Working with children in Barnet

What are Multi-Agency Groups (MAGs)?

Multi-Agency Groups (MAGs) are part of Barnet’s Early Intervention and Prevention Strategy, which aims to reduce the need for higher level support later on. MAGs bring together managers from all key partner agencies working with children and families in Barnet to ensure that early interventions using the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) are working effectively in each of the four learning network areas (west, central, south and east).

More information about MAGs is set out in the MAGs terms of reference document.

MAGs meetings

MAG meetings will be held as combined networks, south/east and west/central on alternative months. For further details on dates and venues see the MAGs timetable.

Please see the map of the learning network areas to identify the area that you are in.

Who can request a that a case goes to a MAG?

There are three groups of people who can request that a case goes to a MAG. They are:

• practitioners
• Multi-Agency Panels or Groups
• Multi-Agency Co-ordinators (MACs), part of the Multi-Agency Support Team (MAST).

Why do we need them?

MAGs help to:

• increase effectiveness of early interventions by ensuring good inter-agency information-sharing and a co-ordinated multi-agency approach in planning and delivering services to children with additional needs
• provide better outcomes for children and young people through well co-ordinated multi-agency packages of support
• reduce the need for expensive higher level support later by offering timely and earlier intervention to children with additional needs, so that through coordinated support that their difficulties reduce before becoming more entrenched
• reduce duplication and consolidate some existing panels
• inform service commissioning by logging and acting upon unmet and emerging needs identified via individual CAFs.

What do they do?

MAGs:

• provide strategic lead and oversight of CAFs in each area
• promote the use of the CAF process to improve outcomes for children and young people and reduce the need for higher level support later on
• ensure strong commitment between partner agencies
• ensure CAF action plans are on track
• ensure Lead Professionals are in place and the appropriate services have been identified to support individual children and young people
• address any difficulties in engaging families in the CAF process or where there is multi-agency disagreement
• log new or unmet needs to inform service planning.

What won’t they do?

• deal with cases requiring statutory or acute/specialist services
• assign individual budgets to children and young people
• discuss every CAF in detail, only those requiring it.

How can I use MAGs?

Managers and practitioners can request that a case is brought to a MAG by completing the e-form and obtaining a consent form from the family/young person for the case to be shared at a MAG.

The e-form is available on the Multi-Agency Groups process page.

Other Multi-Agency Panels and Groups will also be able to request that cases go to a MAG, and Multi-Agency Co-ordinators for the four learning network areas can bring cases in discussion with the Lead Professional.

What happens at a MAG?

• MAG members monitor overall CAF activity for their learning network area and consider whether certain sectors within the local workforce may need additional support around the CAF process to drive up the number of high quality co-ordinated common assessments.
• MAG members discuss specific CAF cases which have become ‘stuck’ and will agree a number of actions to be carried out to ensure the CAF is back on track. This may include deciding which agency should take on the Lead Professional role, with the relevant MAG member agency ensuring that a specific practitioner within their service is allocated this role, or agreeing which agency may need to become part of Team Around the Child and agree what they may be able to offer.
• The Multi-Agency Co-ordinators (MACs) present the CAF case on behalf of the CAF Practitioner at the MAG and will then report back any actions from the MAG to Lead Professionals or person/group requesting the case be brought to MAG.
• MAG Members will log information around unmet needs or emerging needs arising from CAF cases and ensure that this information is used to inform future service planning

Who is involved?

Committed multi-agency working

• Youth Support Service
• Children’s Social Care
• CAMHS
• Youth Offending Service (YOS)
• Housing
• High Incidence Support Team (HIST)/Educational Psychology
• Adult’s Social Care
• Educational Welfare
• Early Years
• Third sector
• Police
• Health.

For more information please contact Michaela Carlowe and the Multi-Agency Support Team.