Dudley Children’s Services Multi-Agency Briefing Stefan Chapleo Helen Ellis 1

Aims of the session 2 To share information and discuss implications of: The revised thresholds for Children’s Services The changes to Early Help in Dudley Introduction of the Single Point of Access (SPA) Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) How it will all operate in Dudley Individual and organisational roles and responsibilities

Safeguarding Good Practice 3 What we know: Early identification of children's needs provides the best outcomes for children. Early identification of risk has the best impact as it allows agencies to respond quickly with the most effective interventions. Good understanding and application of thresholds; robust early help services; timely and accurate assessment of risks; and multi-agency working all serve to ensure that children, young people and families receive the right service at the right time.

Thresholds

Early Help Early Help Strategy endorsed on 4 th February 2016 by the Children and Young People Alliance Board. The key features of this the Strategy are as follows: Identify children and families who would benefit from Early Help through a Single Point of Access and a Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub. Local co-ordinated support accessible for local communities, and integrated working between agencies enabling good communication, information sharing and a ‘no wrong door’ approach. Resources and services in each of the five clusters will be designed around an individual profile of local need.

Early Help Early Help will be delivered through universal provision wherever possible. Families will receive seamless support when ‘stepping down’ from targeted and specialist services but equally prior to ‘stepping up’ to targeted services. Universal services will be supported by Early Help Champions. Designed around support for the whole family and adopting a “Think Family” approach. All services and agencies use shared processes to identify children and young people who need targeted support. There will be a clear criterion for accessing services and robust arrangements for reporting safeguarding concerns.

Early Help A child and family centered pathway ensures a seamless experience for families. Evidence based service models and restorative practice approaches are adopted which will develop families own capacity for change. The impact of services and interventions on families’ lives is measurable.

CAF / Early Help Assessment A multi-agency task and finish group has been established. This group has been concentrating on developing the Early Help Assessment ensuring it adopts the ‘think family’ approach. Alongside the assessment will sit a Family Support Plan (tested by the Troubled Families Team). The Early Help Assessment is currently being tested with a number of agencies, families and young people. The launch of the new assessment will be April / May In the meantime CAF still to be used until the Early Help Assessment has been evaluated and launched.

Early Help Desk All contacts which don't meet Level 4 threshold are directed to Early Help. Early Help Desk have clear conversations with the referrer regarding the level of need. Support for these referrals is provided through Family Solutions. All contacts monitored and recorded. In process of mapping provision from Level 1 – Level 4. Early Help Assessments and Lead Professional roles will form part of the Quality Assurance Framework. Family Information Service.

Single Point of Access & Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub 11 What is the Single Point of Access? The Single Point of Access went live 7 th December 2015 Single front door for Children’s Social Care Consolidates a number of different referral routes that existed previously Has improved consistency and timeliness Will operate alongside the MASH, CSE Team and DART

Single Point of Access & Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub 12 What is a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)? -A MASH brings key professionals together in one location to facilitate early, better quality information sharing, analysis and decision making. -This enables the ‘process’ of safeguarding vulnerable children and young people to operate more effectively.

MASH - Core Elements A co-located team of professionals from core agencies delivering an integrated service with the aim to research, interpret and determine what is appropriate and relevant to share. The hub is fire walled, keeping MASH activity confidential and separate from operational activity and providing a confidential record system of activity to support this. An agreed process for analysing and assessing risk, based on all relevant and available information, resulting in information sharing with the most appropriate agency for necessary action. 13

Who will be in the MASH? 14 Early Help (including link to Schools/Education) Social Care Police x 2 Probation Health (employed by Black Country Partnership Trust) Housing CRI – Substance Misuse Domestic Abuse Referral Team Child Sexual Exploitation Team Local Authority Designated Officer

How will SPA & MASH Operate? 15 New referrals - Social Workers in the Single Point of Access will collate relevant information, which will involve checking Social Care and broader Council systems. This information will then be presented to the Social Work Manager for a threshold decision. Open cases – referred to the allocated Social Worker who is considered to be the best person to support the child or young person.

How will SPA & MASH Operate? 16 Where referrals have potentially met the Social Care Threshold – these will be sent to agencies in the MASH for them to provide information from their systems relevant to the referral. Where referrals do not meet the Social Care Threshold and needs have been identified, these will be discussed with Early Help. Where it is an urgent child protection issue, this will be dealt with straight away by agencies in the MASH. There will be criteria in the MASH to ensure that referrals are dealt with in a timely way.

MASH RAG Ratings 17 For REDS and AMBERS the Social Work Manager will decide what agency information is required and then trigger an information request. This will include the referral information and the RAG rating that has been applied. The Social Work Manager may change the RAG rating as new information comes to light. Similarly, where referrals have gone direct to Early Help, if more information is received that indicates the risk may be higher, this will be stepped back up to the MASH to reassess the threshold.

Domestic Violence & Abuse Multi-Agency Screening 18 Daily in the MASH Pre-Screening to remove those open to Social Care More robust and effective response Level 3 (Amber RAG) & Level 4 (Red RAG) will go into the MASH.

Child Sexual Exploitation 19 CSE Team to be co-located into MASH. A CSE Screening Tool must be completed by the referrer and risk rated by the social worker in SPA and if appropriate, discusses in MASH meeting. The CSE Team must be informed and included in the MASH meeting (MASE Meeting) Responsibility of the social worker in Assessment Team to complete NWG risk assessment. To be completed alongside the CYP Single Assessment.

Child Sexual Exploitation 20 If CSE Screening Tool is deemed as low risk and SPA assessment is determined at Level 2 or below, this is referred to the CSE Team. The CSE Team will work with Early Help. 3 missing episodes from home on new cases need to be referred to SPA where a strategy meeting needs to take place. Children missing education who have not been seen by any professional a referral to SPA needs to be made for a co- ordinated response.

What does this mean for me/my Agency? 21 The way you report safeguarding concerns will not change. The quality of the information included in the Multi Agency Referral Form is key. The changes will not change your individual or organisational role in safeguarding. You may be required to respond to a request to provide and share information with the MASH via your agency lead in the MASH or virtual link.

What does this mean for me? 22 Ensure your individual / organisational record keeping remains of a high standard. MASH is only as good as the information it receives. IT systems containing information must be uptodate to inform effective decision making in the MASH.

Case Study Discussions 23