the child’s development and life events and stressors
which
can raise hypotheses about processes influencing the child’s health and development

11. Principles Underlying Analysis - Processes
Distinguish:
What has brought things about from the past
What keeps things going in the present
both of which
Can help to predict what’s likely to happen in the future if things carry on as they are

12. Principles Underlying Analysis - Impact
The two key elements of Impact are:
Severity of difficulty: the weight of a negative factor or process
Magnitude of strength: the weight of a positive factor or process
Thus once the processes have been analysed consider:
What processes are having the biggest effect on the child’s health and development or processes that affect it?
Which are the greatest protective processes?

13. Stage 4: Summary of Principles Underlying analysis - summary
In general:
the more dimensions of domains that show difficulty;
the more frequently those difficulties are manifest;
the longer the difficulties have existed;
the less the difficulties are modifiable;
then the greater the severity of the problem

14. Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis and Planning Intervention
Stage 4 Analyse the patterns of harm and protection Consider the chronology of salient information Processes and impact Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning: The Safeguarding Analysis Profile of harm and impairment of development Predict the likely outlook for the child: the risks of re- abuse or likelihood of future harm (the systemic analysis) Determine the prospects for successful intervention Summary of safeguarding analysis Stage 6 Develop a plan of intervention Stage 7 Identify outcomes and measures for intervention

15. Profile of Harm and Impairment of Child’s Health and Development
To analyse the profile of harm the following must be considered:
Child’s Developmental Needs
Severity of impairment of the child’s health and development and impact on the child
Parenting capacity
Severity of parenting difficulties
Family and Environmental Factors
Severity of individual and family difficulties
Severity of environmental difficulties
Parenting, protection and therapeutic help child requires

16. The Structure of the Profile of Harm and Impairment of Child’s Health and Development
The instrument is structured in terms of the Assessment Framework domains and comprises:
Areas to be considered
Descriptors
Scale: lower to higher level of concern
which are summarised in the summary grids

17. Systemic Analysis of Patterns of Harm and Protection
Predisposing Factors and Processes:
Harmful Maintaining Factors and Processes Present:
Parent’s longstanding drug addiction;
Social contacts within drug
sub-culture;
Chaotic household routines.
Precipitating Trigger Factors and Processes:
Grandmother ill; one parent in house – father out buying drugs; father in prison
Protective Maintaining Factors and Processes:
Supportive grandmother who keeps house clean;
Parents use drugs at different times so one is available for child
The Child’s Current Health and Development Including Harm to the Child:
No speech; underweight; listless; unresponsive; home alone twice (once in cot for 6 hours)
Predicting Likely Future of Child’s Health and Development:
Irreversible developmental delay (cognitive, physical and emotional); high accident risk.

18. Determine the Prospects for Successful Intervention
To determine the prospects for successful intervention the following must be considered:
Nature of harm suffered and the child or young person’s wishes and feelings
Parental child-centredness
the capacity of the parents to recognise, understand, acknowledge and take responsibility for difficulties
Modifiability
the parents level of motivation and capacity for change regarding the identified difficulties; and
whether the child’s circumstances can be improved with safety within a reasonable period taking account of the child’s developmental timeframe
Parent’s ability to co-operate with professionals and agencies

19. The Structure of the Prospects for Successful Intervention Instrument
The instrument is structured in terms of the:
Areas to be considered
Descriptors
Scale: better to poorer prospects for intervention
which are summarised in the summary grids

20. The Summary of the Safeguarding Analysis
The summary of the safeguarding analysis provides 3 part scales regarding:
Overall level of harm and impairment to the child’s health and development (low/moderate/high)
Future outlook for the child’s health and development if no intervention: overall level of risk of re-abuse or likelihood of future harm (low/moderate/high)
Overall prospects for successful intervention (poor/moderate/good)

21. Planning Interventions
What are the options for interventions which might:
(a) help support strengths in health and development and/or
(b) help meet impairments in health and development?
Towards which strength/impairment in health and development is each intervention targeted?
What resources are available?
Which of those available is the family most likely to cooperate with?
Which intervention is likely to produce the most immediate benefit and which might take time?
What should be the sequence of interventions and why?
What is the likelihood of achieving sufficient change within the child’s timeframe?

22. Ispcan workshop 2014 Hope for Children and Families A resource manual of modular systemic Interventions
Empowering frontline practitioners to deliver evidence based approaches
Arnon Bentovim -Child and Family Training UK
Jenny Gray – President ISPCAN
Marianne Bentovim – Child and Family Training -UK

23. Identifying Outcomes and Measuring Change
The key outcome is the child’s developmental progress
To assess outcomes of intervention need to measure change over time in:
The Child’s Development
Factors and Processes thought to influence the Child’s Development
Need baseline and follow-up measures

24. The Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework www
The Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework
Bentovim, A., Cox, A, Bingley Miller, L. and Pizzey, S. (2009) Safeguarding Children Living with Trauma and Family Violence: A Guide to Evidence- Based Assessment, Analysis and Planning Interventions. London: Jessica Kingsley. Bentovim, A., Bingley Miller, L., Pizzey, S. and Tapp, S. (2013) The Safeguarding Assessment and Analysis Framework. York: Child and Family Training. Department of Health, Department for Education and Employment, and Home Office (2000b) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. London. The Stationery Office. Contact: