This sets out the role and processes around universal support, single-agency Early Help, multi-agency Early Help, and support from specialist services. It also gives indications of the level of need that can be managed by each level of support.
The Thresholds document encourages conversations between practitioners both within their agency, amongst colleagues in Teams Around the Family (TAF), and with colleagues from agencies offering different levels of support. Anyone who is unsure of how best to manage the risks and support for a family should phone the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 01902 555392.
Thresholds Windscreen (page 7 in the Threshold documents)
Supporting Families Pathway (page 25 in the Thresholds document)
CONSENT (page 32 in the Thresholds document)
- Always gain informed consent unless doing so places a child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm
- Respect the wishes of those who do not give consent, except where safety may be at risk or when it is inappropriate to seek their agreement
- If consent is not given, record why you believe safety may be at risk, or why it was inappropriate to seek consent
Informed consent - is meaningless unless it is clear, unambiguous, informed, specific, freely given and can be evidenced. Therefore all workers need to be open and honest about:
- why we want to share information
- the type of information we wish to share
- how we would share it
- who we intend sharing it with
In order to streamline the referral process for safeguarding and Early Help triage at the MASH front door, we now use an online MARF.