Safeguarding weekly focus - Neglect
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.
Types of Neglect
- Physical: Failure to provide shelter, food, clothing, or appropriate supervision for the person’s age, physical condition, mental ability, and environment
- Emotional: Failure to provide psychological care, attention, emotional and healthy communication
- Medical: Failure to provide the necessary medical or mental health care for the person's needs, or withholding medically indicated treatments for life-threatening conditions
- Educational: Failure to meet a child's educational needs like taking them to school, following up with homework, providing support when the child is having challenges, not participating in school related events, etc.
Signs & Indicators of Neglect:
- Being frequently absent from school
- Inappropriate clothing (e.g. shoes too small, clothes are ill-fitted or unsuitable for the weather conditions)
- Clothes are consistently dirty or smelly
- Being hungry
- Hands are cold, red and swollen
- Unkempt appearance and poor hygiene; hair quality is poor or is messy, teeth are dirty, skin dirty
- Lacking necessary medical or dental care, including immunisations or glasses
- Missing medical appointments
- Health problems, including anaemia, body issues, poor muscle tone or prominent joints, regular illness of infections, repeated accidental injuries (often cause by lack of supervision), skin issues (e.g. sores, rashes, flea bites, scabies, ringworm), thin or swollen tummy, weight or growth issues, untreated injuries
- Developmental problems, including poor language or social skills
- Frequent and untreated nappy rash in infants
- Being constantly underweight or considerably losing weight
- The parent or carer has failed to keep the child protected from physical harm or danger
- Begging or stealing things like money or food
- Living in an unsuitable environment (e.g. no heating, messy)
- Being left home alone for long periods of time
- Taking on the role of a carer for other family members
- Changes in behaviour, such as becoming clingy, aggressive, withdrawn, depressed or anxious, displaying obsessive behaviour
- Changes in eating habits
- Using drugs or alcohol
- Self-harm or attempts at suicide
It’s important to note that being unable to provide care due to poverty is not considered neglect, whereas a caregiver’s failure to provide care despite having resources available to them would be considered neglect.
Further info
Further information:
Protecting children from neglect | NSPCC Learning
Neglect is also Child Abuse: Know All About It | NSPCC
Neglect – Safeguarding Network