Initial Contacts, Referrals and Ealing Children's Integrated Response Service (ECIRS)

ECIRS acts as a 'front door' service for all enquiries and referrals into Ealing Children's Services from professionals and the public, where there are concerns about the welfare or safety of a child (pre-birth to aged 18 years).

ECIRS is a multi-agency service that includes: Social Workers; Family Practitioners; a specialist Health Visitor; Early Help; Education; Domestic Abuse advisors and Ealing Borough's MASH Police.

ECIRS incorporates the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). The MASH is a partnership of professionals from the three statutory children's safeguarding agencies (Children’s Social Care/Police/Health) and other agencies/services that work together to consider safeguarding referrals where the level of risk and need is unclear or complex.

The MASH works through the sharing and analysing of all available relevant information held by agencies, in order to identify risks to children at the earliest possible point and respond with the most effective interventions.

• Information sharing between agencies in the MASH takes place in a confidential and secure way and is covered by a specific Information Sharing Agreement (ISA). See London multi-agency safeguarding data sharing agreement.

ECIRS works on a short-term basis to assess level of need and risk before referring on to other teams and services for further assessment and support as needed (see RAG chart below).

A Domestic Abuse worker will support families who have not been previously known to Ealing Children's Services where there are concerns of domestic abuse and they are not being supported by any domestic abuse service.

ECIRS may also work with the Police and the LADO to complete investigations where there is an Allegation against Staff or Volunteers (ASV).

The steps professionals should consider before making a referral to ECIRS are:

Where a professional is unsure about whether to refer and needs some advice, they can contact ECIRS Consultation Line on 020 8825 5236 (see below).

Obtain the consent of parent/s to making a referral unless to so would:

• Put the child at further risk of harm;
• Compromise a criminal investigation;
• Cause undue delay in taking action to protect the child.

Professionals should consult Ealing's Thresholds of Need Guide and consider whether there are services within their own agency, or other professionals already involved with the child and family, that may be able to help.

Where a professional considers a multi-agency or targeted approach is needed, the Early Help Assessment and Plan (EHAP) process may be appropriate. Contact Ealing Family Information Service for more information. Tel: 020 8825 5588 / Website: www.ealing.gov.uk/EHAP.

Where professionals are clear a referral to Children's Social Care is needed, they should contact ECIRS:

A duty worker will be available from 9am to 5pm.

Out of hours referrals can be made on the same number via the Emergency Duty Team.

Where a child is in immediate danger call the Police on 999.

N.B. Where there are child protection or safeguarding concerns, professionals should always seek immediate safeguarding advice from within their own agency or directly from ECIRS.

ECIRS has set up a consultation line for professionals who are unsure if the child they are concerned about should be the subject of a referral. The consultation line is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. The contact number is 020 8825 5236.

The consultation line aims to provide general guidance and advice to professionals regarding the appropriateness of a "what if" situation, but it is not there to be used to discuss or make a specific referral. If the child you are concerned about has an allocated social worker, you should contact the social worker directly in the first instance - if they are unavailable, please contact the duty worker in the Social Worker’s team to avoid delay.

If it is felt the child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm, professionals will be advised to make an immediate referral to ECIRS or if a child is in immediate danger, call the Police on 999.

All referrers to ECIRS will first speak to an Information and Advice Officer who will check the electronic database to see whether the child or family is already known to Children's Services.

Professionals making a referral are expected to obtain consent before making a referral – except in circumstances stated above. If no consent has been obtained and there are no Child Protection concerns, the referrer is contacted and advised that the enquiry will be closed with no further action. Families should be informed by the referrer that by giving their consent, they are agreeing to relevant information being shared with agencies in the MASH and their information will be stored on a confidential database.

Once a referral is taken and it is established that there is already an open case, the Information and Advice Officer will pass the referral information on to the allocated Social Worker immediately.

Where there is not an open case the Information and Advice Officer will create a new enquiry and new record for the child.

Telephone referrals should be confirmed in writing on the Child and Family Enquiry/Referral Form.

ECIRS makes initial decisions about the level of need at the first point of contact, in line with Ealing's Thresholds of Need Guide and prioritises referrals using a RAG (Red/Amber/Green) rating – see below.

Contacts and referrals falling outside of the RAG levels, may lead to advice, information and signposting to universal / relevant services or in some cases no further action is needed.

The ECIRS Manager will review the enquiry/referral and decide on an initial RAG rating according to the level of risk or decide whether the case should be discussed at the MASH meeting to gather information from the multi-agency professionals to inform a threshold decision.

The enquiry/referral will then be assigned to a Social Worker or Family Practitioner and they will gather the requested information to inform the final threshold decision within the specified timeframe related to the RAG rating.

The referrer will receive an automated acknowledgment of their referral immediately and will be contacted by a Social Worker to further explore their concerns and outline next steps.