Multi-agency child neglect strategy 2025-2029

Introduction

This strategy sets out key multi-agency objectives for tackling child neglect in Devon. It needs to be read in conjunction with:

• Child Neglect Toolkit and Guidance for Practitioners
• South West Child Protection Procedures on recognising abuse and neglect.
• Levels of Need Tool
  • Levels of Need framework
  • Indicators of need

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English definition of child neglect:

“The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs likely to result in serious impairment of the child’s health or development…

It may involve the parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger, failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment or provide suitable education…

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

Working Together 2023

The purpose of this strategy is to establish a vision, principles and focus areas for Devon that will support better outcomes for children who are experiencing child neglect. This strategy was developed by Devon SCP partners and applies to all agencies across all sectors working in Devon. The impact of child neglect can be serious, enduring and can potentially continue across their life course; child neglect commonly occurs in the context of poverty and other aspects of social disadvantage but can affect children in any social context.

Child neglect can be difficult to identify and respond to. It rarely manifests in a crisis that demands immediate action, it commonly occurs alongside other forms of abuse and practitioners may become accustomed to the chronic nature of child neglect. An effective response therefore requires practitioners to look beyond individual episodes and understand the child neglect in context; to look also at the underlying factors that can lead to neglectful experiences – including poor parental mental health, domestic violence, poverty and social disadvantage – and to consider how support and interventions will help protect against further harm and vulnerability.

Practitioners often face challenges in sharing information and having difficult conversations with families where child neglect is evident. Promoting a shared language and understanding of neglect across all services is essential to support effective multi-agency working.  Through early identification, proactive engagement, and coordinated support, professionals can play a key role in minimising neglectful situations and improving outcomes for children.  This strategy will support professionals to align their approaches, and respond consistently when working with children and families where neglect is a concern.

Child neglect leads to poorer health, reduces educational and social outcomes and is potentially fatal. Children and young people’s lives are affected and their ability to attend and attain at school can be reduced. Their emotional health and wellbeing can be affected and this can impact on their success in adulthood and their ability to safely parent in the future (Dr Julie Wilkinson, Dr Susannah Bower, Research in Practice Evidence Review, March 2017)

Research tells us that addressing the needs of a family in a holistic way is more likely to lead to better outcomes for children, young people and their parents or carers with additional needs by co-ordinating the support they receive from children and young people’s, adults’ and family services.

This Strategy is developed in recognition that a whole-system approach is required to effectively identify child neglect and support families, and so encompasses all agencies working with children and families in Devon.

Given the interface of child neglect with other forms of harm and abuse, the Devon SCP places this strategy in the context of other strategic plans that influence the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in Devon. This includes the impact of child neglect in creating the vulnerabilities that make children and young people more susceptible to exploitation in all its forms, including criminal and sexual.

The strategy’s accompanying action plan identifies priority areas of work that take into account local context and findings.

Devon’s vision

Devon is committed to empowering families to take control of their outcomes through a restorative approach. This strategy seeks to ensure that professionals are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to accurately identify and respond to child neglect so that all children are supported to thrive, be safe and happy, and reach their potential. In Devon we believe that children are best brought up in families and communities where they will have relationships that enable them to thrive.

By taking a restorative approach to our work with children and their families across the multi-agency network in Devon, we can ensure the following:

• Empowerment and Support – families will be encouraged and supported to find solutions and improve their lives, fostering a sense of empowerment and self-reliance.
• Family Help and Early Intervention – providing early help is crucial to prevent the need for statutory intervention, ensuring that families receive the right support at the right time.
• Collaboration and Communication – effective collaboration and transparent communication among all agencies is essential. Children and families should always know where they stand and feel supported throughout the process.

How we created this strategy

To inform this strategy, the partnership considered:

• Data, including numbers of Child Protection plans and the identification of child neglect
• Case review findings and themes
• Frontline practitioner focus groups and a practitioner survey
• Audits on child neglect
• Feedback from children and parents about the support they receive

A strategic approach to neglect is crucial for everyone involved in safeguarding. Research shows that neglect affects children’s development and can impact their adult lives, making it harder for them to be safe, happy, and successful.

This strategy aims to:

• Strengthen partnerships – improve multi-agency working among professionals to tackle child neglect in Devon.
• Promote a shared understanding – a common understanding of neglect, its effects on children, and how agencies can work together to support families.
• Support early recognition – a focus on recognising child neglect early to provide timely, coordinated support which will make lasting changes.
• Protect children – support practitioners to work together to protect children who may be suffering or have an increased likelihood of significant harm through neglect and prevent future health and social difficulties.

Principles

The principles underlying this strategy are that:

• Children being neglected, or at risk of being neglected, need to be seen, heard and helped.
• Think Family – when working with a child, adult or family practitioners should take a holistic approach, think wider than a single service and share concerns to support the family.
• Early Identification – early recognition and identification of the signs and symptoms of child neglect and the importance of effective multi-agency assessment and collaboration to provide help early is the ‘right’ approach in Devon.

Children must be:

• Seen – in the context of their lives at home, friendship circles, health, education and public spaces (including social media).
• Heard – to effectively protect children and young people, professionals need to take time to hear what children are saying and put themselves in the child or young person’s shoes and think about what their life might truly be like.
• Helped – by remaining professionally curious and by implementing effective and imaginative solutions that help children and young people. Practitioners should give parents and families clear information in relation to expectations and improvements.

A number of factors increase the likelihood of child neglect. However, they are not predictors of neglect in themselves and neglect can occur anywhere, including in affluent households.

The impact of child neglect

Child neglect can take form in a number of ways, including:

• Physical neglect – not meeting a child’s basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing.
• Supervisory neglect – not supervising a child adequately or providing for their safety.
• Educational neglect – not enabling a child to receive an education.
• Emotional neglect – not meeting a child’s needs for nurture and positive relationships, for instance by ignoring or humiliating them.
• Medical neglect – not enabling the child to access appropriate health care or ignoring medical recommendations.
• Nutritional neglect – not enabling a child to have a healthy diet, this might include obesity or failure to thrive.

Factors that can increase risk of child neglect:

• Parental substance abuse
• Mental health issues
• Domestic violence and family conflict
• Limited access to resources and support services can also contribute to neglect
• Social isolation and lack of support
• Parental history of neglect or abuse
• Parenting stress and lack of knowledge
• Lack of parenting skills and support
• Unstable living situations
• Limited access to healthcare and support services
• Poverty and socio-economic challenges

Please note that these are just some of the circumstances that may leave children vulnerable to neglect – it is not exhaustive.

Child neglect has the potential to compromise a child’s development significantly. There is evidence to suggest that it has an adverse impact on all the seven dimensions of development identified in the Assessment Framework: health, education, identity, emotional and behavioural development, family and social relationships, social presentation and self-care skills (Tanner and Turner, 2003; Norman et al., 2012; Hildyard and Wolfe, 2002; Manly et al., 2001).

Neglect can happen at any age, sometimes even before a child is born. If a mother has mental health problems or misuses substances during pregnancy, for example, she may neglect her own health and this can damage a baby’s development in the womb (Haynes et al, 2015).

Child neglect is particularly damaging in the first two to three years of life – and it can continue to compromise development throughout childhood and adolescence.

Safeguarding Disabled Children from Neglect

Disabled children are at increased risk of neglect due to factors such as communication barriers, dependency on caregivers, social isolation, and assumptions about their needs and capabilities.

Indicators of neglect specific to disabled children can also include unmet medical, therapeutic, and educational needs; lack of appropriate communication support, especially for non-verbal children; inadequate personal care and hygiene; failure to access or engage with suitable educational provision; and social isolation due to limited opportunities for interaction or overprotection. These children may also experience emotional neglect when their distress is dismissed or misunderstood, and their voices are not heard.  

Disabled children should be helped to share their thoughts and feelings in ways that work best for them. Making sure their voices are heard is key to keeping them safe and giving them the same care and protection as other children.

Achievements of the Child Neglect Strategy 2020-2023

• We held three in-person multi-agency best practice events on Child Neglect in early 2025 to help practitioners understand how we can work better together with our multi-agency partners to tackle child neglect at the earliest possible point.
• We introduced the use of the Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2) tool and trained over 300 practitioners in the use of the tool.
• We have introduced a new monthly on-line multi-agency course “What we need to know about child neglect” in February 2024 to develop a richer understanding of the impact of neglect.
• We rolled out Early Help training to over 247 practitioners to support their understanding of the principles of effective early help.

National and local context

Nationally

The prevention and treatment of child neglect presents a variety of challenges to all of us who work with children and families. Neglect is a public health issue as well as a safeguarding issue. Nationally, neglect is the most common form of maltreatment in England and is a factor in over 60% of serious case reviews. It is the most common initial category of abuse for children in need who were subject of a child protection plan at the end of March 2025. Neglect affects both boys and girls and occurs throughout childhood and adolescence.

Devon

The following tables show the local context for neglect by looking at the total number of children becoming subject of a Child Protection Plan where neglect is the category of harm. In Devon, the percentage of children on a child protection plan with an initial category of neglect is lower than both the national average and that of Devon’s statistical neighbours.

Clarifying the way in which child neglect is understood and defined in Devon is an important part of this strategy and the implementation plan.

Comparison

2022-23

Location	Children made subject of a plan	Children for whom the initial category of harm is neglect	% of children subject to a plan with neglect as initial category of harm
Devon	610	271	44%
National	50,780	25,050	49%

2023-24

Learning from reviews

Local reviews in 2023 and 2024 highlighted that it’s crucial to:

• find and help neglected children who are not on agencies’ radar
• recognise and address adult self-neglect, as it affects children at home
• health professionals play a vital role in spotting and addressing medical or basic care neglect
• involve fathers and male carers, not just mothers, to understand their family roles
• agencies should escalate concerns as soon as they are concerned that something isn’t going to plan
• Be professionally curious to uncover hidden signs of child neglect, supporting practitioners and their multi-agency colleagues to provide timely and effective support to protect and improve the child’s well-being.

Learning from reviews nationally also included:

• Professionals need to be able to recognise different types of neglect and understand their cumulative effects.
• Agencies should think about the whole family, considering the impact on children and sharing information appropriately.
• Agencies must contribute relevant information to multi-agency meetings.
• Newborns, premature babies, disabled children, and teenagers are especially vulnerable to having their needs overlooked.
• Professionals should understand the importance of children attending appointments and school.
• Interventions should aim for specific improved outcomes, with regular reviews to check progress.
• Agencies should escalate concerns if they disagree on a child’s plan.

What children say about neglect

• “Not enough love”
• “Parents having no interest in me”
• “Being hungry all the time”
• “Having to always be there for my siblings”
• “You end up doing your parents job – but you’re no good at it, so it feels like failure”
• “It’s one thing to say they love you (parents) but they have to show it; love is a doing word”
• “It is like you don’t matter”
• “Always having the same clothes on; not having a lot of food – always asking for food”
• “Someone forgets about you or leaves you alone when they’re meant to help you”
• “Causes problems at school because I get angry”
• “Feeling unwanted and depressed”
• “Feeling sad – if you’re ignored your entire life and your family doesn’t pay attention to you, you get sad and frustrated – you need trust; without trust you’re on a hard road.”
• “It’s when social services come in.”

“I am at home on my own a lot. Things are difficult at home and mum is really struggling – she gets stressed and angry a lot. I have to do a lot of the house work and help with chores. I feel lonely and have not got anyone to talk to.”

Childline counselling session with a girl aged 10

Focus Areas

1. Prevention

To better recognise, assess, and respond to neglect in children, young people, and families before statutory intervention is needed, professionals should use assessment tools and empower families to meet children’s needs. Professionals must have relevant knowledge and a common understanding of neglect across agencies for effective identification and communication.

• Professionals should identify and name neglect as a concern early, knowing who to contact and what actions will be taken. This is supported by awareness raising and regular training from Devon SCP.
• All professionals should take a whole-family approach and be alert to risks like domestic abuse, parental substance misuse, mental health issues, and learning difficulties.
• Staff should not normalise neglect due to poverty and should be aware of ‘neglect by affluence.’
• Professionals should understand how and when to share information about neglect and the legal basis for doing so.
• Early Help should provide timely, robust multi-agency services to prevent problems from worsening, reducing the number of children and young people growing up in neglectful households.

2. Intervention

Effective intervention in cases of neglect requires clear accountability, timely action, and strong multi-agency collaboration. All agencies must understand their individual and collective responsibilities, including when and how to act, escalate concerns, and share information to safeguard children.

• All agencies must be confident in using the Level of Need tool to determine thresholds for intervention, challenge decisions appropriately, and escalate concerns when necessary.
• Information sharing must be timely, purposeful, and informed by the child’s voice and lived experience, ensuring that decisions are child-centred and responsive to their needs.
• Professionals must be persistent, creative, and trauma-informed in their efforts to engage families, recognising that building trust is key to achieving meaningful change.
• Historical information must be actively considered to inform current assessments and interventions, while also recognising that family circumstances can evolve.
• A whole-family approach should be embedded, ensuring that assessments and support plans address the needs of all family members and promote sustainable change.
• Professionals must proactively identify and address vulnerabilities that contribute to neglect, including parental capacity, environmental factors, and cumulative harm.
• Clear, consistent processes must support practitioners to assess risk, monitor progress, and measure the impact of interventions, enabling timely adjustments and escalation where needed.

3. Restorative Practice

Restorative practice focuses on building and repairing strong, respectful, and trusting relationships to support children’s wellbeing. It plays a key role in addressing child neglect by:

• Investing in relationships with children, families, and colleagues to help prevent harm and improve outcomes.
• Building trust with families to better understand a child’s daily life and respond more effectively to neglect.
• Using restorative communication – such as coaching, motivational interviewing, and targeted questions – to spot early signs of neglect and act before it gets worse.
• Empowering families to take part in finding solutions, leading to more lasting and meaningful change.
• Keeping children at the centre by listening to their voices and involving them in decisions that affect them.
• Working collaboratively with families, professionals, and partners to ensure all perspectives are heard and used to shape effective plans.

How can we make these focus areas a reality?

This strategy is owned and overseen by the Devon Safeguarding Children Partnership (Devon SCP).  Progress against this strategy will be monitored on a quarterly basis by the Quality Assurance and Workforce Development Group (QAWDG). The Chair will write a report on progress which will be presented to the Business Group and then onto the Executive Group for scrutiny and the identification of any associated actions to continue to drive best practice approaches across the partnership.

Restorative Devon

We believe that for the vast majority of families, the family home is the best place by far for children to live, with local, place-based support that includes help and support at the earliest opportunity from us and our partners. We know that working collaboratively with families is the most effective way to achieve good outcomes for children.

Restorative Practice is a ‘way of being’ where the focus is on building strong, meaningful, trusting and respectful ‘relationships’, and repairing relationships when difficulties or harm arises.

Strong meaningful relationships are formed when we work alongside people. We know that people are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more likely to make positive changes to their behaviour when we do things with them rather than To them or For them. Working with people means providing High Support and High Challenge. 

Measuring success

The success of the Devon Child Neglect Strategy will be measured through a range of agreed multi-agency indicators. These outcomes will demonstrate the impact of improved practice, early intervention, and shared accountability across the partnership. They include:

• A measurable reduction in the number of Rapid Reviews and LSCPRs relating to neglect, indicating that earlier, more effective intervention is preventing harm from escalating to the point of serious safeguarding incidents.

• Evidence from multi-agency audits of Child in Need and Child Protection plans that the Devon Child Neglect Toolkit is being consistently and effectively used to inform decision-making and drive outcomes in the child’s best interests.

• Feedback from children and families that reflects positive experiences of working with agencies in a collaborative, respectful, and supportive way.

• A reduction in the number of Child Protection Plans under the category of neglect, including repeat plans within a 12-month period, demonstrating that interventions are timely, targeted, and sustainable.

• An increase in the use of targeted Early Help and the Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2) tool, leading to a reduction in referrals to Children’s Social Care for neglect-related concerns.

• Clear evidence that learning from recent neglect-related reviews is being translated into practice, with frontline professionals demonstrating improved confidence and capability in identifying, assessing, and responding to neglect.

• The relaunch of the Child Neglect Strategy and Toolkit, supported by a multi-agency action plan, with clear ownership, implementation milestones, and regular review of progress.

Recommendations

Raise awareness of:

• The Multi-Agency Child Neglect Toolkit and Guidance for practitioners across all Partnership areas, from early help to Child Protection planning.
• Child neglect training (single and multi-agency).
• The importance of understanding adult self-neglect and its impact on children.
• Practitioner understanding of information sharing and professional curiosity.
• The need for a strong response from practitioners when children miss medical appointments.
• Safeguarding risks of low attendance at school.

Increase:

• The use of the GCP2 tool to assess neglect.
• Awareness of the Devon SCP Resolving Professional Differences process (case resolution protocol).
• Understanding of children who are hidden from agencies.

Equip:

• The workforce with skills to identify and support neglect.
• Practitioners to develop their restorative practice skills to support families who have experienced trauma or face engagement barriers.
• Family Hubs to provide families with practical support as early as possible.

Conclusions and next steps

The Devon SCP will monitor performance through a set of outcome measures against an action plan which will be determined by the Quality Assurance and Workforce Delivery Group (QAWDG).  The QAWDG will do this by:

• Review – report progress to the Business Group and Executives and to National Panel via the Devon SCP Yearly Report, utilising evidence such as feedback from parents and children, audit, data and case studies.
• Assess – using data, learning from reviews and other information which helped to shape the Strategy.
• Plan – strategy document and associated action plan.
• Do – carry out action plan.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to all multi-agency partners and children who have contributed their time and energy to the development of this strategy, with a commitment to making it meaningful in all agency partners’ day to day practice with children, families and with each other.