The Cayman Islands Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) aims to promote the safety and welfare of children by providing a single point of referral and coordinated multi-agency response.
“The Hub” consists of a number of different stakeholders, some of whom are co-located in the same building, others are virtual partners. Presently in the Hub are the Department of Children and Family Services as the lead agency and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
The MASH Desk: Team of Social Workers, Police Officers and a MASH Manager receive all new child safeguarding referrals. The MASH Desk uses rigorous interagency information sharing procedures to enhance decision making by operational staff which provides all agencies with improved safeguarding opportunities. The MASH has several virtual partners such as the Department of Education Services, Health Services Authority, Needs Assessment Unit and Department of Community Rehabilitation.
MASH works towards offering Social Work and Police interventions to help children and families by assisting families to address their challenges or distress once a referral has been made.
Mandate under the Children Law 2012 Revision:
- The Children Law 2012 Section 19 outlines the responsibility of the Department for Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide services for children in need, their families. The law states “It shall be the duty of the Department:
- to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need; and
- so far as is consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs”.
- The Children Law 2012 Section 50 states the DCFS has a duty to investigate in order to safeguard children. “Where the Department: i. has reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found, in the Islands is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; or
- has obtained an emergency protection order with respect to a child,
3. The Department shall make, or cause to be made, such enquiries as it considers necessary to enable it to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare…The enquiries shall, in particular, be directed towards establishing whether the Department should make any application to the court, or exercise any of their other powers under this Law, with respect to the child”.