This help centre article was written for childminders preparing for registration with the Koru Kids' Home Nursery service
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What is a Local Authority Safeguarding Hub
Every local authority is responsible for the safeguarding of the children in their borough.
Local authorities have Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (or MASH teams) who deal with child protection referrals.
A MASH team comprises a group of practitioners, still employed by their individual agencies (local authority, police, probation, health services, etc) but co-located in one office.
By combining the information held by the full range of agencies working with a child or family, the MASH process allows practitioners to build up a fuller picture of an individual child’s circumstances and history before deciding the most appropriate course of action to keep them safe.
Each Local Authority Safeguarding Hub will have different procedures for reporting child safeguarding issues.
You must become familiar with the procedures for your local authority. Please find contact details and training information below.
Most Local Authority Safeguarding Hubs offer Safeguarding training for any professional working with children or vulnerable adults.
What is a LADO?
This is a designated person at your local authority that deals with safeguarding concerns about adults who come into contact with children. You should refer a case to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) where it is alleged that a person working with children has:
Behaved in a way that has harmed or may have harmed a child;
Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;
Behaved towards a child/ren in a way that indicated they are unsuitable to work with children.
Where do I find my Local Safeguarding Contact Details?
You can contact your local Family Information Service, who will be able to provide you with your borough's Safeguarding details.
Alternatively, most boroughs list their details online and can be found by searching the internet.
If you are struggling to find the correct information, you can reach out to Koru Kids, who will be able to help.
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