Knowsley MASH is part of Knowsley Borough Council’s Children Services. It is a multi-agency team that works 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 with the Early Help Team and Children’s Social Care to provide information about concerns raised and help make the best decisions around a child’s welfare and safety.
The MASH provides a ‘first point of contact’ for Early Help and Children’s Social Care (CSC), enabling members of the public and professionals to raise concerns about the safety and welfare of Children. This may include Children identified as needing support or at risk of suffering abuse.
Knowsley MASH 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.
If you contact MASH by telephone, you will be asked a series of questions when making a referral to ensure as much information as possible can be gained to support what level of need is identified and what action is required by whom.
Professionals who work with children and who need to raise a concern should use the Multi-agency Referral Form (MARF). The form should be emailed to the MASH team when it is completed. If there is any sense of urgency regarding the concern being raised, the form should be sent, followed by a phone call to MASH 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.
There is no pre-requisite to complete an Early Help Assessment (EHA) before referring to Children’s Social Care. However, if the concerns do not require social work interventions, it will be expected that support is provided to the family via an Early Help Assessment. 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) is the ‘first point of contact’ for Children’s 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 there is a risk of family breakdown and the child being placed in care.
Please note if you believe a child or young person is at immediate risk of harm, you should contact the police urgently.