What is the role of the Police in the Tri-borough MASH? The current Police Public Protection Desks (PPD) in each borough has been merged into a single Tri-borough PPD co-located with the MASH Team.

When they are notified of Police contact that concerns a child or young person the PPD works with MASH partners to assess the level of risk and will route safeguarding concerns to the relevant borough via the MASH.

What service do the Tri-borough MASH provide? The MASH provide the capacity, skills and the practical arrangements to collect, analyse and securely store the information held by all partners about children and families that is relevant to an assessment of safeguarding risk. It does this in defined timescales that reflect the level of risk identified. 

Do Tri-borough MASH work directly with children and families? Where necessary the MASH make contact with families to establish and verify information. Responsibility for planning and providing services continues to rest with the borough in which the child is resident.

Who can make a referral to the Tri-MASH? All concerns about child safety or welfare are sent in the first instance to the existing Childrens Service ‘front door(s)’ in the borough in which the child is resident. If after an initial screening the front door assesses that the case meets the agreed threshold they will refer the case on to the Tri-borough MASH.

What is the threshold for referral to the Tri-borough MASH? A referral should be made to the MASH in all instances where it has been assessed that a child or young person is at actual or potential safeguarding risk.

Safeguarding encompasses both child protection (s47) and broader concerns about a child’s wellbeing. A common set of risk indicators is used by each borough to ensure a consistent approach to identifying and categorising the level of risk.

What does ‘BRAG’ refer to? BRAG refers to a colour-coded level of safeguarding risk that has been assigned to a case:

• Blue - no safeguarding risk identified
• Red - serious safeguarding concern, immediate action required
• Amber - significant concerns, no immediate urgent action required but S47 investigation may result
• Green - concerns about a child’s well-being, may be considered S17 child in need

Do I need to obtain consent before making a referral to MASH? Each borough will be asked to endeavour to obtain consent where this appropriate and/or possible. However, where there is a concern that a child’s safety or welfare is at risk this is not always the case.

Where the MASH undertake a multi-agency assessment without consent having being obtained it will document the justification for doing so.

What happens to information I share with the Tri-MASH? The Information will be used within the MASH to assess the level of safeguarding risk and to make a decision on the appropriate response.

It is stored on the Integrated Children’s System in which a child is resident and - subject to confidentiality considerations - will be used to inform the subsequent planning and delivery of interventions and support. 

Is information shared outside of the MASH? Where the MASH make an assessment that there is a child protection (s47) concern (i.e. a Red or Amber case) all information is automatically made available to borough child protection teams.

Where there is a non-s47 safeguarding concern information will automatically be shared unless it has been specified as confidential by the partner who has shared the information.

Can I specify that information shared with MASH is confidential? Yes. If you specify that the information you share is confidential it will be stored on a ringfenced area of the MASH database accessible only to senior members of the MASH Team.

Where a decision is reached after MASH risk assessment that there is a s47 child protection concern confidential information will automatically be made available to borough child protection teams.

In all other cases borough social work teams will be made aware that confidential information exists but it will not be shared without consent from the partner that has shared the information.

Who is accountable in the MASH model? The Local Authority is ultimately accountable for the decisions within the MASH about the type and level of safeguarding risk and ensuring an appropriate response.