Child neglect in 2011
Child neglect is a major feature of life in the UK, with
some studies suggesting 10% of children are at risk. Neglect robs
children of the childhood they deserve, and tears their families
apart.
As part of our 'Take your action for children'
neglect campaign we're launching our first annual review of the
issue in partnership with the University of Stirling. It's called
'Child neglect in 2011' and it
looks at what neglect is, what the UK thinks about it, how it's
tackled currently and how this can be improved.
Our Young Campaigners on child neglect
We gave our review to a group of Young Campaigners and asked
them to interpret it in their own words and images. This is
their film.
What did our research find out?
- No one knows exactly how many children are
neglected
- People are worried about child neglect, but don't always feel
able to report it
- Over a half of social workers (51%), and a third of
police officers (36%) say they feel powerless to help
- There are not enough services to help neglected children, and
cuts are making this worse
What do we want the UK Government to do?
- Help local authorities improve their recording of
neglect and measuring how well they tackle it, so they
know what to do to improve
- Make local authorities get better at giving neglected children
and families assistance to tackle problems
early
- Visit our policy and
research section to find out more
Live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
For now, we will just be focussing on the UK Government in
Westminster, so only those in England need act at
the moment. This is because the laws that cover how neglect is
tackled are the responsibility of the devolved
governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales,
however we will be campaigning in those regions in the coming
months.
