Child and Family Training

Child and Family Training (C&FT) run courses on a series of standardised assessment tools and approaches to analysis and planning for use by professionals working with children and their families. The recent Munro Review stresses the importance of child-centred evidence-based practice which is the focus of the C&FT Training Programme.
 
C&FT courses provide professionals with essential skills in making evidence-based assessments of children's developmental needs, parenting capacity and family and environmental factors, analysis, planning how to intervene and identifying and measuring outcomes. The training usually includes gaps between formal training days for participants to use the assessment tools in their work context as part of the training process.
 
Briefing and working with managers to enable them to support, supervise and audit trail their staff's effective use of the tools and approaches by their staff is a further component of the training programme. A process for training and licensing agency-based trainers to deliver Child and Family Training courses is also available.

Tools for Evidence-Based Assessment, Analysis and Planning

Child and Family Training with others were commissioned by the Department of Health, to develop a range of standardised assessment tools and associated training for use by professionals when making assessments using the National Assessment Framework.
 
Training in the use of the Attachment Style Interview was developed in partnership with the Lifespan Research Group at Kingston University, London.
 
A model of analysis, planning interventions and identifying and measuring outcomes using the Assessment Framework has been developed including for the child protection context. The assessment tools and model of analysis and planning are integrated into 2010 Working Together (HM Government 2010).
 
In 2011, C&FT was awarded funding from the Department for Education (DfE) under their 'Improving outcomes for children and young people initiative' for a two-year project on 'Training in Evidence-Based Assessment, Analysis and Planning Interventions in Child Protection and Safeguarding'. This project provides opportunities for subsided training of staff and/or agency-based trainers in participating Children's Services and local authorities.
 
The assessment tools can be used for a wide range of purposes including:

• Assessments of children in need or for early intervention
• Safeguarding and specialist assessments – assessing the nature and level of harm to a child and the risks of re-abuse/likelihood of
future harm and prospects for successful intervention
• Assessing children's developmental needs, parenting capacity and a range of family and environmental factors
• Analysis, planning effective interventions and identifying and measuring outcomes to assess change
• Exploring the children's experiences at home, at school and elsewhere
• Preparing reports for court in care proceedings under the Public Law Outline and in Private Law cases relating to residence and contact issues
• Planning for permanency and assessing and supporting adoptive parents, foster carers and kinship carers