Request help and support or report a safeguarding concern for a child

If a child is at immediate danger contact the Police on 999.

Professionals can use this form to:

Request Family Help and Support for a child/young person and their family, or
Raise a safeguarding concern for a child

Raising a safeguarding concern

Professionals should use this request form to report concerns such as abuse, neglect or risk of significant harm for a child, to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) without delay.

If there are more immediate safeguarding concerns for a child, contact MASH directly, in addition to completing this request form to enable a timely and coordinated response to the child’s needs.

Telephone: 0300 555 2866
Email: MASH@walsall.gov.uk

Requesting Family Help and Support

Where a child, young person and their family feel they would benefit from Family Help to address emerging needs and improve outcomes, practitioners should complete the Request for Family Help and Support form. If practitioners have already completed an Our Family Assessment this can be attached to the form.

Before making a request, or completing an ‘Our Family assessment’ you are encouraged to:

Speak with your safeguarding lead or manager
Seek advice through a Partnership Discussion with your Partnership Officer
Consider whether a Locality Conversation would help bring professionals together

Consent and information sharing

Practitioners are encouraged to work openly and transparently with children, young people and families. This includes explaining why services are involved, what support may be offered, and how information will be used.

Consent should usually be sought for both safeguarding referrals and requests for support. Where it is not possible to obtain consent, the reasons should be clearly recorded.
Consent should be informed, freely given, and kept under review if circumstances change.

At times, it may be necessary to take action to safeguard a child even where consent has not been given. Where there are concerns about harm, the child’s welfare remains the priority. In these situations, information sharing should be lawful, necessary, proportionate, and clearly recorded.

If consent is refused or withdrawn, practitioners should sensitively explore the reasons and consider any potential impact on the child. Professional responsibility continues, and where risks increase, appropriate referral or escalation should be considered.

This guidance should be used alongside professional judgement, safeguarding training, and advice from managers or safeguarding leads.

What to include in the request

Requests should be clear, concise, and based on the information available. Where possible, they should describe:

reasons for your request
the child and family’s voice
any worries or concerns
the impact on the child
any prior support you have provided or engaged with
any actions already taken

Request help or raise a concern

What happens next

Upon MASH receiving a request for help, support or a safeguarding concern, they will consider the information provided and determine the most appropriate response based on the child and family needs, any presenting risks and level of support required. You may be contacted for further information.

Possible outcomes include:

Advice and signposting
Universal or Extra Support response
Targeted Family Help
Child in Need assessment (Section 17)
Strategy discussion and child protection enquiries (Section 47)

When requesting help and support or reporting a safeguarding concern for a child, consider these principles;

Children’s needs come first: Children should be safe, heard, supported and able to achieve positive outcomes. Practitioners should understand the child’s lived experience and consider the impact of need, risk and adversity on their daily life, development and wellbeing.
Families should receive help early: Children and families should receive the right help at the right time, without unnecessary delay. Support should be proportionate to need and should aim to prevent problems from escalating wherever possible.
Support should build on strengths: Practitioners should work alongside families respectfully and openly, recognising strengths, relationships, culture, identity and community networks. Families should be involved in decisions about support and understand what is happening and why.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: Protecting children from harm requires shared responsibility across all agencies and professionals working with children, young people and families. Concerns should be raised, shared and responded to appropriately and without delay.
Children and families may need different levels of support over time: Needs and circumstances can change. Practitioners should remain responsive to changing need, risk and the impact of intervention. Support should be reviewed regularly and escalated or reduced appropriately.
Information should be shared lawfully and proportionately: Effective support depends on timely and appropriate information sharing. Practitioners should work openly with families wherever possible, while recognising that safeguarding concerns may require information to be shared without consent in line with statutory guidance and professional responsibilities.
Services should work together in a coordinated way: Children, families and practitioners should experience joined-up support. Agencies should work collaboratively, avoid unnecessary duplication, and maintain continuity of relationships wherever possible.