Neglect

Tameside has a high proportion of children who are involved in the Looked After Care system. One of the main reasons why children become involved with Social Care services is neglect. Tameside has relaunched its Neglect Strategy in 2020. There are four priorities for Neglect Strategy. Each of which is focused on reducing the numbers of children affected by neglect, and when neglect does occur, aims to tackle it early on in the process.

• Priority 1: Secure Strategic commitment across all agencies.
• Priority 2: Improve awareness, understanding and recognition of neglect.
• Priority 3: Prevent neglect through early help.
• Priority 4: Improve effectiveness of interventions to tackle neglect.

Neglect Strategy 2019-2022

Tameside Multi-agency Neglect Strategy

Neglect

The Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance, July 2018 states neglect is;

The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

• provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment)
• protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger
• ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers)
• ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Children at risk of Neglect

No child asks to be neglected. There are several parental risk factors that make children more likely to be neglected.

• The child’s parents or carers might not have had a good role model themselves. They themselves might have being neglected, therefore they repeat the pattern of behaviour.
• The parents or carers might have their own issues, as well as looking after their child/ren. These might include;
  1. One or both parents/carers are having issues with either drugs or alcohol.
  2. There is partner abuse happening between the parents or carers.
  3. One or both parents/carers are suffering from mental health difficulties.

Having one or more of the issues going on in your life might impact on a parent’s ability to provide adequate care for their child.

Signs of Neglect

There is no one indicator that will signify neglect. If a child is being neglected there might be signs to be aware of. This is not an exhaustive list.

• Appearing unkempt.
• Inappropriately dressed for time of year clothes are not clean and do not fit.
• Hungry at school.
• Failure to attend health appointments.
• Non-attendance at school/nursery.
• Development delay, that isn’t related to a disability.
• Poor or excessive weight gain/nutrition.

Actions to take if you suspect a Child’s being neglected

Actions to take if a Child/Young Person is in immediate risk of harm

Ring 999 and ask for the Police.

If your unsure contact Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0161 342 4101.

Out of office hours, contact 0161 342 2222

Actions to take if you suspect a Child/Young Person is being neglected

Firstly, if you suspect a child/young person is a risk of neglect and would like some advice in relation to the Graded Care Profile and/or Early Help Assessment please contact the Neighbourhood Coordinators or EHA Advisors on the below.

Secondly, if you think a child is a victim of neglect and would like advice, guidance and to explore next steps contact the Early Help Access Point to discuss your worries.

Contact Early Help Access Point (EHAP) on 0161 342 4260

Thirdly, if you have evidence of neglect please complete a Multi-Agency Request for Service (MARS) attaching the evidence, indicating the worries, what’s working well and what needs to happen.

https://secure.tameside.gov.uk/forms/mars/f1312mars.asp

Tameside Neglect Action Plan (TNAP)

The Tameside Neglect Action Plan (TNAP) has being created with consultation with all agencies within Tameside and Children and Young People. The aim of TNAP is to help professionals identify child neglect and develop a support package for the family with the aim of preventing escalation to statutory services. This approach relies on universal services understanding neglect and taking action at an early stage. We have provided number of supporting documents.

TNAP: Guidance - This document gives everything a professional needs to understand neglect and how to use the relevant toolkit.

TNAP: Guidance

TNAP: Risk Factors - This document helps professionals to understand the risk factors associated with childhood neglect and learning from case reviews on how professionals can improve their practice.

TNAP: Risk Factors

TNAP: Glossary - This document aims to provides in clear English what terms mean around neglect. This can be used with families to help them understand professional speak.

TNAP: Glossary

TNAP: Screening Document - This a smaller document for early screening for a child you might suspect is being neglected. This document should be used alongside Early Help Assessments.

TNAP: Screening Document

TNAP: Toolkit - The full length toolkit to be used with families to identify neglect and to develop a family centred approach in tackling concerns of professionals and identify support for the family.

TNAP: Action Plan

More information on Neglect

The TSCP has numerous training opportunities around neglect. Further information on courses can be found at TSCP Training Courses.