Dear Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service,

On the 1st July 2017 you published your "Guidance on the use of professional time to benefit children" as a PDF on your website here:
https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/media/317939/...

In your Guidance document when talking about your new Child Impact Analysis reports (for which you also include a template) you say:
"In other local areas, traditional s7 reports will be produced for the time being, pending the new proposed interventions being trialled and evaluated. "

1. Please would you provide details on what evaluation criteria you will be using to evaluate these trials.

2. Please provide details on what evaluation criteria you will be using to evaluate s7 reports in order that you can then compare the trial correctly against the two different reports

many thanks for your help

Yours faithfully,

G. Harrison

Dear Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service,

I noticed that I hadn't yet received an acknowledgement for this request from you which is unusual as you are usually very prompt and helpful in replying.

If you need me to resubmit this request please do let me know.

Yours faithfully,

G. Harrison

Dear Governance - Cafcass,

Thank you for your comprehensive reply.

1. Could you confirm please which department (or named individuals) within Cafcass will be responsible for evaluating these criteria against both the new Child Impact Reports and the existing s7 Reports?

2. Please provide a copy of your QAI Framework - a copy of the framework itself along with any policies and forms that relate to it's use.

3. Please identify the elearning modules that you provide to FCAs on using the QAI Framework

4. Please identify the elearning modules that you provide to FCAs on collating and recording accurate feedback from the Judiciary, from Parents, and from Children

5. Please would you provide copies of your policies and processes that you provide to FCAs on collating and recording accurate feedback from the Judiciary, from Parents, and from Children

6. Please provide copies of your feedback forms that you currently use to collate feedback from the Judiciary, Parents, and Children for s7 reports.

7. Please provide copies of your feedback forms that you plan to use to collate feedback from the Judiciary, Parents, and Children for these new Child Impact Reports.

9. Please provide details on any training that you provide FCAs and your QAI team on understanding the differences between subjectivity and objectivity, correlation and causation.

10. Please provide copies or details of any other policies, processes, and training (elearning or other) on research methodologies and data analysis that you provide to FCAs.

Many thanks for your help

Yours sincerely,

G. Harrison

Dear Governance - Cafcass,

Thank you for your response.

You say:
"We also provide mechanisms for feedback for service users including feedback forms that are available in offices and via email and are accessible for all staff."

Please provide a copy of one of these feedback forms

thank you

Yours sincerely,

G. Harrison

Dear Governance - Cafcass,

Thank you for supplying copies of your feedback forms.

Could you confirm:

1. what is the criteria for supplying these forms to a service user? in other words please confirm why a service user would be given one of these forms and why a service user would not be given one of these forms

2. how many service users were provided with these forms in 2015, 2016, and so far in 2017?

3. how many service users returned these feedback forms in 2015, 2016, and 2017?

4. how and where do you record the feedback submitted via these feedback forms? please provide the name of any system that you use, and provide details of who is responsible for ensuring that any feedback is recorded on any system

5. have you produced any reports using the feedback provided from these forms? if so please confirm details and indicate whether these were internal or external reports

6. and lastly, please confirm at what stage of the case management do you provide these forms to service users

thank you for your help

Yours sincerely,

G. Harrison