Children Living with Neglect (Neglect Toolkit)

Please ensure you complete Gloucestershire's Neglect Toolkit:

Multi-Agency Child Neglect Toolkit (DOCX, 334.5 KB) - (When you Print Please make sure you select Printer Properties: Select - Booklet, Long Edge and Colour and it should print out correctly)

Type of Neglect - recording sheet May 2017 (DOCX, 17.7 KB)

Neglect Briefing - Be Professionally Curious! (PDF, 1.6 MB)

Multi-Agency Child Neglect Strategy for Gloucestershire (PDF, 691.5 KB)

Neglect Workshop Presentation (PPTX, 14.7 MB)

The definition of neglect from statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018 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); or
• Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment’

It may also include neglect of or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Neglect is characterised by the absence of a relationship of care between the parent/carer and the child and the failure of the parent/carer to prioritise the needs of their child. It can occur at any stage of childhood, including the teenage years.

There are other factors that need to be considered to enable early identification of neglect by partners. This strategy covers the range of needs across the continuum, including the provision of support to families as early as possible to prevent significant harm to children and families.

Child Neglect Toolkit – In box

Following the success of the Gloucestershire Child Neglect Toolkit and the training workshops for practitioners to learn more about child neglect and the toolkit; a new email inbox has been set up for ALL professionals to send in their completed Child Neglect Toolkits.

This is with a view to enabling the right intervention and support to be offered to the family at the earliest opportunity. By submitting a completed toolkit to the inbox, the Early Help Partnership Team can offer support to professionals in the community as to what needs to happen next; and to ensure children do not continue to suffer neglect and are safeguarded.

Once the toolkit has been completed and parental consent has been obtained, we are requesting that community practitioners send it to [email protected]

The Neglect Toolkit and signed consent form should be sent through a secure route (e.g. Egress) to this inbox and parents/carers should be made aware that the toolkit will be screened by a Community Social Worker.

On completion of the Child Neglect Toolkit, if it indicates scores of 4 please contact your locality Community Social Worker, as soon as possible to discuss. If you have an urgent safeguarding concern, please contact the MASH on: 01452 426565.

What happens when a neglect toolkit is submitted to the inbox?

The locality Community Social Worker will screen the toolkit and contact you, to offer support and provide advice and guidance as to the next steps/actions to take.

If you have any queries as to this process or about the Child Neglect Toolkit, please contact your local Community Social Worker: https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/children-young-people-and-families/early-help-for-children-young-people-and-families/

Child Neglect Toolkit – Workshops 2020

The Early Help multi-agency training workshops are now available to all practitioners in county – Free of charge.

They include workshops on child neglect, early help graduated pathway, chronologies and genograms, listening to children, assessment and analysis workshops and more.

See course details on the glosfamilies directory website

Direct link to book onto these dates.

The Early Help multi-agency training workshops are now available to all practitioners in county – Free of charge.

They include workshops on child neglect, early help graduated pathway, chronologies and genograms, listening to children, assessment and analysis workshops and more.