About the Contact, Advice and Assessment Service (CAAS)

Information about our CAAS team and how they can help

As the CAAS, our contribution to safeguarding is to ensure that children are safe and protected through the early identification and assessment of risk and need. We provide timely intervention, identified through assessment. We identify appropriate services to help children and their families achieve their potential and make a positive difference to their lives.

We believe that a collaborative, well informed decision making process is the best way to improve the outcomes for our children, young people and their families.

What do we do?

CAAS is the front door for Children and Family Services and covers all of West Berkshire. The team feeds into two Locality Safeguarding teams; West and East.

CAAS offers a consultation and advice service to our partners, providing a helpful opportunity to discuss concerns and receive clear guidance and support. Partners consistently receive outcome letters which have been revised and improved to be informative, helpful and provide an audit trail for decision making, leading to greater accountability and transparency.

CAAS is comprised of two teams: Contact and Advice (MASH), and the Early Response Hub Assessment Team.

CAAS provides a statutory service including the following:

Single Assessments
S47 enquiries
Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children
Emergency Protection Orders
Private law proceedings assessments
Care proceedings up to initial hearing

Social Workers hold a mixed caseload of:

Children in Need
Child Protection
Care Proceedings
Children in Care

You can find out more about the Threshold criteria in our Icon for pdf Thresholds of Need for the Support of Children document [640KB] .

You can find out more about our Early Response Hub, here.

Contact us

You can contact us during office hours (between 8:30am and 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 8:30am to 4:30pm on Friday), using the details below:

Telephone: 01635 503090
Email: child@westberks.gov.uk

If you have concerns outside of office hours, please contact the Emergency Duty Service on 01344 351 999, where you will be able to discuss your concerns with a social worker.