This virtual masterclass, facilitated by Fay Berry and Stephen Pizzey, explores decision making in complex child protection and safeguarding cases using the Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework (SAAF).
The Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework (Pizzey, Bentovim, Cox, Bingley Miller and Tapp, 2016) was designed to help professionals make an analysis of the level of harm suffered or likely to be suffered by the child; the risks of re-abuse or likelihood of future harm; and the prospects for successful intervention in cases that social workers find complex. The SAAF provides a systematic, robust, evidence-based and time-efficient model and a range of methods for assessing, analysing and making decisions in the safeguarding context. The Safeguarding Children Assessment and Analysis Framework focuses on analysis and decision-making and enables practitioners to evidence the rationale underpinning their recommendations and decisions to their managers and the courts.
The Department for Education commissioned a Systematic Review of Models of Analysing Significant Harm which found that the SAAF was the “only one of the family assessment tools that we identified [that] included an assessment of the possibilities of future change and how success or otherwise might be gauged” (Barlow et al 2012).
In a two-year study commissioned by the Department for Education a markedly lower proportion of referred children became the subject of a child protection plan in the intervention group (who used the SAAF) compared with the control group (who did not use the SAAF but continued with ‘practice as usual’). (Macdonald et al 2017).
Experienced professionals with responsibility for making or contributing to assessments of children and families where there are ongoing safeguarding concerns, including staff in children’s social care, CAMHS, health, education, police, probation, expert witnesses, children’s guardians and independent social workers should attend this masterclass.
Delegates attending the last event said:
“Knowledgeable facilitators. Good use of assessment tools provoking thoughts on how assessment tools can be utilised in everyday practice. Promoted a child centred approach which is often overlooked by many professionals”
“Lots of information to consider and reflect on. Was a full day of training and the facilitators were extremely knowledgeable.”
“Very useful to review the tools used by social services”
“A very enjoyable class, a lot of information but shared well and child focused”
“Session ran extremely well via an online platform - well done.”
