London Borough of Harrow
Children’s Access Team
incorporating a
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub
MASH Conference
15 February 2011
Dal Babu, Borough Commander, Harrow Police
Gail Hancock, Divisional Director, Harrow Children’s Services
Child Protection 1973
Committee of Inquiry into the Care and Supervision
Provided in Relation to Maria Colwell identified :
• “…the lack of communication between the agencies who
were aware of her vulnerable situation”
• This included Social Workers, Police and Teachers
• This has been a constant theme in subsequent Serious
Case Reviews
Munro Review
“climate of fear, blame and mistrust that seems to
be endemic within the child protection system”
This undermines public confidence in the
profession and puts children at greater risk
We must look at ways of working better together
Sharing Information & Intelligence
• Professionals in Child Protection must
trust each other to deal with information
sensitively
• The MASH model supports all agencies to
work together
• We all need to understand the value of
every piece of intelligence
So what does this mean in Harrow?
• Nearly 800 stakeholders were consulted about a
whole system review and re-design of Children’s
Services
• The Harrow MASH was created as part of this
process
• The stakeholder consultation provided invaluable
feed back about improving services
Locating the MASH in Children’s Services
Children’s Access Team
incorporating a MASH
Targeted Services
Early Intervention
Special Needs
The Team
Children’s Access Team
Social Work Service Manager
Social Work Team Manager
Social Work Senior Practitioners, encompassing the CAF Co-ordinator role (x2)
Education Lead (qualified teacher status)
Senior Education Welfare Officer
Early Years Social Welfare Worker
Young People’s Worker
Social Care Assistants
Business Support Officers (x4)
Family Information Service Officers (x2 WTE)
MASH Partners
•
Police & Intelligence Officers - Public Protection (x4)
•
Health Navigator (PCT)
•
Probation Officer (Integrated Offender Management Scheme)
•
Vulnerable adults lead (rationalisation plans with ACS / POVA)
Sessional Staff / Partners
•
Educational Psychologist
•
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Team
•
Housing (young people’s lead)
CAT Features
Evidence
Based
interventions
Improved
coordination
SPOC for
new contacts
& referrals
Immediate
information
& advice
Effective
signposting
NEW
CONTACTS
&
REFERRALS
Intelligence
gathering &
Information
sharing
Clear referral
pathways
Informed &
timely
decision
making
Risk
Identification &
prioritisation
Governance
LSCB
LSCB Executive
Strategic
Management
Board
Joint Operational Team
Steering Group
Single Agency Management Teams
Work Flow…
• Review all new incoming contacts & referral circumstances –
principle of proportionality
• Scrutinise data bases & undertake checks (Police, Council,
Probation, Health - via the Health Navigator, Schools – via the
Education Lead/SEWO etc…)
• Establish agreed / shared record of what is already known
• Identify risk & prioritise those most in need of protection
• Confirm CIN / vulnerable child thresholds & most appropriate
pathway
• Transfer onto appropriate operational team (immediately, the same
day & within 48 hours max for any non-urgent)
• Targeted, Early Intervention & Special Needs Services
Making it happen…
• Refurbishment of Civic Centre as the SPOC
• 1 “golden” number for new contacts & referrals
• Information sharing protocol for partners to support;
~ Information based risk assessment & decision making
~ Victim identification & harm reduction
~ Co-ordination of all safeguarding partners
• Co-location – eg; moving staff & partners from other
sites
10,000 Volts Event
•
•
•
•
Virtual joint training exercise to test the model
Facilitated by Professor Jonathan Crego
10KV event held 23 September 2011
10KV review convened 2 December 2011
• Identified issues;
Trust
Information Sharing
Child Centred Approach
Joint Training
Why are Harrow so brilliant?
• Excellent relationships at a tactical level
• Excellent relationships between senior leaders
in local child protection
• We admit when we get it wrong
• We learn from our failures
• We build on our success
The Way Forward…
• Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail
again. Fail better.
Samuel Beckett
• We are different agencies with different cultures
but we must succeed in protecting our children
• MASH is the Holy Grail!
Harrow Launch and Go Live
Children’s Access Team &
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub
Go live & launch of new operating model
27 February 2012
ANY QUESTIONS &
COMMENTS?