Knowsley MASH

The Knowsley Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) brings together agencies from services that have contact with children and adults at risk to make the best possible use of their combined knowledge to keep them safe from harm.

The MASH provides a ‘first point of contact’ for Early Help,  Children’s Social Care (CSC) and Adults Social Care enabling members of the public and professionals to raise concerns about the safety and welfare of children or adults. This may include children or adults identified as potentially being in need of support or as being at risk of suffering abuse.

It operates between 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday and can be contacted via email or by dialling 0151 443 2600. Members of the public should always make contact by telephone.

MASH is a multi-agency Team that work together in the same building. Some of the agencies represented in the MASH are Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care, Health, Housing and the Police.  Agencies work together to provide information around cases and help make the best decisions around a child’s or adults welfare and safety.

Professionals who work with children and who need to raise a concern should use the MARF(Multi-agency Referral Form) link to document. The form should be emailed to the MASH team when it is completed.  If there is any sense of urgency in respect of the concern being raised the form should be sent followed by a phone call to MASH in order to highlight the urgency of the case.  If you need help in respect of filling in the form you can also give the MASH a call for advice.

If you contact MASH by telephone you will be asked as series of questions when making a referral to MASH, this is to ensure as much information as possible can be gained to support what level of need is identified and action required by whom.  If you are a practitioner or other professional that works with children you will also be asked to complete a MARF (Multi-agency Referral Form).  Members of the public should NOT use this form and should always make contact by telephone.

There is no pre-requisite to complete an Early Help This involves building a picture of your child’s abilities, difficulties, behaviour, his/her special educational needs (if applicable) and the support required to meet those needs. A statutory assessment is a formal procedure which involves the collection of information from as many people as possible who have detailed knowledge about your child. (EHA) before referring to Children’s Social Care. If an EHA has been completed at the point of referral this should be sent with the MARF or sent separately if the referral is received via a telephone call.

At all other times the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) acts as the ‘first point of contact’ for Children’s or Adults Social Care. EDT can be contacted using the same number as the MASH – 0151 443 2600. EDT will only respond to Emergencies that cannot wait until the next working day. This is usually circumstances where there are immediate concerns regarding the welfare or safety of children or adults or if there is a risk of family breakdown and the Child(ren0 are being placed in ‘care’.

Please note if you believe a child, young person or adult at immediate risk, you should contact the police urgently, CALL 999 EMERGENCY.