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OPERATIONALISING THE UK ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK OF CHILDREN IN NEED AND THEIR FAMILIES AND USING EVIDENCE-BASED 

APPROACHES TO MAKE ASSESSMENTS, PREDICT OUTCOMES  AND PLAN INTERVENTIONS IN CHILD MALTREATMENT

Presenter: Arnon Bentovim, Marianne Bentovim

Abstract Category: Child Welfare

Instruction Level: Intermediate

Presentation: Click Here

Description: Describes the UK Framework for the Assessment of Children in  Need and their Families and its application to Children in Need of Protection. Evidence based tools commissioned to assist practioners will be introduced, their use in making assessments, a Twelve Step Approach to predicting outcomes, and plan interventions.

Abstract: The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families was introduced by the Department of Health, Education and Skills in 2000. This eco-systemic framework which looks at children's functioning in the context of parenting, family and environmental factors was introduced for all welfare issues in the UK as a way of broadening practioners perspectives from a narrow focus on protection, to a broad -based picture of children in context. It is a statutory requirement to use the approach. To assist practioners we were commissioned to develop a number of evidence based approaches to help make the complex assessments and analysis of needs. We introduced and now train practitioners in the UK and Europe in the use of a number of questionnaires and more complex practice tools. These include a practice version of Caldwell and Bradley's HOME Assessment (Cox and Walker 2000),the Family Assessment of Competence, Strengths and Difficulties, (Arnon Bentovim and Liza Bingley Miller, 2000) the Attachment Style Interview (Bifulco 1999) and the In My Shoes Assessment of Children, (Cox, Calam and Glasgow 2003)  We have developed training manuals, and training approaches. The approaches have been used in a number of welfare fields, including Adoption Support. The presentation will illustrate how we use the approach to make assessments with children and families where there has been maltreatment and exposure to contexts of family violence. Elements to be presented will include

1. How we use the Assessment Framework to operationalise and describe children's functioning, parenting, individual and family functioning

2. How we use the evidence based approaches to assess functioning and needs

3. An approach to describing a profile of Harm, and a Twelve Step Approach predicting outcomes

4. An approach to planning intervention

The presentation will include video material case material commissioned to assist practitioners