MASH, thresholds and the Contact Service | Children's Policy & Practice Hub

Camden’s Children and Families Contact Service, which contains the Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) receives and processes all referrals and requests for children’s social care services and decides on the most suitable early help or social work service depending on the presenting issues and based on Camden’s eligibility criteria. The MASH is responsible for sharing information from partner agencies in order to make informed decisions on risk in cases where there are safeguarding and child protection concerns.

Thresholds and eligibility criteria allow CSFH to match children's levels of need to the most appropriate level of intervention so that children get the right help from the start.

In order to ensure that children receive the right kind of help and that CSFH intervene in family life only when necessary to safeguard and promote a child's welfare, Camden has developed t hreshold and eligibility criteria setting out what level of services and intervention families can expect based on the presenting issues and level of risk.

The thresholds are aligned to the London Safeguarding Children Partnership thresholds and tiers of need that are used across London to ensure consistency. The thresholds provide more detailed indicators of risk and harm and will be used by the Contact Service to decide on whether thresholds have been reached for an Early Help or CSFH service.

The CSCP has produced a guide for all agencies and professionals explaining the services available from Early Help Services and CSFH that provides information on thresholds for specific services and the different types of assessment carried out to identify need.

CSCP thresholds and assessment guidance