Making a referral to the Early Help and Safeguarding Hub (EHASH)

Use plain language that everyone can understand

In the future, the child who is the subject of your referral may want to understand more about why they were involved with children’s services. They can request a copy of the documents in their file. If they read your referral, would they understand what you are worried about?

Capture the voice of everyone involved, especially the child

Use the exact words rather than summarise where you can when you describe what people have told you, this might be -

• your colleagues
• the family
• the child

Make this clear by stating who told you what and putting their words in speech marks.

Do not use acronyms, professional jargon or professional terminology

Outside of our profession, most people do not understand the jargon and teminology we use. The Acronyms we use can also be confusing. An acronym we use could mean something different to a -

• police officer
• social worker
• teacher

Professional language does not explain what you are worried about. If we use this in our conversations with families it is likely to create a barrier to good communications. Try and use language you would use if you were explaining your concerns to the child.

Terms such as 'neglect' or 'domestic abuse' are broad labels. They do not tell us much about what has happened or the severity of your worries. One person’s interpretation of the term neglect is likely to be different to someone else’s, depending on their earlier experiences. If you do not describe exactly what you have seen and heard, the social worker picking up the referral could significantly under or overestimate the severity of risk, especially if we can’t get hold of you to ask follow up questions.