The protection of children from abuse is a serious issue and three organisations in Jersey have particular responsibilities for this:

• The Children’s Social Care Service
• The Safeguarding Partnership Board (SPB)
• Independent and Safeguarding Standards (‘ISS’)

The Childrens’s Social Care Service takes referrals from the MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) whereby concerns are reported with regards to children from other agencies and from members of the public who have concerns about the physical, emotional and developmental needs of a child or children.

A referral can be made by calling the police if the matter is an emergency.

Community awareness

It is very important to promote child protection awareness in other agencies and in the community so that people affected can be encouraged to make a referral or refer themselves and disclose information so as to prevent abuse from happening. Each agency has its own Safeguarding lead who coordinates this work.