Stephen Pizzey, Phil Heasman and Carla Thomas Arnon Bentovim, Antony Cox, Liza Bingley Miller and Simon Tapp www.childandfamilytraining.org.uk

1. Child Protection Decision-Making:
The Safeguarding Children
Assessment and Analysis Framework (SAAF)
Stephen Pizzey, Phil Heasman and Carla Thomas
Arnon Bentovim, Antony Cox, Liza Bingley Miller
and Simon Tapp
www.childandfamilytraining.org.uk

2. Child and Family Training (C&FT)
Started in 2000 as a result of a government-funded
collaboration between senior professionals to develop:
 A range of evidence-based assessment approaches
 Training packages
 Team of accredited trainers and consultants
Contributes to agencies’ training programmes around the UK
and abroad for social work and other professionals
Commitment to continuous development
Child and Family Training
2© Child and Family Training 2015

3. Please discuss with the person next to you;
What makes a safeguarding case complex?
Complex child protection cases
3© Child and Family Training 2015

4. Definition of child protection is where the concerns about
the safety of the child are such that there is serious
consideration of:
the child having to be moved away from their current care
setting (or not to be returned to their previous care setting)
in order to
prevent further or likely future major impairment of the
child’s development
Definition of Child Protection
4© Child and Family Training 2015

5. The severity of the child’s impairment (attributable or non-
attributable)
The severity of the difficulty of the factors and processes
operating on a child’s impairment (i.e. parenting capacity
and family and environmental factors)
Modifiability of the impairing/negative processes to the
child attributable to the parents/carers. i.e. whether it is
likely to be possible to change:
 What the parents do
 Factors and processes that affect what the parents do
Whether parents are child-centred
Whether they are able to cooperate with professionals
Reasons for considering a change
in the child’s care setting
5© Child and Family Training 2015

6. Stage 1 Identification of harm and initial safeguarding
Stage 2 Gather information on the child’s developmental
needs, parenting capacity and family and
environmental factors
Stage 3 Establish the nature and level of impairment of the
child’s health and development
Stage 4 Analysis of patterns of harm and protection
Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning
and Care Planning: The Safeguarding Analysis
Stage 6 Developing a plan of intervention
Stage 7 Identifying outcomes and measures for intervention
Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis
and Planning Interventions
6© Child and Family Training 2015

7. Assessment Framework
A map of relevant data to be collected
7
Health
Education
Identity
Family & Social
Relationships
Social Presentation
Emotional &
Behavioural Development
Selfcare Skills
CHILD’SDEVELOPMENTALNEEDS
PARENTINGCAPACITY
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Basic Care
Emotional Warmth
Stimulation
Guidance &
Boundaries
Ensuring Safety
Stability
WiderFamily
Housing
Employment
Income
Family’sSocial
Integration
FamilyHistory
&Functioning
Community
Resources
CHILD
Safeguarding
&
promoting
welfare
© Child and Family Training 2015

8. The Assessment Framework provides a map for assessing the
needs of children
•The Child’s Developmental Needs Domain of the Assessment triangle 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.
Working with
the Assessment Framework
8© Child and Family Training 2015
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9. Consider the referral and the aims of the
assessment
The awareness of harm arises in many contexts
Multi-agency child protection conferences - have to judge
current risk and future harm
Extent of harm to the child and nature of parenting capacity
and family and environmental factors often unknown
Stage 1: Identification of Harm and Initial Safeguarding
9© Child and Family Training 2015

10. In order to make a full assessment of the child’s
needs, parenting capacity and family and
environmental factors the assessor needs to:
Gather information from available sources including
using assessment tools
Create comprehensive chronology of salient
information
Good assessments use multiple sources of information.
An assessment should not rely on one source of
information.
Stage 2: Making a full assessment and create
comprehensive chronology
10© Child and Family Training 2015

11. Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Case Study: Ben Bradshaw aged 5 years 6 months
11© Child and Family Training 2015
Gina
27
Susan Moore
25
Ben
5yrs 6 months
Frank
29
Annie
6 months
Sasha
8

12. Gina Bradshaw is:
 caring well for Annie who is thriving
 making over frequent visits to GP with Annie
 finding Ben’s behaviour increasingly difficult to manage
The Health Visitor is concerned about:
 Ben’s aggression towards Annie
 Gina’s hostility towards Ben
Ben has hit his teacher and is aggressive to other children in school
Historical Information:
 First 9 months poor weight gain and frequent minor accidents as
a toddler questioning supervision
 Aged 2 fractured elbow and dislocated shoulder. Gina reported
pulling Ben away from electric stove.
Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Case Study: Ben Bradshaw aged 5 years 6 months - Referral
12© Child and Family Training 2015

13. Gina was sexually abused as a child for a number of years by an uncle.
Gina had a troubled adolescence and early adulthood:
• truanting, aggression to staff and exclusion from school;
• running away from home and accommodated by local authority;
• extensive drug use
• termination aged 15
• series of violent relationships
• overdosed twice
• convictions for shoplifting to fund drug habit
Gina found it difficult to bond with Ben because he was a boy and felt protective
towards Annie because she was a girl.
Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Case Study: Gina Bradshaw Background
13© Child and Family Training 2015

14. Frank Bradshaw’s early experiences included:
• disruption in early childhood – older brother aged 8 sent to
grandparents;
• regular school attendance;
• occasional drug use;
• a series of brief relationships;
• unhappy relationship with Susan mother of his daughter, Sasha
• private law proceedings regarding Sasha – monthly contact
which petered out
• clinical depression
Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Case Study: Frank Bradshaw Background
14© Child and Family Training 2015

15. Watch short extracts from:
• a Family Assessment interview with the whole family;
• an Early Childhood (3-6) HOME Inventory Assessment of
Ben’s experience of care in the family with Ben and Gina.
Take detailed notes of what observed and what reported
Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Case Study: Ben Bradshaw
15© Child and Family Training 2015

16. Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Ben Bradshaw – Family Assessment Interview
16© Child and Family Training 2011
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17. Stage 2: Making a full assessment
Ben Bradshaw – HOME Inventory Interview (1)
17© Child and Family Training 2011
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18. Organise information using the Assessment Framework
•Record information on the Assessment Framework handout
in the following dimensions:
• Emotional & Behavioural Development
• Family & Social Relationships
• Emotional Warmth
• Guidance and Boundaries
• Family Functioning
•Identify strengths and difficulties
Stage 3: Establish the nature and level of harm
and harmful effects on the child
18© Child and Family Training 2015

19. Assessment Framework
A map of relevant data to be collected
19
Health
Education
Identity
Family & Social
Relationships
Social Presentation
Emotional &
Behavioural Development
Selfcare Skills
CHILD’SDEVELOPMENTALNEEDS
PARENTINGCAPACITY
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Basic Care
Emotional Warmth
Stimulation
Guidance &
Boundaries
Ensuring Safety
Stability
WiderFamily
Housing
Employment
Income
Family’sSocial
Integration
FamilyHistory
&Functioning
Community
Resources
CHILD
Safeguarding
&
promoting
welfare
© Child and Family Training 2015

20. In analysing the categorised information consideration
should be given to:
 Processes – the pattern of influences
&
 Impact – the weight/effect of factors/processes
Note
 What is central is whether there is impairment or likelihood of
impairment of the CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT.
 Difficulties/impairments in Parenting or broader Family and
Environment may or may not be producing impairments in the child’s
development.
Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of ham and protection
Angold et al 1995 Bentovim et al 2009
20© Child and Family Training 2015
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21. 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
Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of harm and protection
21© Child and Family Training 2015

22. 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
Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of harm and protection
Develop a chronology of salient information
22© Child and Family Training 2015

23. Linear or circular processes:
Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of ham and protection
23© Child and Family Training 2015

24. Identify Strengths and impairments in the child’s
development
• What are Ben’s strengths in health and development and
how have they been brought about?
• What are Ben’s impairments in health and development
and why have they occurred?
Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of ham and protection
24© Child and Family Training 2015

25. Assessment Framework
A map of relevant data to be collected
25
Health
Education
Identity
Family & Social
Relationships
Social Presentation
Emotional &
Behavioural Development
Selfcare Skills
CHILD’SDEVELOPMENTALNEEDS
PARENTINGCAPACITY
FAMILY & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Basic Care
Emotional Warmth
Stimulation
Guidance &
Boundaries
Ensuring Safety
Stability
WiderFamily
Housing
Employment
Income
Family’sSocial
Integration
FamilyHistory
&Functioning
Community
Resources
CHILD
Safeguarding
&
promoting
welfare
© Child and Family Training 2015

26. Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of ham and protection
Weight of Factors/Processes
Difficulties Child’s Developmental
Needs, Parenting & Family and
Environment
Factors and Processes
Impairment of child’s development -
Significant Harm
Protection and
Resilience
Risk and
Vulnerability
Modifiability -
Change
Intrusiveness
- Depth
Pervasiveness
- Breadth
Unusualness
Frequency -
How often
Duration -
How long
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27. 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
Stage 4: Analysis of patterns of ham and protection
- Impact
27© Child and Family Training 2015

28. The Safeguarding Analysis:
•The profile of harm and impairment of the child’s health and
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
Stage 5: Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning:
The Safeguarding Analysis
Bentovim et al 2009
28© Child and Family Training 2015

29. To make an assessment of the profile of harm, risks of future
harm to the child the following must be considered:
 Child’s Developmental Needs
 Severity of impairment of the child’s health and development and
impact on 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 the child requires
Stage 5: Child Protection Decision Making
Profile of harm and impairment of
the child’s health and development
29© Child and Family Training 2015
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30. 30
Harmful Maintaining
Factors and Processes
Present:
Precipitating Trigger Factors and Processes:
Protective Maintaining
Factors and Processes:
The Child’s Current Health and Development
Including Harm to the Child:
Predicting Likely Future of Child’s Health and
Development:
Predict the likely outlook for child: the Systematic Analysis

31. Harmful Maintaining
Factors and Processes
Present:
Ben: male child;
increasingly defiant
behaviour leading
to anger from Gina.
Gina repeatedly
locks Ben in room
and physically
chastises him.
Frank: spending
increasing time out
of the house;
Frank’s passivity
and conflict
avoidance.
Precipitating Trigger Factors and Processes:
Ben’s aggression to Annie causing
Gina to be furious; Annie female
child making Gina more protective
Protective Maintaining
Factors and Processes:
Frank’s positive
relationship with
Ben including
reading and playing
games with Ben
Clean well
maintained home.
Adequate provision
of basic care:
personal hygiene,
nutrition, clothing.
The Child’s Current Health and Development
Including Harm to the Child:
Healthy, articulate, well dressed
assertive. Aggressive to Gina, Annie,
teacher and peers. Difficulties
regulating behaviour and emotions.
Predicting Likely Future of Child’s Health and
Development:
Ben likely to: be seriously physically
injured by Gina; suffer emotional
harm; develop serious behaviour
problems at home and school
Predict the likely outlook for Ben : the systemic analysis
Gina: sexual abuse resulting in negative feelings towards Ben
and overprotectiveness of Annie; propensity to depression
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32. There is a poor prognosis for change where:
• Child subject of serious abuse
• Continuing parental denial of abuse/impairment
• Considerable family difficulties with few strengths
• Severe parental pathology, personality disorder or level of
addiction which implies changes cannot be made in child’s
timeframe
• Resources unavailable to intervene given severity of
situation
• Parents who refuse/don’t cooperate with help
Stage 5: Child Protection Decision Making
Determine the prospects for successful intervention
Bentovim et al 1987 & Jones 1991, 1998
32© Child and Family Training 2015
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33. To analyse the prospects for successful intervention the following must be
considered:
Nature of harm suffered and child or young person’s wishes and feelings
Parental child-centredness regarding
 Child’s health and development and any harm suffered and its impact
 Parenting
 Individual, family and environmental processes
Modifiability i.e. parents level of motivation and capacity for change
regarding difficulties in
 Impairment of child’s development and any harm suffered
 Parenting
 Individual, family and environmental processes
 Parent’s ability to cooperate with professionals and agencies
Stage 5: Child Protection Decision Making
Determine the prospects for successful intervention
33© Child and Family Training 2015
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34.  What interventions are required to ensure the safety of the child
 What are the options for interventions which might:
(a) help support strengths in the child’s health and development &/or
(b) help reduce impairments in the child’s health and development?
 Towards which strength/impairment in child’s 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
developmental timeframe?
Stage 6: Developing a Plan of Intervention
Planning interventions
34© Child and Family Training 2015

35. The key outcome is the child’s developmental
progress
The aims are to assess :
• Whether the child has progressed and in which dimensions (child’s
development);
• How improvements or deteriorations have come about (factors and
processes thought to influence the child's development)
Need baseline and follow-up measures to assess change over
time
Stage 7: Identifying and Measuring Outcomes
Assessing outcomes of intervention
35© Child and Family Training 2015

36. Stage 1 Identification of harm and initial safeguarding
Stage 2 Gather information on the child’s developmental
needs, parenting capacity and family and
environmental factors
Stage 3 Establish the nature and level of impairment of the
child’s health and development
Stage 4 Analysis of patterns of harm and protection
Stage 5 Child Protection Decision Making and Care Planning
and Care Planning: The Safeguarding Analysis
Stage 6 Developing a plan of intervention
Stage 7 Identifying outcomes and measures for intervention
Seven Stages in Assessment, Analysis
and Planning Interventions
36© Child and Family Training 2015

37. Angold, A., Predergast, M., Cox, A., Harrington, R., Simonoff, I. and Rutter, M. (1995) ‘The Child and
Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA).’ Psychological Medicine 25, 739–753.
Bentovim, A., Elton, A. and Tranter, M. (1987) ‘Prognosis for rehabilitation after abuse.’ Adoption and
Fostering 11, 26–31.
Bentovim, A. and Bingley Miller, L. (2001) The Family Assessment: Assessment of Family Competence,
Strengths and Difficulties. York: Child and Family Training.
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 Children Assessment and
Analysis Framework. York: Child and Family Training.
Caldwell, B.M. and Bradley, R.H. (2003) HOME Inventory: Administration Manual Comprehensive Edition.
Little Rock, AR: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Cox, A., Pizzey, S. and Walker, S. (2009) The HOME Inventory: A Guide for Practitioners – The UK Approach.
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.
Jones, D.P.H. (1998) ‘The Effectiveness of Intervention.’ In M. Adcock and R. White (eds) Significant Harm: Its
Management and Outcome. Croydon: Significant Publications.
The Safeguarding Assessment and Analysis Framework
Contact: Stephen.Pizzey@ntlworld.com
37© Child and Family Training 2015