If you’re worried about a child or young person
If you feel a child is at immediate risk of harm, it is important to consider whether you need to call the Police on 999 to report your concerns, so that they can take immediate action to keep a child safe where needed.
Members of the public
To discuss your worries with a social worker, please phone Hackney Children and Families Services Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 020 8356 5500 or email MASH@hackney.gov.uk
- the telephone line is open between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday only, excluding bank holidays
- outside of office hours, if your concerns are urgent, you can call our Emergency Duty Team on 020 8356 2710
Professionals
If a case is already allocated within Hackney Children and Families Services, please contact the child’s allocated unit to discuss your concerns.
If you are worried about a child who is not open to Hackney Children and Families Services, where you feel your concern is urgent and you need to speak to a social worker to agree a plan of action today, please call MASH on 020 8356 5500 or email MASH@hackney.gov.uk:
- the phone line is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays
- outside of these hours, please contact the Emergency Duty Team on 020 8356 2710
If you’re unsure about what support a child and family needs, or whether you should make a referral to MASH, please call MASH and ask for a consultation with a member of the team.
How does the consultation line work?
- it’s for professionals only
- for cases that are not already open to the Council’s service
- you must have consulted your designated safeguarding lead first
- you will need to use the usual MASH number – 020 8356 5500 – and ask for a consultation
- experienced members of staff from MASH will respond
- MASH will listen to your concerns and offer advice and guidance about the most appropriate next steps – their advice may include:
- a request for you to have further conversations with the child and family about the concerns and – with their consent – other members of the family’s network
- a written referral to MASH
- a referral to another service
MASH will keep a log of calls to monitor the consultation lines use, but calls will not be recorded on our files. It is important that anyone contactingMASH make their own agency records of discussions.
Request for support form
Complete a request for support form if you wish to request targeted early help or statutory social work support for a family.
We’ll only review information submitted by the form during office hours.
You should discuss all requests with parents/carers (and children and young people where age appropriate) before submitting the form, unless there is a clear concern that doing so would present an immediate risk to a child’s safety. So, make sure you have parental consent, or enough justification for overriding consent, before completing the form.
We make all decisions around the most appropriate next steps for a child and family in line with the Hackney Child Wellbeing Framework (PDF 392kb).