Noticing and helping neglected children: Messages from Action on Neglect

Abstract

This paper sets out the messages from ‘Action on Neglect’, an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Follow on Fund sponsored project which ran from April 2011 to the end of March 2012 in England. Undertaken by a small team of researchers and practitioners from the Universities of Stirling and Dundee and the national charity Action for Children, it was a follow-up to a literature review produced as part of the Safeguarding Children Across Services Research Initiative (SCRI). The project team met with multidisciplinary groups of practitioners and managers from all key professions working with children in three areas of England on four occasions. The messages from the study were used to consider the extent to which current practice equates with evidence from the research. Through a process of co-production the project explored the ways in which neglected children are currently helped and considered what could be done to improve recognition and early response. The final product was a pack - Action on Neglect that outlines a series of detailed worked examples setting out improved pathways to help for neglected children and their families.