Multi-Agency Working
⭐ Multi-Agency Panels (MAPs)
⭐ Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub
Provide faster local response to support children with additional needs
In my placement school's local borough, established by The Children's Trust
Virtual team
Various roles included who I can speak to in order to seek advice/guidance
Pastoral Support team in placement school will likely possess contact details
⁉Questions to ask at placement school
Is there a STEM specific 14-19 careers advice service?
How much contact does the school's safeguarding lead/team members(SLT members) have with the MAP crime prevention officer?
Are the schools' family support workers provided by the local authority (MAP) or are they employed by school?
MAPs provide
Advice, support and guidance to professionals (e.g. teachers)
Advice addresses any concerns that educational professionals may have about the health, well-being and achievement of children/young people
Direct practitioners who help to support community services (E.g. parenting programmes)
Strengthened links between community services
Work with families (alongside the Family approach) to coordinate support for child - the agencies all work towards and review progress together
Provides information sharing across all organisations involved in safeguarding children and families
Several partners involved:
Social Care
Metropolitan police
Health Services
Probation Services
Education (liaison) Services
Housing Services
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
A specialist NHS mental health service for children and young people
Targeted support
Youth Offending Services
Sharing information across these various branches better informs initial safeguarding decisions and ensures that safeguarding decisions are achieved quickly and necessarily
MASH in my placement school's local borough - 3 main functions
Identification and early intervention - helps pupils experiencing highest levels of harm, reduction strategies and service
Harm identification and reduction
Coordinating other partner agencies
MASH duties
Manages contacts and referrals - starting point of action when information is received from any source
Record concerns and/or other information within secure database
Provide an interface with Early Help provision for children/young people who need services but do not meet Children Act 1989 threshold
Provide consultation to agency referrers about thresholds, appropriate actions available and services
MASH has ability to quickly collate and share information held by various organisations
Those children who do not meet threshold for social care intervention (otherwise determined by Multi-Agency Working social care managers) are referred to the MAPs or other preventative services
MASH is not intended to replace functions of assessment, information sharing or multi-agency working
MASH just makes information sharing more comprehensiveand efficient
MASH Background
Police-led initiative
Local authority delivery
Purpose
Improve the way that safeguarding partnerships deal with child protection referrals
Brings together range of partners into single multi-agency safeguarding hub to share information quickly and efficiently
National Picture
MASH being implemented across local authorities over England
As of June 2013 there were 11/32 London LAs with live MASH systems
⚠ Reactive, not preventative
Intelligence-led decision making
Comprehensive multi-agency risk assessment
Cases will step up into Social Care based on more information/assessment
Cases could also be safely stepped down with more information/assessment
Ideally do not want cases to be 'bouncing' up and down across different severity tiers
⁉ Questions to ask at placement school
Will teachers have access to MASH services if we are worried about a pupil?
Are we allowed to contact MASH services for students, or does this have to be referred to SLT?
Can we refer students directly to MASH service providers/partners, if they need specific help?
Will part of our CPD include training from MASH service providers?
How could I get involved with assisting MASH?