Contacts and Referrals

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is the single point of contact for members of the public and professionals seeking advice and/or services, to support and protect vulnerable children, young people and their families who need, 'intensive' or 'specialist' help, according to the Bexley Safeguarding Partnership guidance; 'Effective Support for Children, Young People and Families in Bexley'. It is the referral gateway for the Family Wellbeing Service or Children's Social Care (including services for children with disabilities).

The MASH is managed by Bexley’s Children’s Services and includes a range of professionals from key agencies working with children and families. It is a multi-agency collaboration between the Local Authority, health colleagues, Metropolitan Police, SOLACE, education and probation services.

Members of the public can contact MASH directly or present themselves at the Civic Offices.

Professionals requesting a Family Wellbeing or Children's Social Care service will need to complete the referral form (Bexley.gov.uk), and send to the MASH.

Consent from the family should always be obtained before making contact unless in specific circumstances. For more information about consent see the 'Information Sharing' which includes a 'Consent' section.

All referrals in MASH for either Family Wellbeing or Children’s Social Care are initially recorded by a business support officer as a contact record. If the person making contact with MASH only requires information e.g. how to access a service, the business support officer will signpost the person to the service and no further action will be taken.

Upon receipt of a request for a Family Wellbeing or Social Care service, the business support officer will conduct basic demographic checks to confirm identifying details for the child.

The MASH business support officer will need to establish the following information as far as possible:

• Full names, dates of birth and gender of children;
• Family address and, where relevant, school/nursery attended;
• Identity of those with Parental Responsibility;
• Names and dates of birth of all members of the household;
• Ethnicity, first language and religion of children and parents;
• Any special needs of the children including the means in which they communicate;
• Details of any alleged perpetrator;
• Referrer's relationship with and knowledge of the child and his or her family;
• Information regarding parents' knowledge and agreement to referral.

If the child is already receiving a service, the information will be forwarded to the allocated social worker or key worker.

If the child is not currently receiving a service, the contact information will be triaged by a MASH social worker to review the level of need and risk and to make a threshold recommendation which will then be reviewed by a MASH manager.

If following triage, the child requires a preventative 'additional' service and relevant criteria are met, the MASH social worker will make a referral to Family Wellbeing within 24 hours with parental consent.

If following triage, the threshold is met for an 'intensive' service, the MASH social worker will recommend a child and family assessment. If the child has a disability that meets the eligibility criteria, a referral will be made to the Children with Disability service within 24 hours with parental consent.

If following triage, it is identified that the child may be at risk of significant harm and threshold is met for a 'specialist' service, the MASH social worker will progress the case to Referral and Assessment for a Strategy meeting to determine whether the threshold is met for a Section 47 enquiry.

Where families do not meet the threshold and eligibility criteria for either a Family Wellbeing or Children's Social Care service, the person making contact with MASH will be signposted to other services such as Children's Centres' and Targeted Youth Support.

If the level of need and risk of harm is unclear, MASH will need to gather more information before an informed decision can be made on case progression. In these circumstances a manager will decide whether an enhanced MASH enquiry will be initiated. MASH enquiries are a process of enhanced information sharing between the agencies in the MASH.

Not all contacts will be subject to an enhanced MASH enquiry, only those where there is insufficient information to make a clear decision at the point of referral.

High risk MASH enquiries will be completed within 4 hours, others within 1 working day.

It is important to note that MASH enquiries are only intended to make the initial referral decision. They do not replace the need for agency checks to be undertaken as part of any child and family assessment/ child protection enquiry.

When MASH enquiries are initiated, the referral will be assigned to a social worker in MASH to conduct and co-ordinate the MASH enquiries with the relevant designated professionals. The assigned social worker responsible for coordinating the MASH enquiries will immediately request information from the other designated MASH professionals. MASH enquiries will always be conducted with Health, Education, Police, domestic abuse services and probation. Enquiries with other agencies will be proportionate to the presenting issues.

Each designated professional will conduct enquiries within their own agency and return the information to the MASH social worker. This information provided by the designated professional needs to be clear, relevant and include some analysis to provide meaning to the information in the context of the enquiry. It is the responsibility of the agency providing the information to keep a record of the information they have shared.

The coordinating social worker will collate and lead the analysis of all the information from the incoming MASH enquiries to make a judgement on the level of presenting risk or need and make a decision on the next step.

Where requested to do so by local authority children's social care, professionals from other parts of the local authority such as housing and those in health organisations have a duty to cooperate under section 27 of the Children Act 1989 by assisting the local authority in carrying out its children's social care functions.

See: Flowchart 1: Action Taken When a Child is Referred to Local Authority Children’s Social Care.

It is not an expectation that members of the public will have gained consent from the child/parent, or at least one person with parental responsibility, to make contact with the MASH.

Best practice dictates that when professionals request a service, they will have gained the consent of the child/parent, or at least one person with parental responsibility.

If a professional is requesting a Family Wellbeing service, there must always be consent. If a professional is requesting a Children's Social Care 'Child in Need' assessment and they do not have consent, MASH may ask the professional to discuss the matter with the child/family, before they will take further action. However, if it has not been possible to get consent and/or there are potential safeguarding concerns, it is expected the professional will have at minimum informed the child/parent they are making contact with the MASH. 

For further guidance on when these circumstances apply, refer to the London Safeguarding Children Procedures, Information Sharing Guidance

There are some circumstances when there is evidence or reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering, or is at risk of suffering significant harm where sharing information without consent will be justified in the public interest. When there is justifiable public interest, there are some circumstances where consent can be overridden, furthermore there may also be times when it is also NOT appropriate to inform the child/parent or person with parental responsibility that the information will be shared. If doing so would:

1. Place a person at increased risk of significant harm; or
2. Prejudice the prevention, detection or prosecution of a serious crime; or
3. Lead to an unjustified delay in making enquiries about allegations of significant harm to a child.

In these circumstances a manager in the MASH will record a clear rationale for overriding consent on the child's record on L.C.S.

When a child or young person is already open to Children’s Social Care, all information and referrals received by MASH will be directed to the allocated social worker to action.

When MASH receive information about a child or family who have closed within three months, they will generate a Contact Record and assign this to the team within which the child or young person last received intervention.

Once a Contact Record is received, a practitioner must make enquiries with the referring agency and family promptly. A Contact Record must be completed in full by a registered social worker within 24 hours.

If three or more referrals are received pertaining to the same child, young person or family, consideration will be given to completing a Child & Family Assessment to ensure that we have an updated picture of the child or young person’s lived experience.

Supporting Disabled Children and Their Carers

Where a referral is received requesting help and support for disabled children and their families, practitioners should recognise additional pressures on the family, and the distinct challenges they may have had to negotiate as a result of their child’s disability when carrying out any assessments. Consideration should also be given to any support needs for the parents/carers of the disabled child. An assessment would need to be carried out to consider whether it is appropriate for the parent carer to provide, or continue to provide, care for the disabled child. The assessment should consider the parent/carer’s needs and wishes and the specific needs and circumstances of the child resulting from their disability. Parent carers have the right to request an assessment under section 17ZD of the Children Act 1989, including where a child is not otherwise known to children’s social care.

Supporting Young Carers

If it is considered that a young carer may have support needs, an assessment should be carried out to establish how best we can support the young carer and their family. An assessment must also be carried out if a young carer, or the parent of a young carer, requests one. Such an assessment must consider whether it is appropriate or excessive for the young carer to provide care for the person in question, (which may be a sibling, parent, or other member of the family), in light of the young carer’s needs and wishes.

Supporting Children at Risk of, or Experiencing, Harm Outside the Home

Where there are concerns that a child is experiencing extra-familial harm, practitioners should consider all the needs and vulnerabilities of the child. Some children will have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by others and will require support appropriate to their needs to minimise the potential for exploitation. All children, including those who may be causing harm to others, should receive a safeguarding response first and practitioners should work with them to understand their experiences and what will reduce the likelihood of harm to themselves and others. An assessment will need to be undertaken to determine whether a child is in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or whether to make enquires under section 47 of the same Act, following concerns that the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.

Where there are concerns that more than one child may be experiencing harm in an extra-familial context, practitioners should consider the individual needs of each child as well as work with the group. The children in the group may or may not already be known to children’s social care.

Supporting Children in Secure Youth Establishments

Where a child becomes looked after, as a result of being remanded to youth detention accommodation (YDA), a visit to the child should be undertaken to assess the child’s needs before taking a decision on how they should be supported. This information should be used to prepare the care plan, which should set out how the YDA and other practitioners will meet the child’s needs whilst the child remains remanded, and at any point of transition they will experience, whether returning to the community or receiving a custodial sentence.

Supporting Children in Mother and Baby Units (in Prison)

When a woman applies for a place on a mother and baby unit (MBU) whilst in prison, an assessment must be completed by children’s social care from the mother’s home authority. Any assessment should set out the needs of the child in relation to the mother’s application to be placed on an MBU.

The Lead Practitioner should attend the MBU Admissions Board to represent the best interests of the child. When placed in an MBU, the mother retains full parental responsibility for the day-to-day care of the child and the local authority in which the prison is located is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child.

Supporting Children at Risk from People in Prison and People Supervised by the Probation Service

If a child safeguarding enquiry is received from the Prison Service regarding a prisoner who presents an ongoing risk to children from within custody, children social care should:

1. Review information provided by the Prison Service and record it as required;
2. Respond to the child safeguarding enquiry and share with the Prison Service any concerns about the prisoner and any contact with a child;
3. Contribute to the prisons’ child contact risk assessment where a child is known to children's social care, or has previously been known, by providing a report on the child's best interests and verifying the child's identity. Where the child is not known to children’s social care, they should still provide a view on child contact and should advise the prison to complete a child safeguarding referral if one is required.

The Probation Service will share information with children’s social care about supervised individuals who have contact with children or who pose a known risk and will also request information by making child safeguarding enquiries.

When an initial referral is received, children and their families can expect a prompt response to ensure any worries are dealt with, and their needs met in a timely manner. This will always be done in the interests of the child and family as to whether support is required or the child and family need information or advice inclusive of signposting to other agencies.

We will always work in partnership with the professionals and agencies involved with the family to inform decision making and gain a full picture of what life is like for children and young people.

Consent is a paramount consideration within MASH and the permission from parents and carers and young people (when appropriate) will always be sought to share information when this does not increase the risk to a child or young person. Consent can be overridden if seeking it places the child at risk of significant harm.

The Signs of Safety domains will always be used as a mapping assessment tool by staff in MASH when gathering information to help them make the best decisions on what need to happen,

Analysis and decision making on referrals will always be evidence based and practitioners will consider the Bexley Safeguarding Partnership guidance; 'Effective Support for Children, Young People and Families in Bexley' in relation to all referrals to ensure the most appropriate support is provided by the right service in a timely manner.

Referrers should be informed of the outcome of their referral within 24 hours wherever possible. When informing non-professional referrals we must respect the confidentiality of the child and family concerned.

All Initial Contacts and Referrals should be recorded on the electronic database.